Fishing 2006

Comparisons

Just occasionally you realise that someone in government actually 'gets it' about fishing. The nearest we got in this year's fishing debate in the Scottish Parliament came when former minister, Jim Wallace, discussed the role of Norway in determining the access Scottish fishermen have to key fishing grounds and some of the history of the industry.

Jim harked back to his days in Westminster and to his saying in 1988, “I welcome the opportunity of this debate in advance of the meeting of the Council of Ministers ... It will help the Minister to understand how anxious hon. Members on both sides of the House are about the drastic cuts in the total allowable catch, particularly those for cod and haddock“.

Sixteen years later, the continuing failure of the EU's Common Fisheries Policy to address our needs, or the needs of conservation, leaves us still anxious about total allowable catches for cod and haddocks. More interesting, and a more significant revelation, was his understanding of the strength that Norway, a country with a smaller population than Scotland, has in its negotiations with the EU.

Jim Wallace described the talks between Norway and the Community as “fundamentally important” to the haddock quotas our industry ends up with. And of course he is correct.

But is very revealing of the nature of the Liberal – Labour coalition government that we have in Scotland that such a Liberal feels he can only speak when he has left office, the self-evident truth that independent Norway, outside the CFP, holds the whip hand. Such is the price that the Liberals pay for their ministerial Mondeos.

Such is the price that our industry pays because of it.

Our Northern Competitors

The end of February saw a further visit to the North-East by former Icelandic fisherman, now advisor to the Faroes, Jón Kristjánsson. I first met Jón at a fisheries meeting held at the Ban-Car hotel in March 2003 when he described the very different approach being taken by the very small, but important, administration in the Faroes.

Focusing on effort and not on quotas, they eliminate the hated discards and have seen their stocks rise. Sigurjón Thórdarson, an Icelandic MP, came with Jón to Peterhead and brought a sense of despair about Iceland's quota system all too familiar to our fishermen.

Even with a more hands on approach than in Scotland – and not many of our fishermen are asking for tighter controls – the diminution in stocks could be seen in the graphs that Sigi ran through with me.

The diagrams on the Faroes' fishing effort and stock were startling. A clear cyclical variation in stock levels could be seen over the greater part of a century.

Particularly interesting in support of his case that stopping fishing was not the answer, was the stock graph during the Second World War. With virtually no fishing between 1939 and 1945, we nonetheless saw no difference in the shape of the stock graph over, or immediately after, that period. It gave dramatic strength to the argument that the EU's policy of removing our fishing boats from the sea would not help stocks.

Sigi's concerns about Iceland's fishing industry mirror ours. He clearly hopes that new alliances across national boundaries can persuade governments to look to the Faroes for a new approach.

On Shore

The tensions that exist from time to time between different parts of the fishing industry are not surprising given the interdependencies between them and need for each to make a living.

A vibrant processing sector which produces 'ready meals' and 'added-value' products generally is vital to provide a market for the catchers' landings. The traditional 'wet fish' trade is no longer the staple that it once was and the fish-and-chip shops don't buy much of the new species being landed.

So if our processors hurt, catchers suffer. The resignation of Professor Alexander as boss of Scottish Water illustrates the conflict between government and that industry. And early signs of spill-over into fish processing are there. The key problem has been chronic under-investment in sewers and supply.

And the Liberal – Labour government's insistence on recovery of capital expenditure in just a few years. For processors it has meant that the increasingly high standards governing waste discharge from sewage plants, coming largely - as with the CFP - from Europe, simply cannot be met by Scottish Water with their existing systems.

And the necessary investment to build plant which can accept fish-processors' sewage and convert it to sufficiently pure output, cannot be afforded under government rules. The result? We may see boats having to be paid to take processors' waste 12 miles out to dump it!

Processors being compelled to solve a problem more properly Scottish Water's. This is one issue we deal with ourselves in Scotland. The Liberal – Labour government simply has to come up with a sensible program of support for our water industry that helps our vital shore-based fish processors.

Numbers

Many years ago I was taught by a charismatic maths teacher.

“Doc” Ingles was a blunt Yorkshireman with a ferociously short, military haircut and occasionally a demeanour to match.

Full of eccentricities, he fascinated his pupils as much as he alarmed them. On the anniversary of our headmaster’s appointment he – the deputy head – wore a black tie. He thought he should have the job.

