Minutes of the 7th Meeting of the Freshwater Fisheries Forum Steering Group held at Strathearn House, Broxden, Perth, on Thursday 21 April 2005.
In attendance:
Gordon Brown - SEERAD (Chairman)
David Dunkley - SEERAD
Manson Wright - SEERAD
Alistair Prior - SEERAD
Mags Nicholson - SEERAD (Secretariat)
Brian Davidson - Association of Salmon Fishery Boards
George Holdsworth - Association of Scottish Stillwater Fisheries
Willie Miller - Consultative Committee on Protection Orders
Professor Peter Maitland - Fish Conservation Centre
Ross Gardiner - Fisheries Research Services
Dr Alastair Stephen - Institute of Fisheries Management
Jane Wright - Rivers and Fisheries Trusts of Scotland
Ian Calcott - Scottish Anglers National Association
Derek Keith - Scottish Campaign for Public Angling
Ron Woods - Scottish Federation for Coarse Angling
Julia Partridge - Scottish Natural Heritage
Miranda Lindsay- Scottish Rural Property and Business Association
Craig Campbell - National Farmers Union (Scotland)
Bob Ritchie - Salmon Net Fishing Association of Scotland
Willie Shearer - Salmon Net Fishing Association of Scotland
Introduction
1. The Chairman welcomed two new members, Alistair Prior from SEERAD who is a member of the team who will be progressing the forthcoming fisheries Bill through Parliament and Julia Partridge from SNH who was deputising for David Howell. The Chairman also informed the meeting that Mags Nicholson had temporarily taken over from Shauna Cranney as Secretariat.
Apologies
2. Apologies were received from Andrew Wallace (ASFB), Seymour Monro (AST), Callum Sinclair (SEPA), Roger Brook (RAFTS), John Armstrong (FRS), Ronnie Picken (SANA), David Howell (SNH) and Jane Davis (British Trout Assoc).
Minutes of Previous Meeting
3. The Steering Group approved the minutes of the last meeting with the following changes:
- Craig Campbell's name should be deleted from list of attendees.
Action - Secretariat to put approved minutes on the SE website.
Matters Arising
Task Matrix
4. The Chairman said that the Task Matrix would need to be updated and a copy put on the website.
Action - Secretariat.
Next Steps
5. The Chairman acknowledged that the Forum had travelled a long way in its discussions about new legislation and felt that one or two more meetings would effectively complete the ground work. Thereafter it was hoped that the Forum could move on to other issues. The Chairman outlined what he saw as the next steps in this process.
- Management and Access - further work required.
- Probably another Forum, late summer, to outline bill content/future plans.
- Steering Group to be kept informed.
- Bill Team will instruct solicitors on policy and seek advice on what we can/cannot do in the Bill.
- Ministers will then be advised about likely Bill content and asked to approve.
- Formal public consultation letter (3 month exercise) in the autumn.
- Period of analysis (winter) to consider responses to consultation.
- Draft Bill (early next year) - possibly consult a second time. [This has now been ruled out due to lack of time.]
- Introduce to Parliament - June 2006, 6-8 months in process
- Royal Assent - May 2007
6. It was agreed that there was a good level of commitment from all SG members on the forthcoming Bill andit would be important to keep the group informed of developments. The main problem pointed out by IFM is one of funding and they have written to every MSP to highlight this issue.
Highlands and Islands Aquaculture Forum
7. Alistair Prior said that Inshore Fisheries issues had already been identified and worked up. The HIAF was due to meet again and the main discussions would be sea lice and escapes.
Action - Alistair Prior to continue to report back on the work of HIAF.
Freshwater Fisheries Forum
The Chairman invited comments on the recent Forum and the resultant transcript. The following comments were made:
- Venue excellent
- Voting System - not very well received, mainly because of the way questions were worded
- Access and Management issues were confusing.
- Not enough time to digest what was being said in presentations
- Should people be allowed to vote on issues that don't affect/interest them?
- Future voting questions should be framed by analytical services within SE
- Additional comments and transcript to go on website?
- Need to look more closely at what material is to be sent out prior to next Forum
Action - SEERAD to report to Minister on outcome of previous Forum and discuss with Steering Group what should be sent out to delegates prior to next Forum. Transcript and additional comments to go on website.
8. Proposals for ban of use of live bait and regulation of angling methods/fishing times
It was agreed to note these issues but no further discussion is required.
Access
The Chairman outlined the issues surrounding access including the options of repealing the 1976 Act or amending it. There followed a discussion of the flaws/weaknesses in the current provisions and the Protection Order system; these are outlined below.
ACCESS OPTIONS
Option
Repeal whole Act
Amend to address following flaws
- Lack of requirement for conservation
- Lack of protection for commercial fisheries, and club waters allowing full access
- No improvement in availability
- History of no requirement for permits PO can reduce access
- Does not necessarily optimise access
- NB conflicts between different anglers
- Fragmented coverage
- Costly process
- Inflexible - piecemeal coverage
- No monitoring required
- Liaison Group reports on angling
- On conservation
- No minimum standards for access set
- [No assurance of access to fish for species other than BT]
- "public waters"?
- advise of PO when property changes hands
Other issues:
- difficult to get rid of a PO
- universal imposition within an area
- wardens
More:
- wording of the Act - who may apply?
- Application help bad, documentation poor
- Consultative Committee - not democratic - not specified in the Act, not transparent, needs constitution, Terms of Reference
Yet more:
PM Need Act, Consultative Committee, Must Report, Report should be public and reviewed.
Action - Secretariat to consider how above flaws might be remedied. Paper to be circulated to SG members prior to next SG meeting.
Management
9. Following discussion it was agreed that there was need for the Management sub-group to reconvene to take account of the Forum discussion and further refine their proposals. The next meeting for the Management Sub-Group was scheduled to take place on 13 May at 12:30pm at Greathill House, Stirling.
A.O.B
11. The Scottish Federation for Coarse Angling had circulated Paper SFFF SG 7/5 prior to the meeting. The paper invited the Group to consider regulation of activities associated with the removal of fish. It was generally agreed by the Group that culling or removal of established species should be subject to regulation and that all species should be covered by licences. Approval would have to be sought from SEERAD along the lines of birds/seal licence applications.
Action - SEERAD to consider what will be involved in the licensing process and application form.
12. Date and place of next meeting
25 May 2005 at 10:00am, venue to be confirmed. It was also agreed that another Freshwater Fisheries Forum would take place around August/ September and would probably be held in Battleby.