Tag Archives: HPMAs
Protest song wins traditional music award
A song written in protest at a Scottish Government fishing policy has won original work of the year at the Scots Trad Music Awards. Skipinnish wrote The Clearances Again following the launch of plans by the Scottish Government to limit human activity in at least 10% of Scottish waters with the creation of highly protected marine areas (HPMAs). Following a consultation on the issue, which garnered widespread opposition, including among SNP MSPs, the plan was eventually dropped. Written from the perspective of Outer Hebrides-based fisherman Donald Francis MacNeil – a friend of Skipinnish co-founder Angus MacPhail, the song compared the proposed policy to the Highland clearances, which saw the forced eviction of Scots across the Highlands and Islands. more, >>click to read<< 15:21
Scottish fishing skippers express fear over possible “back door” push for protected marine areas policy
The SFF said that last week, the Scottish Government confirmed it will not be taking forward the controversial HPMAs policy in its current form, which would have led to a loss of around 10 per cent of Scotland’s fishing grounds. However, many fishermen throughout the country remain concerned about the vague wording in the government’s response, and fear supporters of HPMAs will try their best to usher in the policy through another avenue. Fisherman Barry Brunton from Dunbar has welcomed the scrapping of HPMAs but is adamant more collaboration between fishermen and the government is needed to find the best solution for all concerned. Brunton said he was “absolutely terrified” about HPMAs as putting up such an area in the little patch of ground where he works would mean he would lose “everything that [he] worked for.” >>click to read<< 08:19
Industry welcomes confirmation that HPMA proposals have been scrapped
The move was welcomed by the fishing industry which had campaigned against the proposal. Shetland Fishermen’s Association (SFA) executive officer Sheila Keith said members were pleased that common sense had prevailed. “The angst caused by the ill-conceived proposals was clear by the responses to the consultation which showed, when you removed campaign responses, 76 per cent of respondents opposed, and only 20 per cent supported the plans. “However, our concerns are not wholly alleviated as the government still discuss the implementation of “enhanced marine protection” over 10 per cent of Scottish waters. >>click to read<< 10:19
SNP fully scraps controversial fishing restrictions in final climbdown
Scottish Government minister Màiri McAllan announced her party will no longer pursue divisive plans to restrict fishing in 10% of Scotland’s seas. The environmental policy aimed to protect sea life under threat but was met with a huge backlash from concerned rural and coastal communities. In June, Ms Allan said HPMAs would no longer be implemented on schedule by 2026 as government ministers went back to the drawing board. It came weeks after leading figures from the country’s seafood sector held a major protest outside Holyrood. Now Ms McAllan has revealed the proposals will be ditched entirely following the angry responses from fishing industry leaders opposed to the scheme. >>click to read<< 08:29
SNP and Greens face fight on HPMAs as salmon farmers and fishers join forces in ‘Seafood Coalition’
Scotland’s nationalist government is facing a huge fight on its proposal for Highly Protected Marine Areas (HPMAs), amid claims they are being used to appease the Scottish Green Party. The country’s salmon farmers and fishers have joined forces to launch a petition against the move at Holyrood. The ‘Seafood Coalition’ wants to see the plans, which could limit activities such as fishing and aquaculture in 10 per cent of Scottish waters, scrapped. The SNP and Greens claim the zones will “provide high levels of protection” for the marine environment. The coalition includes Salmon Scotland, the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation, Seafood Scotland, Scottish Association of Fish Producers’ Organisations, Community Fisheries Inshore Alliance and Scottish Seafood Association. >click to read< 10:28
Scottish fishermen say marine protection plans will wreck coastal communities
“It’s about justice,” says Angus MacPhail, a creel fisher off Barra, in the Outer Hebrides, about the marine protection plans that he believes will devastate island cultures like his own. The outcry over these highly protected marine areas (HPMAs) – a key part of the Bute House agreement that brought the Scottish Greens into government with the SNP in 2021 – has been heartfelt, with accusations that the policy is poorly evidenced, weakly consulted and dismissive of local experience. He insists the historic comparison to the Highland clearances is “no exaggeration” – he says closing these inshore fishing grounds won’t just destroy the fleet but the already fragile island infrastructure that relies on it, from net makers to schools bolstered by fishers’ offspring. >click to read< 09:12
SNP must dump the Greens and ditch HPMAs
In England, marine conservationists have persuaded the Westminster Government to designate around 0.53% of coastal waters as HPMAs in a series of pilot projects. But in Scotland, the area is more than 20 times greater, threatening livelihoods and entire fishing communities. Kate Forbes, the former SNP contender for the job of First Minister, says that “if the proposals go ahead as planned, the rarest species in our coastal areas and islands will soon be people.” Scotland’s fishing communities are not alone in their opposition to new marine conservation measures. In Europe, fishers from many countries are staging a series of protests against European Commission proposals aimed at “protecting and restoring marine ecosystems for sustainable and resilient fisheries”. >click to read< 08:40
