Throughout the consultation on the Scottish Government’s plans for Highly Protected Marine Areas (HPMAs) I have engaged with the fishing industry on their concerns which they have raised with me at great length.
One major concern is that the proposals in Scotland restrict almost twenty times as much as the UK Government’s similarly laid plans do for English waters.
I recently wrote to Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affiar Mairi Gougeon MSP on the impact the proposals would have on Scotland’s fishing fleet and asked her why HPMAs in Scottish waters are being implemented on an immediately permanent basis and not on a trial/pilot period like the rest of the United Kingdom.
I continue to meet with industry leaders to discuss the proposals which will encroach on sustainable fishing activity across communities in my constituency of Banff and Buchan and around the rest of Scotland.
I also asked Ms Gougeon on what scientific basis does the amount of HPMA coverage in Scottish waters (10%) needs to be almost twenty times as much as the UK Government plans for English waters (0.53%).
We already have 37% of Scottish waters protected under the existing MPA network and there appears to be no justifiable scientific rationale behind the proposals which would squeeze fishing vessels out of large areas of sea.
What is absolutely clear to me time and time again, is that there is a total disconnect between policy makers in Edinburgh and people who actually work and know the fishing industry inside out in areas such as Banff and Buchan.
Edinburgh-based government ministers and policy makers seem to have little or no understanding of the devastating consequences these HPMA proposals will have on the sector.
I therefore welcome my MSP colleague Rachael Hamilton’s opposition in the Scottish Parliament to the HPMA proposals put forward by the SNP-Green government.
Rachael and my Scottish Conservative colleagues are absolutely right to develop this policy position which urges the SNP and Greens to go back to the drawing board – or at least to show us their workings!
Like almost everyone I talk to in the industry, Scottish Conservatives are not fundamentally against the principle of conservation – far from it – but plans must be based on a sound scientific basis and not just on ideological grounds which these seem to be.
It was no surprise to see Kate Forbes MSP suddenly put her head above the parapet and voice her disapproval at these plans when she needed votes in the final days of her failed SNP leadership bid.
But Ms Forbes, who reportedly rejected the opportunity of taking the Rural Affairs Cabinet position when she lost the leadership race, was silent on HPMAs when the plans were first put forward by the SNP-Green Government.
Political games are the last thing the industry needs when their livelihoods are at stake due to ill-informed policy decisions from this SNP Government.
With or without the Scottish Greens, the SNP’s policy remains to re-join the European Union and of course the hated Common Fisheries Policy.
And Scotland’s new First Minister, Humza Yousaf, appears to have no more care for the sector than his predecessor, has never visited the north-east from his constituency in Glasgow to speak with the industry, and never even mentioned the word ‘fish’ when talking about the Scottish economy.
I look forward to receiving Mairi Gougeon’s response to my letter and I will be sure to update the industry on what she has to say about what lies behind these rash plans which could have devastating consequences for one of Scotland’s key industries and coastal communities.
