5. To ask the First Minister what support the Scottish Government is providing to the inshore fishing industry. (S5F-01941)

The Scottish Government recognises the importance of fishing to many of our coastal communities. Through our inshore fisheries strategy, we are working with fishing businesses and organisations around Scotland to deliver a more sustainable, profitable and well-managed inshore sector. Our work includes conservation measures for important inshore species, the provision of support for inshore fisheries groups and a £1.5 million programme of investment to improve data collection from our inshore fishing fleet.

The First Minister is aware of the great importance of the role that the scallop fishing industry plays in the economy of the south-west of Scotland. I believe that she was scheduled to discuss issues regarding the 2012 fisheries management agreement with the Chief Minister of the Isle of Man this morning, and I sincerely hope that those discussions were successful.

I raised concerns about the potential introduction by the Isle of Man of conservation measures that were more about protectionism than conservation back in August 2017 in a letter to the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Economy and Connectivity, Fergus Ewing. Why did it take until late December for the cabinet secretary to take any meaningful action on the concerns of the scallop fleet? Why has it taken the intervention of the First Minister to sort out the mess, which is partly due to the late intervention of Fergus Ewing? Will she apologise on behalf of her cabinet secretary for the unnecessary inconvenience and deep concern that have been caused to the Scottish scallop fleet and associated businesses?

The First Minister:

I will deal with Finlay Carson’s comments about the Scottish Government by putting on record some of the comments of those who work in the sector. The chief executive of the Scottish White Fish Producers Association has talked about the

“Great support for our Scallop fishermen from the Scottish Government”; and West Coast Sea Products, which is a Kirkcudbright-based processor and owner of vessels, has said that it welcomes the action that is being taken by the Scottish Government to invoke the dispute resolution process. The Scottish Government has been acting on behalf of our scallop fishermen.

As Finlay Carson said, I spoke to the Chief Minister of the Isle of Man this morning. I made very clear our opposition to the restrictions that the Isle of Man has put in place and our strong view—which I accept that the Isle of Man disagrees with—that those restrictions breach the fisheries management agreement that is in place. I also said that we would use the dispute resolution mechanism in the event that a resolution is not found.

I am glad to say that this morning’s discussion with the Chief Minister was very constructive and positive. The Isle of Man will review its position, and I am very hopeful that we will reach a mutually satisfactory resolution of the issue within the next week. Hopefully, we will reach a position that is in the interests of our scallop fishermen. If we do, that will be partly because of the action that Fergus Ewing has been taking.