Tag Archives: Daniel Lawson
Documentary reveals exploitative working conditions on board gill netters
ISLES MP Alistair Carmichael is to lobby the UK Government and other relevant organisations to put pressure on Germany after yet more revelations about the fleet of foreign gill netters operating in Shetland waters. Working conditions described as “just one step removed from modern slavery” have been uncovered on board a number of Spanish-owned and German-registered gill netters catching monkfish. A 30-minute programme by German public broadcaster NDR documents how the Indonesian crews on board the Pesorsa Dos and Ortegal Tres are working 12-hour days, sometimes for a whole year with no day off, and being paid 800 euros (around £700) per month. Video, >click to read< 13:52
Shetland fishing industry ‘flung by the wayside’ for offshore wind farms
Addressing a session during the parliamentary Westminster Energy, Environment & Transport Forum policy conference, Shetland Fishermen’s Association (SFA) executive officer Daniel Lawson said his industry had “big concerns” over the UK’s plans for renewables off the islands. “All of the things we saw with the onset of oil, protection, partnership, working consideration, consultation, compensation, they’ve all been largely abandoned so far in this rush towards offshore wind development,” he told delegates. Mr Lawson said the organisation, which represents 115 member vessels, was dismayed by news of the latest round of offshore wind licensing as part of the Crown Estate Scotland’s ScotWind clearing process. >click to read< 09:55
It’s hard to go green if you’re facing the red
It is a fact brought back into focus by the war in Ukraine. For decades, governments have promoted and promised a move away from oil and gas, getting ever greener, at least in their messaging, in response to the justified eco-concerns of modern-day voters, writes Daniel Lawson, newly appointed executive officer at the Shetland Fishermen’s Association. Now energy costs are rising even higher, our reliance on imports is being called into question – and our governments, who only a few months ago hosted the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow – are having to reconsider just how green our society can really afford to be in this moment. This sharp rise in fuel costs affects us all, every household, every industry. Such remains the scale of our reliance – still – on fossil fuels. The practical reality is that we can’t yet manage without oil and gas. It’s an example that highlights a wider point: it’s hard to go green if you’re facing the red. >click to read< 19:01
