Open and closed petitions with the RACCE Committee
Details of open petitions referred to this Committee for consideration are outlined below:
Lodged 27 January 2015
Petition by Ian Gordon and the Salmon and Trout Association (Scotland) calling on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government:
(i) in the interests of salmon conservation, and on a precautionary basis, to request Scottish Ministers to use their powers immediately under the Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries (Consolidation) (Scotland) Act 2003 Act to ensure that no Atlantic salmon are killed in Scotland for a period of five years from 2015 if possible, by 2016 if not - by either nets or rods - before 1st July; and
(ii) in the case of fishing for salmon by coastal netting, to take such steps as are necessary to bring to an end the exploitation of wild salmon by Mixed Stock Fisheries at any time of year, in line with Scotland’s international commitments and obligations.
The Committee considered the petition at its meeting on 11 March 2015 and agreed to write to the Scottish Government on the issues contained in the petition as part of its consideration of the Wild Fisheries Review Panel final report.
Lodged 2 September 2013
Petition by Patrick Krause, on behalf of Scottish Crofting Federation, calling on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to address the problems created by increasing populations of wild geese in the crofting areas as a matter of priority; reassess its decision to stop funding existing goose management programmes, and assign additional resources to Crop Protection and Adaptive Management programmes to ensure this threat to the future of crofting is averted.
The Committee considered the petition at the following meetings which includes evidence session with stakeholders and the Minister on June 18 and 25, 2014 respectively.
The Minister wrote to the Committee with follow up information after his appearance 25 June 2014. Read the letter here:
The Committee wrote the the Scottish Government outlining its views and recommendations on the issues raised in relation to the petition. You can read the letter here:
The Minister responded to the Committee's letter of 9 August (above). Read the letter here:
The petitioner responded to the Scottish Government's above letter. Read the letter here:
The Committee responded to the Scottish Government's letter. Read the letter here:
The Scottish Government responded to the Committee's letter. Read the letter here:
The petitioner responded to the Scottish Government's letter on the 18 March 2015:
The Committee considered the responses on the 1 April 2015.
The Committee agreed to write back to the Scottish Government and sent its response on the 20 April 2015:
The Minister responded to the Committee's letter on 3 June 2015:
The petition responded to this letter on 16 June 2015:
At its meeting on the 24th June, the Committee agreed to write to the Scottish Government urging it to establish an independent review:
The Minister responded on Tuesday 1st September 2015:
The Committee wrote to the Minister for Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform on 10 November 2015:
The Clerk of the Committee wrote to the Norwegian Storting and the States General of the Netherlands on 30 October 2015 on wild geese policy in those countries:
The Norwegian Storting responded to the Clerk of the Committee on 2 November 2015:
The Minister for Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform responded to the Committee's correspondence of the 1 November on 2 December 2015:
The Petitioner responded to the comments from the Minister for Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform on 2 March 2016:
The Committee wrote to both the Petitioner and the Minister for Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform on 16 March 2016 on the decision the keep the petition open for consideration by its sucessor committee in Session 5 of the Parliament:
Closed petitions
Details of petitions which the Committee has considered and closed are outlined below:
Lodged 13 February 2008
Closed 19 September 2012
With regard to a newly referred petition on snaring, PE1124, Members agreed, given the significant amount of debate there has been relatively recently in Parliament on this issue, to close the petition, but in doing so, to write to the Scottish Government to ask for information on how the process for the review scheduled for 2016 is unfolding, and to inform the petitioner of the Government’s response.
Brought before Committee on 5 October 2011
Closed 12 June 2013
Petition by Lawson Devery on behalf of the Salmon and Trout Association calling on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to take immediate action to protect wild salmon and sea trout stocks from inappropriate commercial fish farm activities by taking action to ensure that (a) all sea-based fish farms are moved away from the estuaries of major wild salmon rivers to reduce the impact of sea lice and (b) ban salmon smolt farms from operating within any wild salmon river system.
The Committee considered this petition when it looked at its Work Programme on 16 January 2013 (in private). The Committee agreed to defer further consideration until the Aquaculture and Fisheries (Scotland) Bill's passage through the Parliament has concluded.
For the following reasons, the Committee agreed to close the petition, whilst continuing to monitor the issue, request updates and further evidence from the Scottish Government and any other appropriate bodies as necessary:
the Public Petitions Committee undertook a significant amount of the work on the Petition before it was referred to the RACCE Committee (including taking evidence from the petitioner and seeking the views of the Scottish Government);
the issue of the interaction between farmed and wild fish, and sea-lice in particular, was debated in significant detail by the Committee, and the Parliament, at all three legislative stages during the passage of the Bill;
the Minister has given a commitment to keep the issue of sea lice reporting under review; and
the Minister has indicated that a review of wild fisheries will be forthcoming.
Brought before Committee on 9 May and 5 October, 2011 and 20 June, 19 September 2012
Closed 11 September 2013
Petition by Richard Munday on behalf of the Torridon Nephrops Management Group calling on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to review and pilot the establishment of further spatially separated static gear only inshore fisheries to improve fisheries management.
The Committee are currently awaiting a reponse from Marine Scotland before considering the petition further.
Lodged 16 August 2011
Closed 24 October 2012
Petition PE1396, lodged on 16 August 2011 by Ian Robb on behalf of Help for Abandoned Animals Arbroath, calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to investigate and prevent the over breeding andabandonment of Staffordshire bull terrier dogs.
The Committee made its decision to close the petition given the work completed to date by the PPC, the legislation already in place in Scotland, and the clearly stated position of both the Scottish Government and COSLA. In closing the petition, the Committee agreed to write to COSLA, encouraging them to use the legislation that is available to them, and to the Scottish Government to inform them of the Committee’s decision.
Lodged 11 December 2012
Closed 11 September 2013
Calling on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to cause scientific studies to be conducted to monitor any changes in the behaviour, density, longevity, survival rate and the genetic and DNA markers in wild Sea Trout and Brown Trout in rivers that are stocked with farmed Brown Trout and hatchery reared Atlantic Salmon and to include such data in the new Aquaculture Bill currently being processed by the Government.
The Committee agreed to close the petition on the grounds that:
The Scottish Government sets out that fish introductions are currently regulated under existing legislation which has been further strengthened by the consenting regime provided for by the Aquaculture and Fisheries (Scotland) Act 2012. The Scottish Government believes that a range of factors and pressures impact on the natural environment and the make-up of all species and habitats in any particular catchment area and therefore it would not be a good use of resources to consider the impact of stocking in isolation; and
The Scottish Government has reiterated its commitment to engage with the freshwater fisheries sector to identify its priorities for future research, particularly as part of the forthcoming review of salmon and freshwater fisheries. The Scottish Government has made it clear that it has no plans to undertake the research identified in the petition.
In closing the petition, the Committee highlighted its intention to scrutinise the forthcoming review of salmon and freshwater fisheries by the Scottish Government.
Lodged 11 August 2012
Closed 30 October 2013
Petition PE01441, lodged by David Crichton calling on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to represent Scottish interests in the current discussions between Defra and the UK insurance industry.
The Committee agreed to close the petition on the grounds that it is satisfied that the Scottish Government has ensured that Scotland’s interests have been represented in the discussions between the UK Government and the insurance industry.
In closing the petition, the Committee agreed to monitor the progress of the Flood Re scheme as part of its overall consideration of climate change matters and to write to Minister for Environment and Climate Change asking to be kept updated on flood insurance.
Correspondence