- Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 23 January 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Gillian Martin on 30 January 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on how much end-of-life (a) fishing and (b) aquaculture gear has been recycled in each year since 2021.
Answer
The Scottish Government has prioritised improving the collection and recycling of end-of-life fishing and aquaculture gear in our Marine Litter Strategy published in 2022 in order to protect our environment from plastic pollution and support the growth of our circular economy. Earlier research showed that end-of-life gear is in the most part stored or sent to landfill as it is extremely difficult to recycle due to its low-value, bulky, contaminated and degraded nature. There are very few recycling facilities currently, and we have no information on how much been recycled since 2021. It is therefore a focus to improve recycling opportunities for both the fishing and aquaculture sectors.
We are building on the information gathered through our research published in 2022 which established an inventory of fishing and aquaculture gear in use across the UK and the expected levels of end-of-life gear requiring suitable waste management. We supported the development of a European Standard to introduce design concepts that facilitate the future reuse and recycling of end-of-life gear, published through the British Standards Institution in November 2024. We continue to support initiatives that aim to recycle end-of-life gear and funded capital investment in an initiative in the North East through Marine Fund Scotland. In addition, we also established a formal working group across the four nations to commission further research and analyse policy options which we will consider with industry stakeholders in the near future.
- Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 23 January 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 30 January 2025
To ask the Scottish Government how it has supported the seafood industry to “develop innovative approaches, a move to a more circular economy and embrace digitalisation”, as outlined in its 2022 document, Strategy for Seafood.
Answer
The Marine Fund Scotland (MFS) is focused on supporting projects that deliver outcomes relating to Scotland's Blue Economy Vision. This aims to support projects & investments that are innovative, entrepreneurial, productive and internationally competitive; resilient to climate change, contributing to climate change mitigation and adaption; to achieve marine sectors which are decarbonised, resource efficient and supporting Scotland's Net Zero commitments.
An example of the innovative circular economy approaches that this funding supports include projects such as Tiny Fish LTD, who won the Global Seafood Alliance 2024 Responsible Seafood Innovation Award. This project is finding unique markets for juvenile salmon that are removed from hatcheries prior to transfer of the best fish to sea pens. It received grant funding support via the MFS of over £118,000.
- Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 January 2025
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 5 February 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it will take to monitor the impact of the Visitor Levy (Scotland) Act 2024 on small- and medium-sized businesses in the local authority areas that apply it.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 5 February 2025
- Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 23 January 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 29 January 2025
To ask the Scottish Government in what ways it feeds the views of the Regional Inshore Fisheries Groups into fisheries policy-making.
Answer
Our six national RIFG Chairs regularly meet both with fishing industry stakeholders throughout their respective areas, as well as Marine Directorate officials. Outputs of these meetings help ensure that the views of Scotland’s small fishing businesses, particularly those who do not have formal representation, are heard and incorporated into policy development.
A recent example of this relationship is Marine Directorate implementation of Interim Measures for protection of under-pressure crab and lobster stocks during 2024. The RIFG network took a lead role during an intense, month-long consultation period which involved engagement with over 400 fishers. These views were collated and helped inform policy advice on the use of short-term Interim Measures ahead of the 2024 fishing season.
- Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 23 January 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 29 January 2025
To ask the Scottish Government how much the Marine Directorate spent on the (a) maintenance, (b) repair and (c) fuel costs of the (i) patrol boats and (ii) patrol planes that it has had access to in each year since 2021.
Answer
Patrol Vessels
The following table sets out the patrol vessel spend for the last three financial years, for the purposes of the response maintenance includes the maintenance of the vessels, cranes and landing craft both at refit and on an ongoing basis.
Vessels | 2021-22 | 2022-23 | 2023-24 |
Hirta | Jura | Minna | Total | Hirta | Jura | Minna | Total | Hirta | Jura | Minna | Total |
Fuel | £529,446 | £504,358 | £280,870 | £1,314,674 | £919,617 | £916,924 | £439,914 | £2,276,455 | £738,498 | £667,363 | £401,065 | £1,806,926 |
Maintenance | £55,696 | £232,007 | £50,430 | £338,133 | £181,903 | £139,499 | £162,687 | £484,089 | £685,172 | £400,509 | £277,382 | £1,363,063 |
Repairs | £82,756 | £129,213 | £54,481 | £266,450 | £84,780 | £139,971 | £108,982 | £333,734 | £126,259 | £417,382 | £83,118 | £626,759 |
Patrol Aircraft
The Scottish Government engages an external contractor to provide aerial surveillance services utilising our aircraft by providing certification, maintenance and crewing for the aircraft. The following table sets out the aerial surveillance costs for the last three financial years of which a small proportion of the maintenance cost is borne by the external contractor with the main proportion being carried by the Scottish Government and billed as part of the contracted cost.
