Chamber and committees

The Scottish Executive's primary investment in this area is through the Freshwater Fisheries Laboratory (FFL), part of Fisheries Research Services. SERAD expenditure at FFL for the years 1997-98,1998-99 and 1999-2000 was £1.28 million, £1.27 million and £1.77 million respectively.

As at 24 August, 186 responses had been received. The closing date for submissions, originally scheduled for 4 August, was extended to 31 August. An analysis of the responses will be undertaken and a statement on follow-up action will be made in due course.

The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 makes it an offence to release any fish not native to Great Britain into the wild without a licence. The Import of Live Fish (Scotland) Act 1978 also gives powers to Scottish Ministers to prohibit the import, keeping or release of fish that are not native to Scotland which might compete with, displace, prey on or harm the habitat of any freshwater fish, shellfish or salmon in Scotland. To date, only three Orders have been made under the 1978 Act. Whether further Orders should be made to prohibit other species which may be used as live bait will be considered under the "Protecting and Promoting Scotland's Freshwater Fish and Fisheries" review.

There are currently no government-sponsored studies into the impact of the introduction of non-native fish stocks. However, the Freshwater Fisheries Laboratory maintains a watching brief on the distribution of freshwater fish species.

The Scottish Executive has established a number of standing advisory groups on fisheries matters, including the Scottish Inshore Fisheries Advisory Group, the Tripartite Working Group and the Aquaculture Health Joint Working Group, and also sets up ad hoc groups from time to time to consider specific issues.

The Scottish Executive is represented on a wide range of UK and international advisory and policy making groups which consider issues of relevance to fisheries.

Importation is regulated by the Fish Health Regulations 1997 and the Diseases of Fish Act 1937 for imports from EU and non-EU countries respectively.

Fish eggs of native species can be imported, without application, from EU zones and farms with fish health status equivalent to our own, provided consignments are notified in advance. No notifications have been made in the last five years. No applications from non-EU countries have been made or granted in the last five years.

My answer to question S1W-9281 confirms the Scottish Executive's position on compensation and possible assistance for the scallop sector through the Financial Instrument for Fisheries Guidance (FIFG) programme.

In February this year, I introduced a relaxation to licensing and quota management provisions to allow certain vessels with Category C licences which were affected by the scallop fishery closures to fish for West of Scotland nephrops until the end of August.

In view of the most recent closures off the west coast, I have decided to extend this relaxation to the end of the year.

It has been the policy of successive governments not to compensate for losses due to disease or other natural phenomena in the marine environment. The Scottish Executive sees no case to change that position.

More generally, financial assistance for the industry will be available under the new Financial Instrument for Fisheries Guidance (FIFG) programme.

A Trust's annual capital depreciation charge is calculated on the estimated working lives of assets and formula capital allocation is only part of a Trust's potential capital investment, as a result, it is not possible to draw a meaningful comparison between the two in isolation.

Given that each Trust has a formula capital allocation which forms only part of their annual capital spend and that depreciation is calculated over the estimated working life of an asset, it is not possible to produce meaningful comparisons between depreciation and formula capital allocation in isolation.