Seòmar agus comataidhean

I refer the member to the answers to questions S6W-10883 and S6W-10888 on 21 September 2022. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at: https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

In addition, it is recognised that the migratory routes of wild salmon through the coastal zone are not fully understood and we are committed to filling these knowledge gaps. In December 2021, £400,000 of funding was announced to support The West Coast Tracking project, in collaboration with Fisheries Management Scotland and The Atlantic Salmon Trust, which will provide data on the routes salmon take as they migrate from rivers out to sea. The findings from this work will be used to inform future planning and policy decisions.

As part of the Capital Spending Review, which was published on 31 May 2022, the Scottish Government has allocated Future Transport Fund the following amounts in each year up to 2025-26;

Responsibility for maintenance of telecoms infrastructure in Scotland falls upon the operator responsible for delivering that infrastructure.

The Scottish Government is acutely aware of the impact rising energy costs is having on the seafood sector in Scotland. With energy being a reserved matter, the powers to offer financial support to the fish processing industry — and indeed all industries across Scotland — lies in Westminster.

We have continually urged the UK Government to use all the levers at its disposal to tackle the cost crisis for businesses and to provide immediate support. We welcome the UK Government’s belated announcement which may limit the impact of the energy price crisis on some businesses, but unfortunately the announcement may have come too late.

Although we will continue to actively engage the UK Government, and press for further support for all industries — including the fish processing sector — cases like this reinforces the need for Scotland to have the powers of a fully independent country to accelerate the decarbonisation of our energy system and diversify our energy mix to deliver secure, sustainable and affordable energy for communities, households, and businesses in Scotland.

It is a requirement for all UK and EU fishing vessels with an overall length of 12 metres and over to be fitted with a Vessel Monitoring System and an electronic logbook, regardless of whether the vessel is involved in pelagic, scallop or demersal fishing operations.

Fishing vessels with an overall length less than 12 metres are not currently required carry a vessel monitoring system and electronic logbook.

The Scottish Government’s consultation on the introduction of Remote Electronic Monitoring (REM) to key fishing fleet segments closed on 7 June 2022. The responses submitted are currently being analysed. The consultation prioritised the mandatory rollout of REM to scallop dredge vessels and large pelagic vessels, along with consideration of further rollout to large demersal vessels. These proposals will place Scotland in a leadership position amongst other fishing nations operating in the North Sea and Europe, going further and faster than others including the European Union.

As set out in the consultation, REM is considered to be the use of imagery, sensors, and Global Positioning System (GPS) to independently monitor fishing operations, effort, and/or catch. The technology offers a range of benefits, which differ between different fishing fleets and therefore the Scottish Government is tailoring its use to match the nature and profile of our fishing fleets. As explained, this will likely result in simplified REM systems for some fleets (or fleet segments) that do not necessarily feature all the components (imagery, sensors and GPS). In line with these definitions, the following table shows the proportion of Scottish vessels installed with REM (minimum of GPS and sensor/s).

The Subsidy Control Team forms part of the European Structural Funds and Subsidy Control Division, formerly the State Aid Unit within the same Division until the UK’s exit from the EU. The budget for the Subsidy Control Team for 2022-23 is £577,595; the current headcount is 9. Budgets and complements have not yet been confirmed for 2023-24.

FMPG have advised us that the value of the towing contract is £15,000-£20,000.

The Scottish Government is actively in discussion with seafood processing businesses to establish where we can support investments through the Marine Fund Scotland to support the sustainable development of Scotland’s Blue Economy, including to assist energy saving or reduce energy usage. However given the limited funding made available by the UK Government after Brexit, we must balance any support from this limited pot against bids for investments that deliver other blue economy outcomes.

An action the government is taking, that will support processers, is amending the economic link licence condition contained in Scottish sea fishing licences to help ensure those allocated fishing opportunities for Scotland’s key species provide a significant return to our nation.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-11069 on 30 September 2022. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

Building upon the good work already undertaken, Atkins WSP Joint Venture will take forward the engineering and environmental assessments to determine the preferred options for the medium and long term solutions, developing the subsequent detailed designs in consultation with stakeholders. They will also assist in completion of the statutory processes including acquisition of land, and in the procurement and construction supervision activities. Given the number of potential solutions and variability of scope and length of each project stage, it is not possible to provide a meaningful breakdown of estimated costs at this stage in the process.

The £25m of Scottish Government investment represents an estimate of the contract value to Atkins WSP Joint Venture to undertake the design, promotion, procurement and construction supervision of both the medium and long-term solutions. Whilst there is no allocation of spend of this estimate to either the medium term or long term solutions, it is anticipated that the vast majority of spend will be on the long-term solution as all of the options require complex civil engineering.