SNP MP urges locals to oppose marine protection plans
The proposals to restrict fishing and other human activities in some coastal areas are designed to protect wildlife and the environment. But fishing industry representatives, along with people in many communities in the Highlands and Islands, have raised concerns – as have several of the SNP’s own MSPs. Mr. O’Hara, an outspoken critic of his party’s plan to introduce HPMAs on the west coast, has urged his constituents to make their opinions known to the Scottish government by contacting his office directly to have their views collated and shared with Holyrood ministers. >click to read< 08:30
HMPAs: Ross Greer put in his place by furious fishermen over ‘contemptuous’ marine ban tweet
Ross Greer made a “contemptuous comment” about the impact of fishing bans on coastal areas amid the ongoing backlash against the proposed Highly Protected Marine Areas (HPMAs). “The fisherman in the North Sea of the 1830s could catch one ton of halibut a day. Now the annual halibut take of the North Sea is two tons.” Fifth generation fisherman Kenneth MacNab said: “You know absolutely nothing about fishing or stocks but your welcome to come out anytime you wish just to let you see what actual work is and what fishermen have to do to support their communities to put it into perspective HPMAs will be 10 times worse than Brexit ever was.” >click to read< 07:49
Minister must stop and rethink on HPMAs, says fisheries leader
In remarks at the opening of the Scottish Skipper Expo at the P&J Live in Aberdeen, the sector’s biggest annual showcase, Elspeth Macdonald, chief executive of the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation, said ministers had failed to make the case for Highly Protected Marine Areas (HPMAs). She told Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs Mairi Gougeon, who attended the event: “I’m sorry to say that our recent experience in engaging with the government on HPMAs has been far from meaningful. We all need to work to protect nature and we all need to act to help tackle climate change. But this is not the way to do it. I absolutely know I am not alone in calling for the government to stop and rethink these proposals, which are causing great concern and anxiety all around Scotland’s coast. >click to read< 11:16
HPMAs: Tiree’s economy could sink unless plans are scrapped
In Tiree, there are good years and bad years. Years when crab and lobster are plentiful, years when they are not. Small boats work using fixed-line, static gear. Tiree fishermen place their creels with the precision afforded by sonar technology. There is no bycatch. Anything which will not be landed is thrown back alive. Many are voluntarily notching lobsters to ensure future stocks. Now, with the government’s proposals for statutory HPMAs, we are being told that our seas must be even more highly protected – from the people who live and work here. From us. >click to read< 10:01
Fisherman prepares to take to the stage with HPMA protest song
Vatersay fisherman Donald Francis MacNeil talks to Jacqueline Wake Young about The Clearances Again, the protest song he co-wrote with Celtic band Skipinnish, as they prepare to perform it live at Aberdeen Music Hall concert on May 12. DF, as he is known to family and friends, followed in his father’s footsteps and became a fisherman as soon as he left school. “Many young men did the same. You could leave school on Friday and start on a fishing boat on Monday. It was very much a natural option and I enjoyed it.” Now the 64-year-old is about to face another challenge – singing on stage with Skipinnish after their protest song reached number five in the iTunes downloads chart. >click to read< 11:50
Former SNP MSP quits party over plan to ban fishing that could ‘devastate’ coastal communities
Angus MacDonald, who served at Holyrood for a decade before stepping down in 2021, is the latest figure to criticise the introduction of highly protected marine areas (HPMAs). The Scottish Government has committed to designating at least 10 per cent of the country’s coastline as highly protected in an effort to boost ecosystems. Commercial and recreational fishing would be banned in the zones as well as the harvesting of seaweed. MacDonald, who lives on the isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides, believes the law would be devastating to the economy of coastal communities. >click to read< 10:16
Fight for the Future! Harris skipper urges Isles MSP to take stronger stance on HPMAs
Western Isles MSP Alasdair Allan MSP needs to stop “downplaying” the concerns voiced by fishermen over the threat to their livelihoods posed by a controversial new environmental designation, it was claimed this week. Harris fisherman Iain Dix has been in correspondence with Mr Allan over the last few weeks on the subject of Highly Protected Marine Areas. Mr Dix said Mr Allan’s response was “totally lacking in the seriousness conveyed to you in the past number of weeks” by your constituents. He told the MSP: “Where you talk of ‘concerns’ and ‘potential damage’, the fishing industry and our representatives have repeatedly told you of the sheer anger and disbelief regarding these proposals, and the obliteration of our industry and islands they will bring. >click to read< 15:14
