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CHAPTER ONE: SAFEGUARDING OUR FISHING RIGHTS - THE FUTURE OF QUOTA AND LICENSING IN SCOTLAND - CONSULTATION

THE FUTURE OF FISHING IN SCOTLAND - CONSULTATION

The following proposals aim to help deliver sustainable economic growth, and encourage a vibrant, confident fishing industry and associated communities. The Scottish Government needs your views on the proposals and encourages you to suggest any further ideas, which may have not been considered here.

Who might be affected by the proposals?

The fish catching sector in Scotland, all Scottish licence holders and businesses holding quota will be affected directly by these proposals. In addition, fishing communities, along with consumers and the wider public, all have a stake in the future of our seafood industry.

How will the proposals be taken forward?

Standard consultation arrangements allow for a 12 week consultation period. Written comments are therefore requested by 21 August 2008.

Members of the Scottish Government Marine Directorate will be holding meetings with stakeholders around the coast of Scotland in the coming weeks. These meetings will provide an opportunity for members of Fishermen's Associations, POs and other relevant organisations, businesses, and those with a direct interest in Scottish fishing more generally to discuss our proposals. Further details of these stakeholder events will be at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Home. Copies of the consultation document are available from the Scottish Government website http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Consultations/Currentand at local Scottish fishery offices.

Once we have analysed responses to this document, a post-consultation report will be produced setting out our conclusions and proposed changes to the current management arrangements in Scotland. Scottish quota management rules for 2009, along with revised licensing arrangements, will also be drafted and consulted upon in autumn 2008.

The Scottish quota management and licensing system will be implemented from January 2009. Any changes will be phased in, with the most straightforward changes being in place for the start of the 2009 fishing year. Proposed changes such as a web-based quota management system would require further work, and would, if accepted, more likely to be introduced from 2010.

Contact Details

Comments are invited by mail or email and should be sent to:

Malcolm MacLeod

Email: quotamanagement@scotland.gsi.gov.uk
Tel: 0131 244 4766/6436
Fax: 0131 244 6288

The Scottish Government may make the responses to this consultation paper available to the public and to the Scottish Parliament. We will acknowledge responses and may publish an analysis of the responses after the consultation. If you respond to this consultation, you are requested to complete the enclosed Respondee Information Form. This will ensure that we handle your responses appropriately.

NB The email address above is only to be used for responses to this consultation.

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