Regarding the Scottish Sea Fisheries Statistics for 2024, what its response is to reported collapsing stocks of (a) Northern Shelf cod, (b)…

The International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) advice is challenging for a number of our key stocks this year across the Northeast Atlantic, not least the iconic stocks of cod and mackerel. There are many factors that may be contributing to this, such as natural mortality, climate impacts and low recruitment across the North East Atlantic.North Sea cod is not collapsing. The ICES advice shows a stark picture of the health of the southern substock, and this is primarily what is driving down the overall advice. The immediate priority must be the implementation of spatial management measures that restrict potential catches of that southern stock. We already have significant measures in place in Scottish waters and we are reviewing these to see what, if any, improvements can be made.The advice for mackerel is unprecedented, well below anything we have seen on the ICES advice sheetsat least since 1987. Scotland continues to work with the UK Government and our Coastal State neighbours to agree a comprehensive sharing arrangement. ICES advice clearly demonstrates the importance of the interim steps taken by the UK, Norway and the Faroe Islands, whose agreement immediately reduced the total outtake of the stock, representing a step towards more sustainable fishing, whilst the wider sharing discussions continue.Our stocks are jointly managed with the fishing nations around us, with negotiations currently ongoing. It is important that we continue to work together to balance sustainably managed fish stocks and a sustainable and prosperous industry and coastal communities. Whilst there is some challenging advice there are also many stocks where the picture remains more positive and the overall trend is good. The Scottish Sustainable Fishing Indicator (SFI), which summarises the sustainability status of commercial fish and shellfish stocks in Scottish waters, shows that the sustainability status of stocks in Scottish waters has increased through time, from 39% in 1995 to 73% in 2023.