Aircraft | 2021-22 | 2022-23 | 2023-24 |
Fuel | 173,097 | 199,586 | 141,102 |
Aerial Surveillance Ops | 1,324,482 | 1,407,115 | 1,529,433 |
- Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 24 January 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 29 January 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what impact the proposed reduction in its 2025-26 draft Budget for the Marine Directorate from £83 million in 2024-25 to £79.6 million in 2025-26 will have on its ability to operate effectively.
Answer
The 2024-25 budget that was used as the comparator included a number of transfers that occurred at Autumn Budget Revision. The main transfer related to the inclusion of deferred Coastal Communities payments from 2023-24, this was a one-off occurrence which resulted in a net increase of £5 million from the 2024-25 starting budget position.
In comparison to the 2024-25 starting budget there has been a £1.6 million increase in the overall resource budget available to Marine Directorate in 2025-26 which when excluding depreciation is an additional £2 million of resource funding.
- Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 23 January 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 29 January 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Shetland Fisherment's 2024 report, Trends in the Abundances of North Sea Fish.
Answer
The Marine Directorate is aware of this report and recognises its findings. The conclusions of the paper are very similar to those presented annually in the Scottish Sustainable Fishing Index (SFI, Sustainability of Fish Stocks | National Performance Framework).
The SFI has increased from 37% in 1992 to 71% in 2023, highlighting an overall improvement in Scottish commercial fish stocks that is very similar to that presented in the Shetland Fishermen’s report.
Marine Directorate scientists would however recommend interpreting this report with some caution due to methodological issues which depart from the normal way in which stocks are assessed by the International Council for the Exploration of the Seas (ICES) and on which basis international advice is derived for international negotiations and setting of total allowable catches.
- Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 23 January 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 29 January 2025
To ask the Scottish Government in what ways it supports the fishing industry to (a) monitor and (b) tackle gear conflict.
Answer
Through our network of 18 Coastal Offices, as well as the Regional Inshore Fisheries Group (RIFG) network, the Scottish Government encourages the fishing industry to work together and develop voluntary codes of conduct to reduce instances of gear conflict.
In situations resulting in loss or damage to gear, Police Scotland are the competent authority out to 12 nautical miles. Beyond that, responsibility lies with the Marine Coastguard Agency.
Our Coastal Offices operate a reporting mechanism for reporting gear loss. The aim of this is to utilise the available evidence to determine which vessels were active in the area and to establish contact, assisting those involved in arriving at an amicable outcome. It also ensures the necessary information is available, should Police Scotland require to be involved.
- Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 23 January 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 29 January 2025
To ask the Scottish Government when it plans to consult stakeholders on the future of the Sea Fish (Prohibition on Fishing) (Firth of Clyde) Order 2024.
Answer
Following the 2025 closure there will be a public consultation on future management. That consultation will assess any changes that have happened since 2022 and make recommendations for the future on that basis.
- Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 23 January 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 29 January 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what surveys of Scotland-based fishermen it has carried out since 1 January 2021 regarding their views on the EU Common Fisheries Policy, and what the outcome was.
Answer
The Scottish Government has not carried out a survey, since 1 January 2021, of Scotland-based fishers which specifically asked about their views on the EU Common Fisheries Policy. However, officials engage with Scottish fishers regularly on a range of matters, including through our main fisheries co-management stakeholder group, FMAC.
The Scottish Government also collects views from Scotland-based fishers and other stakeholders via other means. This includes research projects as part of evaluations for specific programmes or policies. In the past year, this has included surveying fishers and other stakeholders regarding current compliance mechanisms and Quota Management Groups. Both projects raised issues related to the EU Common Fisheries Policy and both projects are due to be published this year.
