3. To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the letter from the Scottish Creel Fishermen’s Federation, offering to assist with progressing fisheries management issues, including highly protected marine areas. (S6O-02294)

We received a letter, dated 22 May 2023, from the Scottish Creel Fishermen’s Federation, offering assistance, as the member said, in progressing various matters, including inshore fisheries management initiatives. We are in the process of considering the points that were made and will respond in due course.

Of course, the SCFF is involved in our co-management groups, and I encourage the federation to continue to support the fisheries management and conservation group and Regional Inshore Fisheries Group network.

Scotland has a legal duty to manage our seas to a good environmental status, which includes minimising sea bed damage and maintaining fish stocks and wider biodiversity. Supporting low-impact fishers, such as creelers and divers, will help us to achieve that commitment while maintaining jobs in fishing. Does the Cabinet secretary agree that creelers and scallop divers must be at the heart of fisheries management policies that will complement HPMAs?

The member narrates very accurately much of what was put to us by the SCFF, which we are now considering very carefully. As part of delivering the United Kingdom marine strategy and ensuring good environmental status, we will shortly publish an updated programme of measures to include actions to improve the status of our sea bed. That will include working directly with fishing industry and international partners to focus on identifying practical and achievable actions to reduce pressures on the habitats that are most at risk. I commit to working with all fishers and wider communities to ensure that we have a healthy marine environment, including for commercial stocks, which, of course, are critical to maintaining jobs in the industry.

Brendan O’Hara, the Scottish National Party’s Chief Whip at Westminster, has written to 11,000 householders in Argyll and Bute, to encourage them to write to the First Minister over the ill-thought-out, ill-conceived HPMAs. In doing so, he has joined thousands of stakeholders and MSPs from across the chamber in condemning the policy. The process takes as fact that at least 10 per cent of our seas will be designated as HPMAs, which makes a mockery of the consultation. The Scottish Government is clearly only interested in discussing where HPMAs will be imposed and not whether there is a case for creating them. That is bad policy making.

The Deputy Presiding Officer:

Could we please have a question, Mr Carson?

Will the consultation ask only the question where the HPMAs will be in at least 10 per cent of our seas, or will it also ask whether 10 per cent of our seas should, indeed, be HPMAs?

I cannot quite believe that, this far down the line, Finlay Carson has obviously still not read the consultation. It is an incredibly broad suite of questions; there is not just the one that he has characterised but a great deal more about what ought to constitute an HPMA or what the site selection might be—running through blue carbon, ecosystem recovery, leisure and fish stocks. For goodness’ sake—he should read the consultation before he comes here and asks the Government questions that have no bearing on reality.

Creelers, divers and, indeed, the whole fishing community want to protect our seas, because doing so is crucial to their survival, yet their expertise appears to be ignored. Does the Cabinet secretary agree that we need a joined-up fisheries management approach, which must be designed with and by the fishing community? How does she intend to re-engage creelers, divers and the fishing community, who have been alienated by the HPMA proposals?

I absolutely agree with the first point about interconnectivity between healthy marine environment and support for people who rely economically on the seas. That goes to the heart of our blue economy vision and what we hope to achieve through our marine environment policies. I direct Rhoda Grant to the work that is due to be on-going with the development of national marine plan 2. That will be a critical means by which we develop policies for our marine space, noting, of course, the increasing squeeze that is playing out there. As with the development of HPMAs, marine protected areas and priority marine features, we will engage widely with all of those who have an interest as we develop national marine plan 2.