Fisheries debate

Scotland’s Fisheries Minister Richard Lochhead will take part in fisheries debate in Parliament today, ahead of the important Fisheries Council next week.

During the debate Mr Lochhead will reiterate the need make sure that steps are taken to follow the recommendations made by the Smith Commission that stronger arrangements be put in place to properly involve the Scottish Ministers in representing the UK in the European Union.

He will also outline Scotland’s key priorities ahead of the Council meeting, including the importance of the first stage of discard ban, which will come into force in January.

Speaking ahead of the debate he said:

“Following on from the Smith Commission recommendations the UK Government must keep their promise to fully involve Scottish Ministers in the development of the UK position.

“It is still our view that Scotland should lead on fisheries negotiations, when it is appropriate to do so, given Scotland has the predominant UK interest in many areas of fisheries management.

“We cannot have a situation arise again in future where Scottish fishing interests – including the fishing fleet, our coastal communities and wider seafood sectors - are not given the strongest possible voice, where Scotland’s Fisheries Minister is forced to watch as a less experienced junior UK Minister is drafted in at the last minute to lead on important discussions affecting Scotland’s fishing industry.

“Whilst at Council next week in addition to securing the best outcome across a range of quotas for our fishermen I will raise the issue of the landing obligation which comes into force next year. Otherwise known as the discard ban, it will fundamentally change the way we fish and as a result we simply must rethink the fundamentals of how we manage fishing. At Council I will also raise the importance of needing to begin to develop without delay new fisheries management approaches to enable effective delivery of the discard ban while maintaining the viability of European fleets.”