Dave Thompson MSP

Dave Thompson SNP MSP for Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch yesterday (Tues 9th Dec) in the Scottish Parliament’s Fishing Debate called for the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs to argue strongly at the EU for the ending of the Discards Ban, which is claimed to be unworkable and impractical, if he does not get a suitable agreement on quotas next month or if the discards Ban does not work for the pelagic fleet next year.

Mr Thompson also highlighted the Fisherman’s Association Ltd (FAL) decision to have nothing to do with the Scottish Discards Steering Group and their call for the Scottish Government to lead UK fishing negotiations with the EU given that the Scottish fleet lands 80% of the UK catch and that the fishing industry is such a substantial part of the Scottish economy.

Mr Thompson said:

“The Fishermen’s Association Ltd’s recent submission to the Smith commission backs my view that Scotland is not being served well by the UK in EU fishing negotiations.

He went on:

“FAL also told the Scottish Discards Steering Group on 27 November that they have no desire to be further involved in discussions on the discards ban, which they describe as unworkable and impractical, fearing that it will crush what is left of the industry.

He finished with:

“The Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs should argue strongly for the ending of the Discards Ban if he does not get a suitable agreement on quotas next month or if the Discards Ban does not work for the pelagic fleet next year.

“If that means defying Brussels on this important issue, so be it.

“As a Lossie loon fae a fishin toun masel, Ah’m wi Avoch loon, Sandy Patience, and FAL, as they strive to protect their way of life, heritage and birthright.

Notes:

Below is Dave’s speech. The Official Report can be viewed at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/28862.aspx?r=9680#.VIh9DaKGFjQ

• Dave Thompson (Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch) (SNP)

This is, indeed, an important debate that precedes the implementation in January of what many believe will be the final nail in the coffin of Scottish fishing—the discards ban.

The Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Food and Environment, Richard Lochhead, has done the best that he has been able to do for our fishermen for many years, despite having his hands tied behind his back by the Westminster Government and a dysfunctional EU common fisheries policy.

Baron de Mauley has been mentioned. Far be it from me to criticise him, but such was the confidence of the Scottish Fishermen’s Organisation in him that it described him as “clueless” and said that it

“doubted that he had spent much time on Eton’s playing fields discussing black scabbards and the discards ban.

I could not have put it better myself. What that episode illustrates is that, yet again, the UK Government has treated us with contempt and cannot be relied on in crucial EU negotiations that concern Scottish fisheries.

Of course, we all had a chance to untie the cabinet secretary’s hands on 18 September but, unfortunately, we did not take it. We loosened the knots, but full freedom for the cabinet secretary—and the rest of us—is yet to come. The Scottish National Party Government has done all that it has been able to do to protect our fishermen and fishing communities, but we have not been able to do so to the extent that we would have liked—not because of lack of will, but because of lack of power.

I was born and brought up in the great fishing town of Lossiemouth, whose harbour was packed with fishing boats when I was a boy and whose school delivered qualifications in navigation, such was the demand for fishermen in Lossiemouth. Indeed, one of my first jobs at the age of 12 was heading and tailing prawns after school in the fish shed that belonged to the well-known local firm, Seagull. I also led my first strike there at the age of 14, when we prawn boys walked out after a dispute over pay.

Many of my family went to sea, and some of them still go to sea. We have, of course, suffered our share of tragedy, as all families in fishing communities have. I have been to sea a number of times in the Moray Firth, the Minch and off the Butt of Lewis, but only for a day at a time. Some people, including Sandy Patience of the Fishermen’s Association Ltd, have spent their lives there. I can also lay claim to having written the SNP’s fishing policy in the 1970s, when we responded to the Opposition claim that SNP stood for “still no policies”.

Therefore, as someone who has great empathy with our fishing industry, I found it particularly galling to listen to Bertie Armstrong, chief executive of the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation, backing the better together campaign and the UK in the referendum. He backed a UK that sold out our fishermen in 1971, when the Tories signed us up for Europe; a UK that cares so little about fishing that it sent an inexperienced junior Tory to represent us in Brussels; and a UK that is currently reneging—or trying as best it can to renege—on its vow to give extensive powers to this Parliament.

I presume that Armstrong spoke on behalf of the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation, but I am sure that he did not speak for many of our fishing communities, and it is possible that he did not speak for many of his organisation’s members. I suggest that those members need to decide whether they have the right leadership.

Armstrong is not totally uncritical of the UK, however, and has described the discard ban as a “shining beacon of dysfunction”, but he still insists, in his briefing for today’s debate, that there is a bright future for Scottish fishing. Does he really believe that, or is he wearing his rose-tinted UK specs again? I hope that he is right, but it does not look good unless we get the discards ban right.

In contrast with Armstrong, the Fishermen’s Association Ltd’s recent submission to the Smith commission backs my view that Scotland is not being served well by the UK in EU fishing negotiations. It states that, because the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs holds the power in all EU and UK fisheries matters, that puts Scotland in a marginalised position, which results in decisions being taken that are not in the best interests of Scotland.

FAL maintains that Scotland should be able to lead the UK in the EU on fisheries, especially given the importance of fishing to the Scottish economy. FAL rightly points to the unmitigated disaster that the common fisheries policy has been to the Scottish and, indeed, UK fishing industry. The association’s chairman, Sandy Patience of Avoch, whom I know well, told the Scottish discards steering group on 27 November that FAL has no desire to be further involved in the discards ban, which he describes as unworkable and impractical, fearing that it will crush what is left of the industry. I fear that he is right.

Although I support the cabinet secretary in his efforts to implement what is a flawed policy, I ask him to be ready to argue for its abandonment if he does not get a suitable agreement next week in these—as the motion says—“pivotal” negotiations or if the policy does not work for the pelagic fleet next year. If that means defying Brussels on this important issue, so be it.

As a Lossie loon fae a fishin toun masel, Ah’m wi Avoch loon, Sandy Patience, and FAL, as they strive to protect their way of life, heritage and birthright.