Election / Goodlad calls on SNP government to reverse pelagic landing obligation decision
THE LOCAL SNP candidate in the forthcoming Scottish Parliament elections has called on her party’s government to reverse a decision that requires the pelagic fishing industry to land 70 per cent of its catch at Scottish ports.
Hannah Mary Goodlad said she is not afraid to call out the SNP government if she feels Shetland’s interests are at stake.
Earlier this week, the Scottish Government announced that from 2026 the Scottish pelagic fleet will be required to land 70 per cent of its catch into Scottish fish processing factories.
This represents an increase of 15 per cent points from 55 to 70 per cent, a move that has been heavily criticised by the industry.
This combined with the cut in the mackerel quote poses a “significant business risk” according to the industry.
Around 30 per cent of the Scottish pelagic fishing fleet in based in Shetland owned by local families.
Chair of the Scottish pelagic Fishermen’s Association, Richard Williamson said: “It is hugely unwelcome from a catching perspective to intervene again on the landing target when the 55 per cent figure has just been implemented in 2025 and the full impact of which has still to be assessed.
“The quota cuts for both mackerel and herring in 2026 are going to impact on both catchers and processors, and both sectors will endure a period of significant business risk.”
At the weekend, Goodlad added her voice and called on the Scottish Government to think again.
“For our pelagic sector to thrive we need both a strong processing and catching sector. This new landing figure will mitigate the risk to the processors whilst loading additional risk on the catching sector and must be reconsidered,” she said.
She confirmed that she had already been in touch with the Scottish fisheries minister Mairi Gougeon pointing out all the reasons why this needs to be reversed.
“Although I am standing as the SNP candidate, I will never hesitate to criticise the Scottish Government when I believe they have made a mistake and I will always put Shetland first,” she said.
The elections to the Scottish Parliament will be held on 7 May 2026.
So far three candidates for the Shetland constituency seat have announced their candidacy.
They are in alphabetic order John Erskine (Labour), Hannah Mary Goodlad (SNP) and Emma Macdonald (Lib Dems). The Greens will also field a candidate, most likely Shetland South councillor Alex Armitage, while Reform UK is understood to have plans to name a candidate in the new year.
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