Question reference: S6W-08543
- Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde, Scottish National Party
- Date lodged: 13 May 2022
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Current status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 26 May 2022
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what measures it is taking to improve recreational sea angling across Scotland.
Answer
Scottish Government maintains good relations with the angling community through its interaction with Angling Scotland. This helps in ensuring that any issues and opportunities for recreational sea angling in Scotland are brought to our attention and can be appropriately considered alongside other priorities.
Between 2016 and 2021 the Scottish Government supported the UK-wide Sea Angling Diary, which saw anglers as ‘volunteer diarists’ contributing data on recreational catches. Scottish Government, taking into account limited feedback from stakeholders, considered that the Scottish data collection was not providing good value for taxpayers’ money due to the limitations of the output, and will no longer contribute to the UK survey.
Instead, it will review its approach to sea angling data collection and examine other means by which they can be obtained in the future. Data specifically tailored towards the Scottish situation can then be made available to inform measures to promote sea angling, whilst monitoring any impacts on commercial fish stocks.