First year pupils would be taken around the school looking for infinity. I remember accompanying a search of the school dustbins, peering behind the blackboards and investigating the outside toilets.

We did not find infinity. But we retained the idea that it was a concept rather than a number.

The sixth year had an annual treat when they worked though his tax return. Was this to equip us for the future when we too would have to undertake that task? Or was it to show us how ill-rewarded even a senior maths teacher was?

Either, neither or both – we never found out. But the time spent with “Doc” was time well spent.

In the last few years the number of maths teachers has shrunk dramatically. Over a period during which our society’s need for numeracy has grown.

The craze for sudoku – a numbers based puzzle now appearing daily in certain papers – is hardly as important as our ability to manage money, remember PINs, understand statistics, but is a faint encouragement that numbers might become “cool”.

In Parliament last week, numbers once again moved to centre stage.

First we had a debate on student debt. Followed quickly by a round of health statistics at First Minister’s Questions. Only this week, mathematician and First Minister, Jack McConnell was in Africa. So lawyer, holder of a sixth form certificate in statistics, and Deputy First Minister, Jim Wallace was standing in.

Now exchanges between Nicola Sturgeon and the First Minister on the subject of the NHS at Question time are not new. The answer to “Is it working?” is probably what will win or lose the 2007 Scottish Parliament election.

Did the stand-in do better than the main man against Nicola?

Imagine that you standing in line for health care. The people in front of you will take varying times with the doctor. What matters to you is how long you wait.

To measure how well we are doing let us see how long the person in the middle of the queue has to wait for treatment. If the person in the middle has to wait longer this month than last it might be because there more people in the queue this month. Or maybe the queue is just moving slower.

If you get to front of the queue from the middle position faster than last month, the result is happiness. Longer to wait, result – grumpiness.

This way of looking at things is what government statisticians describe as "the most robust measurement of performance" – the median time to be technical about it.

The trouble is that if you are in the middle of the NHS queue you were waiting 5 days longer this month to enter hospital and six more days for an outpatient appointment.

So trying to defend the government’s record is difficult even if you have a certificate in statistics.

Our student debt debate suggested that fewer will have such a certificate in future.

An average graduate ends up with £18,500 in debts at the end of their course. Another year and more debt to train as a teacher hardly makes the profession attractive.

And for female graduates doubly so.

Many women will spend some years out of their chosen profession for child-rearing and may only work part-time thereafter.

If their earnings don’t exceed about £22,000 their debt will keep growing. In the worst cases women could end their working lives with between £30,000 and £40,000 owing to the Student Loan Company.

Because the repayments are through the tax system and until earning over £22,000 the debt piles up faster than the repayments.

So we take the risk that numeracy will decline as even fewer maths graduates pass on their skills and knowledge. Even fewer First Ministers, or their deputies, will understand the numbers they bandy about in Parliament.

Do We Kerr?

The National Health Service has been a topic of big debate for years. And with the resignation of the Chair of NHS24, many of the thoughts of people in our area are confirmed.

Recent changes in the NHS have not seemed to benefit the Broch. The revised “Out of Hours” GP service has led many to visit me at my surgeries.

Not everyone knows that only one town in Scotland with a population over 10,000 is more than an hour’s travel away from a major Accident and Emergency Unit – Yes, it is Fraserburgh.

So the report on the NHS which was laid before Parliament last week by Professor Kerr may matter a great deal to us.

Although we had statement by and questions to the Health Minister – also Kerr; Andy Kerr – it was well short of a full debate on current NHS issues and the professor’s conclusions. The government do not wish to have that until after the summer break.

They have promised a period of consultation on the Kerr report. So the challenge for members of the public is to read the report and respond. There will probably be a meeting on the topic in the North East over the next few months.

But if we do not make our views known, it will be assumed that we do not care about our NHS.
I will be responding and feeding in as many views of our communities as I can.
Show Kerr you care. Health Minister Andy Kerr that is.

Two Hundred up and Counting

Speaking about counting – or do I mean counting about speaking – this week saw me pass a significant personal milestone. My contribution to the debate on Ageism is the NHS was my 200th speech in Parliament.

Since my first speech on fishing nearly four years ago, I have spoken on every subject area, written about 120,000 words in articles, held 296 surgeries, driven 150,000 miles, asked 1,100 questions, attended over 1,000 constituency events and sent countless letters.

Now I will need to count other MSPs’ speeches and see where I stand in the statistics.