Scotland's fishing sector demands John Swinney 'right the wrongs' of Bute House Agreement

The fishing community said it wants to be recognised by politicians as part of the solution to climate challenges rather than a hindrance.

John Swinney must take a “balanced and rational approach” to fishing rather than the “ideologically driven and unevidenced plans” of the Scottish Green-led policies, a leading body for the fishing sector has said.

The Scottish Fishermen’s Federation (SFF) said the Bute House Agreement (BHA) - the power-sharing deal between the SNP and the Scottish Greens - was “disastrous” for the fishing community.

The group is calling on Mr Swinney, in his new role as Scotland’s seventh first minister, to achieve “a rebalance of the green agenda” following the collapse of the BHA last month.

The sector said it wanted politicians to recognise the industry “as part of the solution to climate challenges, rather than perceiving it as a hindrance”.

SFF chief executive Elspeth Macdonald said the Bute House Agreement was 'disastrous' for the fishing community

SFF chief executive Elspeth Macdonald said: “The BHA was disastrous for Scotland’s fishing sector. It failed to recognise any positive benefits of fishing, seeing nothing but ‘problems’ that needed to be solved.

“However, we saw with last summer’s scrapping of the Bute House Agreement’s proposals for highly protected marine areas that the Scottish Government did listen, and withdrew these ill-conceived, ideologically driven and unevidenced plans.

“Thankfully the Scottish Government has backtracked on their damaging agreement with the Scottish Greens, presenting a golden opportunity for the new leadership to bring forward plans that will secure the health of our sector and our seas.”

Ms Macdonald’s comments come as the SFF released its Industry Trends and Attitudes Report on how the fishing industry has modernised, with a stronger focus on science and recognising the importance of cooperation.

She said: “It also highlights the complexity of our marine systems, and why oversimplifying issues does no favours – and indeed can be misleading - when helping to really understand what are complex and often poorly understood processes.”

The Scottish Government binned the Scottish Green-led plans announced last year to designate about 10 per cent of Scottish waters as highly protected marine areas (HPMAs) - zones where fishing and other recreational activities would be banned.

The scrapping of the proposals came after a fierce backlash from industry leaders and coastal communities, with some people going as far as likening the plans to the Highland Clearances. At the time, ministers said they would “go back to the drawing board” on devising future marine protection plans.