Election / Fishing takes centre stage as industry hosts election hustings
THE FADING confidence in the whitefish industry, the future of the Shetland Regulating Order, the mackerel landing obligation and the tactics of the Marine Directorate (formerly Marine Scotland) were all topics discussed during a well-attended election hustings event hosted by the fishing industry.
Around 60 people listened to the two-hour debate in the Lerwick Town Hall on Wednesday evening.
Chaired by the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation’s (SFF) head of comms Paul Riddell, all eight candidates involved in the contest to become Shetland’s next MSP participated in the discussion.
Labour candidate John Erskine and Vic Currie of Reform were unable to attend in person but participated via a video link.
The 17-minute long video below summarises the main topics discussed and gives a flavour of some of the more heated moments.
It touches on the ‘Marine Scotland conspiracy’, the future of the whitefish industry, on who stopped the HPMA policy proposal, the Fish Holm salmon farm decision and the 70 per cent landing obligation for mackerel.
Summing up the debate, SFF chief executive Elspeth Macdonald, said: “There was a lot of agreement in the room tonight, on issues such as the importance of investment in marine science.
“There was a lot of agreement but also some disagreement, such as a bit of a blame game in who did the worst deal with the EU, was it Labour or the Tories, and what would the SNP do?”
The event was organised by the Shetland Fishermen’s Association (SFA) and the SFF. Shetland News was asked to act as the event’s media partner.
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