Chamber and committees

I have a supplementary question. You have twice made the point that the retailers want this. In its submission, the Scottish Pelagic Fishermen’s Association said that, in its regular meetings with suppliers, the latter had never raised the issue of REM. Is REM something that Marine Scotland is discussing with retailers, rather than the fishermen who are supplying them? How will the legislation convince those fishermen that REM is needed if their suppliers are not mentioning it?

Any supermarket will speak to its suppliers about what criteria it wants, to ensure that what goes on the supermarket shelves is what the consumer wants. I want to put on record the concern that those conversations have not been had with the people who are going out on the pelagic boats to fish. It is more about international quotas, rather than REM. One stakeholder said that REM had never, ever been mentioned in SPFA meetings.

Does the SSI technical specification say that there has to be a certain type of winch sensor rather than a simplified winch sensor? Could the technical specification allow for a sensor that fishers themselves could repair?

For a pelagic vessel, the fishing season is very limited. Is it the fault of the fishers if they put in the wrong type of sensor? Will they be non-compliant if they put in a simplified sensor that they can fix themselves?

Yes, I know, but that was my question. Could a fisherman fix a sensor that is in the technical specification? We heard that they could not unless it was a simplified sensor.

I just think that it is the wrong way round. It is putting the cart before the horse. It would have been good, particularly in an industry in which seasonality and safety are so important, if the fishers had had the ability to work with the Government to understand the technical specifications through a consultation process. To my mind, that has not happened, which is a disappointing aspect of the SSI.

I just wanted to be clear on that point.

I will move on to the data transmission requests. The regulations provide the Scottish ministers with the power to serve data transmission request notices to pelagic vessels. What circumstances would trigger requests for REM data?

What data do you expect the marine directorate to gather and, potentially, use for scientific reasons for making policy decisions?

So, you do not trust fishermen to give you sampled data—is that what you are saying?

Why do you need a camera above somebody who already provides sample data on lengths and weights?