Fisheries Secretary Richard Lochhead
Sea Fisheries - Opening Debate
Scottish Parliament
November 05, 2009
I am pleased to open this debate today on sea fisheries.
Fishing provides the lifeblood for many of our communities, wholesome food and plays an economic, social and cultural role in our nation.
And we can't forget that we're debating one of our most dangerous occupations. Many fishermen over these past twelve months have paid the ultimate price to bring food to our tables.
And as the motions and amendments before us make clear, we are entering a crucial phase for the future viability of our fishing industry.
We are not just facing the important annual negotiations.
We are also entering a defining period in the future of European fisheries as discussions finally begin on the CFP.
And we are leading that debate.
Only this week, I addressed a major international conference in Edinburgh on the future of the CFP also attended by several members in the chamber today and industry leaders, some of whom are here today.
Challenges in 2009
Members are well aware, this has been a tough year for the industry and many of the challenges are unprecedented.
Hard on the heels of the fuel crisis, came the biggest global recession since WWII. Like other industries, fishing has felt the impact.
Our lucrative Nephrops market was depressed because of a collapse in demand on the continent.
And the recession and related factors, such as Iceland flooding the UK with imports, undermined the price of cod and haddock.
And the industry tells me that low prices inevitably tempted some skippers to fish harder to pay the bills.
This caused periods of over-supply and high quota uptake, to the detriment of all fishermen.
It's clear then, that the economic downturn has rocked our industry.
And if this were not enough, fishermen have had to cope with often illogical and counter-productive restrictions from Brussels. This especially brought pain to west coast fishermen.
The impact of the recession and restrictions meant that, at the start of the year, many skippers were saying they wouldn't have enough effort to catch their quotas. But the opposite is now the case with quotas being exhausted before effort.
Positive outlook for industry
But we must not lose sight of the achievements of an industry that produces the world's best seafood.
- Scotland's valuable pelagic sector is thriving. Some firms are even recording record profits.
- Of Scotland's most important stocks, where the scientific status is known, 9 out of 14 are fished sustainably.
- Over half of Scottish fisheries by value are accredited by the Marine Stewardship Council
- Our award-winning "Eat More Fish" campaign has already helped deliver a 10% increase in the sales of Scottish seafood this year
So, let's remember that the Scottish fishing industry has real resilience. And a real future.
Autumn negotiations
But of course, between now and Christmas, we face a serious of vital and difficult negotiations that will set the scene for 2010.
To reflect the ongoing improvement in cod stocks, the North Sea management plan will deliver a significant TAC increase for the third year in a row.
There is good news on some of our herring stocks where the decline in the North Sea stock seems to have bottomed out and there will be a 12% increase in the West of Scotland quota.
I will be fighting hard to secure sustainable increases in the valuable monkfish and megrim quotas, and to secure sensible management measures for our West Coast whitefish stocks.
We also need to take strong action to safeguard the long-term sustainability of our lucrative nephrops stocks - our most valuable stock. Due to a change in methodology, scientific advice has recommended significant cuts in TACs on the west coast. We are pleased that the Commission is backtracking and more realistic proposals are now on the table.
And we are working hard to ensure Scotland gets a fair deal and a level playing field from the coastal States and EU-Norway negotiations that are so important for our pelagic industry and where many whitefish quotas are set.
And the issue of overfishing by other pelagic fleets is high on our agenda given the potential impact on the future of our stocks. Securing a fair and long-term deal on mackerel is a hugely important priority this year.
However, as the Chamber will be aware, efforts to rebuild cod stocks continue to dominate European negotiations and impact on vessels that catch cod.
I said earlier that the Cod Recovery Plan has been challenging for Scotland. There will be further cuts in effort this year and next. We continue to seek changes to how the plan is implemented in our waters, and to ensure that our fleet can buy back days be adopting cod avoidance measures. But managing effort in the cod recovery zone is a tall order and will require the industry and government to continue working closely together.
