Chamber and committees

Our next item of business is consideration of the draft Eggs (Amendment) (Scotland) Regulations 2021. These regulations are subject to the affirmative procedure, and I refer members to paper 3. Once again, I welcome Mairi Gougeon, the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and Islands, and her officials. We have with us Judith Brown, solicitor; Joe Kirk, senior poultry officer; and Kevin Matheson, livestock policy manager. I invite the cabinet secretary to crack on with her opening statement.

We will move on to the theme of sustainable fisheries management.

How will the Scottish Government engage with the Scottish Parliament and Scottish stakeholders when it comes to any secondary legislation that is made under the powers in the bill?

Not yet. Please bear with us.

Welcome back. I hope that our information technology glitches are over.

Professor Fernandes, could you resume your comments about the impact of climate change on fishing stocks in Scotland?

Welcome back, everyone. Our main item of business is the first in a series of evidence sessions on the climate and nature emergencies. Today, we will be focusing on the science behind the climate and nature emergencies, particularly as it relates to the rural economy.

I welcome our first witnesses, who will be discussing the marine environment: Professor Bill Austin, chair of the Scottish Blue Carbon Forum; Professor Sir Ian Boyd, marine mammals specialist from the University of St Andrews; Susan Davies, head of the Scottish Seabird Centre; and, from the University of Aberdeen, Professor Paul Fernandes, chair of fisheries science, and Dr Tara Marshall, senior lecturer in fisheries science.

We will kick off with some questions. We see many reports from the likes of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change on global findings. How applicable are those findings on biodiversity loss and climate change to Scotland’s marine environment? Are the levels of pressure in Scotland different from those in the rest of the world? Are the impacts likely to be different?

I ask Susan Davies and Ian Boyd to comment. I will then move on to a question from Karen Adam.

Is there any sign of any policies that might help us to achieve that? Are there any such policies in the pipeline?

Three other witnesses want to comment on blue carbon, and then we will move on to discuss sustainable fisheries.

Jim Fairlie would like to ask for clarification about a matter.

There you are.