The Scottish First Minister's proud announcement of a trade deal with China that will boost farmed salmon production has been unquestioningly welcomed by most of the national media. C.O.A.S.T.'s Sally Campbell probes deeper into whether an expanded aquaculture industry is really a good idea or a nail in the coffin for one of our own iconic species.

The Scottish media has been alive with stories of pandas arriving at Edinburgh zoo and Scottish farmed salmon being produced for China.

Scottish farmed salmon are to be exported to China for the first time. It is reported that the Chinese demand for salmon and salmon products is huge, already at more than 150% of total Scottish output. Its demand for Atlantic salmon was up 42% in 2009 to 8000 tonnes. Previously much of the demand has been met from Norwegian aquaculture. Politics appear to have played a part in the new announcement since Norway upset the Chinese over the awarding the Nobel Peace Prize to the jailed dissident Liu Xiaobou.

As we are always saying at COAST, everything affects everything. Politics therefore may play a major role in further polluting our pristine coastal marine waters on the west of Scotland and create further negative impacts on our iconic wild salmon and trout rivers. Already Marine Harvest in The Oban Times on 27 January is quoted as “Looking to expand its farming activities in Scotland to meet the growing demand.” It is ironic that a Norwegian Company will benefit!

For over 7 years the Clyde has seen virtually no commercial white fish landings. Sea Anglers have struggled to catch a fish at all. The commercial mobile fishermen left in the Clyde rely on dragging and dredging the seabed for the last remaining invertebrates.

Yet, we have calls from politicians like Liam MacArthur Lib-Dem MSP and leaders of the mobile fishermen, for relaxations in current effort control to allow them more freedom to catch what remains. This is the main reason the Clyde is in this dire position today; lobbying by the Clyde Fishermen’s Association and associated MPs 25 years ago for the abolition of the 3 mile limit on trawling,  resulted in destruction of white fish nursery beds and unsustainable short term over- fishing.

The  current effort control system of managing the fishery has obviously completely failed the Clyde over the past 25 years. Surely, it is time to return to area control.

COAST like many other organisation and individuals based around the Clyde would like to ask Richard Lochhead just when is he going to start managing the Clyde on behalf of all its inhabitants. Or will he just continue to ignore the majority of voters in the south west of Scotland.

Inshore Fisheries Groups.  COASTs perspective

Given the emphasis which is usually placed on EU control of fisheries, it may come as some surprise to learn that that the inshore area of Scottish waters (at least to 6 miles) is solely fished by UK and Northern Irish vessels.  In practice this means the Scottish Government is almost solely responsible for the management of the Clyde. COAST would usually welcome government initiatives, which seek to engage the views of stakeholders in marine management. Inshore Fisheries Groups are the Scottish Government’s latest stab at devising acceptable policies to control marine fisheries in the inshore area.

They comprise, a chair and a paid officer and then a panel, made up solely of commercial fishermen. The IFG then has an advisory group, which represents the views of other stakeholders.  The IFG itself is not a statutory body, but any recommendations from the IFG will be taken seriously by the Cabinet Secretary.  It can be seen as the first port of call for inshore fisheries management.

It’s as complex as the sea itself - learning how to manage sustainably the valuable and varied marine resource of our coastline and seas. But that is just what the Crown Estate is trying to do. C.O.A.S.T. supporter Dr John M. Campbell presents a thoughtful appraisal of their work-in-progress. He highlights the fundamental need to re-invent the very methodology of economics itself – by focusing less on the exploitation of assets and more on the flows, natural benefits and structural limitations of the underlying ecosystems that generate the value in the first place. For an insight into this frame-shift in thinking, read on....

Re-inventing economics methodology to value marine ecosystems - a review of the Crown Estate report ‘Valuing the Marine Estate and UK Seas’

By Dr John M. Campbell

Imagine a situation where the natural resources of our coastal waters are subject to evaluation in a sustainable way for the future benefit of the country as a whole. The Crown Estate has commissioned a consortium of consultants specialising in marine economics to come up with a methodology for doing just that. But it is not that simple. Two fundamental issues stand in the way, the perceived universal right to exploit our seas for whatever resources can be turned to profit and the historical limitation in our competitive world of market economics that fails in its ability to place a monetary value on the environment or long term sustainability of diverse resources.