Fish Discards

I, like many across the North-east and Scotland as a whole, have been closely following the talks in Brussels between Fisheries Ministers on reducing the wasteful discards which plague the industry.

Happily, talks finally concluded in the early hours of Wednesday morning with an agreement having been reached which promises workable measures to tackle the discarding of fish. The newly agreed upon discard rules - which will now be put before Members of the European Parliament for final negotiation - will be introduced between 2014 and 2019 as part of the reform of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) and will improve the sustainable management of our valuable fisheries

The UN says Europe has the world's worst record of throwing away fish. Almost a quarter of all catches go back overboard dead because they are not the fish the crews intended to catch.

Throughout Europe, it is estimated that up to one million tonnes of fish are discarded every year which means if the EU had failed to act then hundreds of millions of pounds of fish would continue to be wasted over the next decade.

The Scottish Government has long been pushing for a ban on discards throughout the Common Fisheries Policy negotiations and Ministers had been calling on Europe to agree a policy which was both free of loopholes, and also workable for fishermen, especially in the North Sea where the complexities of mixed fisheries are very apparent.

No one in Scotland was in any doubt that the existing top-down, one-size-fits-all Common Fisheries Policy has failed for the last 30 years and that what was required was the development of a flexible, workable, and enforceable discards package which supports the shared goal of sustainable fisheries across Europe.

The Scottish Government, and in particular, Fisheries Minister Richard Lochhead MSP, are determined to ensure that the final policies both allow for our fishermen to access their legitimate fishing opportunities as well as support the future viability of the industry.

While significant progress has been made on reducing discards there is still a lot of work to be done in eradicating the practice and the Scottish Fishing Industry is playing its role and is continuing the trend of leading the way in devising technology to reduce the discarding of fish. Indeed, since 2007 Scottish discards of cod have almost halved. I was, therefore, proud to table a parliamentary motion last week commending the Scottish fishing industry for their development of pioneering trawls that reduce discards of white fish, including cod, allowing for more fishing days for those vessels equipped with the new nets.

Working in partnership with the Scottish Government, the new designs of prawn trawl have achieved reductions of over 60% of unwanted cod caught when compared to a standard trawl, with one of the designs having the ability to reduce the cod by-catch by 87%. Trials conducted by the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation have also shown that the new trawls can achieve a 67% reduction in unwanted haddock and 64% fall in whiting, as well as achieving the required reductions in the cod catch.

These advances not only conserve cod and other whitefish, but also had the added advantage of the associated increase in the number of days the vessels using the new trawls can go to sea.

Industry-driven innovation of this sort is crucial to the future of our nation and this development promises to have a positive effect on both the green efforts of the Scottish people and the Scottish economy. I will continue to support the fishing industry in their efforts to innovate and develop better ways of plying their trade, and hope that other industries follow their lead in combining conservation and business.

Climate Justice

Perspective in all matters is important, and a subtle change in perspective can change one’s understanding of a subject altogether.

A recent Scottish Parliament debate highlighted the work that the Scottish Human Rights Commission is undertaking across various policy areas and the contributions covered everything from community justice to human trafficking.

Climate change, an issue I take very seriously and have worked on in various capacities for a long time is often framed solely as an economic obstacle, or an abstract problem for science. Indeed, all too often, the real-life impact of climate change on human life is overlooked.

I used my speech in this human rights debate to highlight the on-going climate justice campaign; a geographically wide topic, but one that is relatively narrow in policy terms. It is an area in which the global rich impose an inescapable cost on the global poor. The idea of climate justice is, essentially, viewing climate change through a lens of human rights and equality.

In 2009, the United Nations Human Rights Council observed that

“Human rights obligations and commitments have the potential to inform and strengthen international and national policy making in the area of climate change.”

The Scottish Government has made great progress in engaging with the human rights and climate change agenda and developing solutions and policy on the world scale. The establishment of the pioneering Climate Justice Fund is just one example and is complimented by other far-reaching initiatives such as the memorandum of understanding with the Inter-American Development Bank; carbon capture work with the Republic of South Africa; commonwealth saltire professional fellowships and many more. Each of these sees Scotland’s expertise in a variety of fields being recognised, and put to good use in resolving one of the greatest challenges we face on our planet.

Climate justice itself encompasses a wide range of issues and policy areas, several of which have been by laid down by The Mary Robinson Foundation - Climate Justice (MRFCJ), an organisation whose work I follow closely.

For example, the MRFCJ highlights gender equality and the disproportionate impact on the world’s women as being of critical importance.

As temperatures rise across the globe, aridity follows and crop failures are an inevitable consequence. In many of the poorest countries in the world, women are at the front line. They are the primary farmers, who now have less food and have to walk further for fuel and water. It is in this area that the impacts appear to be happening fastest and the effects have the most direct potential to kill adults and, especially, children.

Just as crucial to efforts to improve climate justice is the issue of migration, and the inevitable consequence of poverty, the mass movement of peoples into areas that are, often only a little, less poor. We cannot morally live with a policy and practice of spreading the poverty around more widely and solutions must be developed to support communities where they are.

In all of these respects we have to help countries around the world mitigate the effects of climate change, and we should all take great pride Scotland and the Scottish Government are working in partnership with organisations around the world to do just that. In so doing we are all supporting efforts towards international development and equality, and reinforcing Scotland’s reputation as a progressive, modern country, willing to cooperate with global efforts. However, we need to be just as committed as individuals and citizens to turning down the world’s thermostat, and can do so by acting and consuming responsibly in our own homes and communities, and continue setting the example for others.