The science tells us that cod stocks are fragile and we do need a recovery plan. We ignore that advice at our peril.
But we must ensure that conservation measures already in place, such as Real Time Closures and selective gear, are given the credit they deserve in terms of effort buy-back.
Scottish fishermen must get the rewards that they rightly deserve.
But let's not forget that we have already done much to mitigate the impact of effort cuts. Indeed, the North Sea Scottish whitefish fleet was able to avoid over half of the proposed 25% cut by adopting new conservation measures.
Discards
But I hope we can all agree that we need radical changes in fisheries policy to both secure additional fishing opportunities and at the same time enhance fisheries conservation.
That's why were making the phasing out of discards a priority.
In the North Sea, for every 10 tonnes of cod landed, about 8 tonnes are discarded, and for every 10 tonnes of whiting landed, 15 tonnes are discarded.
Let's be clear that there is no "golden bullet". But some of the marketable discards should surely be made available to the market. That would be a fair reward for our fishermen who have made huge sacrifices to rebuild the stock and for reducing overall fishing effort.
By rewarding our fishermen by allowing them to land more what they catch for reducing overall effort on stocks, we can reduce discards, help our fleet and help fisheries conservation.
Taking discards out of the equation allows the fleet to "catch less but land more".
We are urgently seeking changes to how we regulate Scotland's mixed fishery. We shouldn't have laws that force fishermen to dump overboard, dead back into the sea, good quality and valuable food resources, because they only have quota for one of the species.
If fishermen can't help but catch several species in the same net at the same time then regulations should account for that fact of nature.
Another urgent change we are seeking is to move from regulating the time that vessels spend at sea to regulating time actually spent fishing. The current regime makes targeting the appropriate species in the right areas more difficult because the clock starts ticking when vessels leave port.
Of course, we need a fully audited fishery to give confidence that in return for landing more of what is currently wasted, that the same levels of discarding doesn't continue.
The use of onboard cameras being piloted by some of our vessels may be one way of giving us the degree of confidence that we would need in order to be able to move to a "catch quota" system.
The Future of the CFP
So we need changes now. Scotland is not waiting until 2013 to draw up its own blueprint for fisheries management in Europe. Our independent Inquiry into the Future of Fisheries Management has already delivered its Interim Report.
It has attracted much attention in Europe and beyond. We will be using the report, together with what our fisheries stakeholders have told us, as the basis for our response to the Commission's Green Paper on CFP Reform.
Our guiding principle is that decision-making powers must be returned to Scotland. The one-size fits all, top down CFP has been disastrous for Scotland. Returning power to Scotland would allow us to do what is right for our communities and give us the option of working on a regional basis with neighbouring nations.
Action plan for the future
Presiding officer, we will fight tooth and nail for a good deal for Scotland at these negotiations but no matter the outcome we know that the Scottish industry faces stormy waters ahead. We need to work with the industry to develop a sustainable future.
We have already set in motion many initiatives but the Scottish Government agrees with the industry that we need to do more.
That is why I am announcing today my intention to work with the industry in the coming weeks to develop an action plan that will set out a shared vision for the future of Scottish fisheries.
The action plan will comprise 4 key elements. Firstly, improving the wider framework for fisheries management. Secondly, managing our own current fishing quota and effort allocations in a way that promotes sustainability and profitability. Thirdly, working with the industry to help them maximising the value of the catch. And finally, making sure we have a resilient fleet which is crewed by a skilled workforce.
I have asked officials to work with the industry to develop this clear programme of action by early in 2010.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Presiding Officer, this has been a tough year for our fishing industry and 2010 will also be tough for some sectors.
But we in Scotland are rightly seen as leaders in fisheries management despite the constraints imposed by the CFP and the nature of the devolution settlement.
The Scottish Government will build on our successes and stand shoulder to shoulder with our industry and communities to address the many challenges in the tough times ahead.
I commend the motion to Parliament.