SCOTTISH SEAFOOD SECTOR UNITED AGAINST GOVERNMENT’S HPMA PROPOSALS 

Scottish Seafood Sector United Against Government’s HPMA Proposals

Statement from the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation, Seafood Scotland, Salmon Scotland, Scottish Association of Fish Producers Organisation and Community Fisheries Inshore Alliance.

Scotland’s seafood sector is united in being strongly opposed to the Scottish Government’s proposals to designate at least 10% of Scotland’s seas as Highly Protected Marine Areas (HPMAs) and imposing an unjustified ban on all fishing and fish-farming from large swathes of our seas. HPMAs have united the fishing sector, salmon farmers and a whole host of other businesses in opposition to the proposals which would ban any sort of human activity.

Inside and outside Parliament there is widespread cross-party and community opposition to proposed HPMAs. This echoes the sector’s fears that designating at least 10% of Scotland’s seas as HPMAs will have far-reaching consequences for Scotland’s coastal communities and economies.

The HPMA policy arose from the political ‘Bute House Agreement’ between the Scottish Government and the Scottish Greens. It lacks a proper evidence base and cannot articulate with any clarity what government is aiming to achieve.

There is no robust policy analysis, no data underpinning the process, no time to establish baselines and no models or indicators to measure their effect. In essence, there will be no way of assessing if HPMAs are achieving the government’s very vague and unfocussed aims.

Over a third of Scotland’s seas are already designated for nature conservation through the Marine Protected Area (MPA) network where conservation and sustainable use can be balanced. Stakeholders have been working with government on this for many years, and we believe this is the right route. Our sector is supportive of meaningful and well-founded conservation, but the HPMA policy fails on both these fronts.

Seafood is a key part of Scotland’s transition to net zero, with a mounting body of science showing that greenhouse gas emissions from seafood are equivalent to those of vegetables, and far lower than other forms of protein production. We need policies that support sustainable, low-emission food production like seafood, alongside nature conservation. These proposals for HPMAs threaten that balance, with the government unable to provide any substance to why they believe they are needed.

We call on the Government to listen to those whose livelihoods depend on putting Scottish seafood on people’s plates; those who would be most impacted. The Government has not made the case for why HPMAs are needed, far less where they should be.

We repeat our call to the Scottish Government to rethink these proposals, which many people around Scotland’s coastline don’t support. The government has failed to make the case for HPMAs and the seafood sector should not have to pay the price for this flawed policy.

Either the Scottish Government needs to drop these proposals, or work with marine users to develop a clear consensus on how we balance the need to protect our marine environment and safeguard the tens of thousands of jobs that rely on it.

Source Press Release