Chamber and committees

My question is about the priorities in “The National Islands Plan”. We have seen pretty horrific fuel cost increases in island communities. I want to understand whether the plan’s priorities are still the same as those of people who actually live on the islands. I will give a couple of examples. One is the increased fuel consumption and other costs for interisland ferries. The other that has been brought to light is the impact on the pelagic fishing industry. A large number of pelagic boats operate in my constituency, and an issue that operators have raised with me is the fuel price increase of more than 300 per cent. What are your views on those matters?

Yes.

Where does gill net fishing feature for the future? You might be aware, cabinet secretary, that, yesterday, Shetland Islands Council backed a motion about banning industrial gill net fishing. What action might the Government take on that matter?

Good morning. What is the Government’s understanding of the most common methods of fox control in Scotland? Do you have data on the prevalence of different methods and whether they change throughout the year? If so, based on the evidence, will restricting the use of dogs affect a smaller or larger proportion of fox control in Scotland?

Last week, we heard from Police Scotland that making trail hunting illegal to limit the opportunities for people who want to disguise illegal hunting as a legal act is not necessarily reason enough for doing so. What is your view on that, and what impact do you believe that the prohibition will have in Scotland?

The measure is about prevention.

I have a question about police dogs, but I note that Karen Adam is down to ask about that, so I will leave it there.

You have alluded to how sophisticated and technical modern-day salmon farming already is. A key recommendation of the review was that there should be a single consenting process. Can you give examples of what lessons we can take from the Norwegian one-stop-shop approach? Can you give us an example of what the Norwegians do that we do not do? Will you expand on how you see the new process working in practice and say who should take overall responsibility?

I will just say that this applies not just to rural communities but to island communities.

Good morning. My questions are probably for William Telford. I understand that the trail hunting prohibition has been introduced to take pre-emptive action to prevent trail hunting from becoming established in Scotland. What are your views on whether it will assist with the policing and prosecution of hunting with dogs?

I will roll in my second question. I would be interested to hear your views on the exception to allow the training of dogs to follow an animal-based scent. What are the implications of that for the training of police dogs, for example?