Crofting Commission Members Appointed

Minister for Environment and Climate Change today announced the appointment of three new members to the Crofting Commission.

The new members are:

Susan Walker - has been an active crofter for three decades, producing much of the family food on a two acre croft in Camuscross, Isle of Skye. She is the co-author of 'The State of Crofting in Camuscross', an academic report on crofting in her local township of Camuscross, and writes articles for the press on crofting matters. She is a Director of Camuscross and Duisdale Initiative, an ambitious community trust that is working in partnership with crofters and grazings shareholders on local food and community infrastructure projects. Ms Walker holds no other current Ministerial public appointments.

William Swann - is a veterinary surgeon with extensive international experience in community development. He was brought up on a small moorland hill farm and kept native Manx Laughton sheep on an upland croft on the Isle of Man. He is passionate about the survival and future development of crofting and lives with his wife on Skye. He is also a respected oil painter and often includes crofting landscapes in his work. Mr Swann is a current board member of Highlands and Islands Enterprise, appointed until March 2014 with a remuneration of £10,065 per annum

Sandy Cross - is a qualified investment manager with a career background in financial services, including several posts at managerial level in private sector companies, and is author of numerous articles on finance. He is closely involved in the rural economy and currently divides his time between Edinburgh and Shetland, where he is involved in farming, shellfish farming and is the landlord of a 1,600 hectare crofting estate. He will bring governance experience to the board of the Crofting Commission and will represent the interests of landlords of crofts. Mr Cross holds no other current Ministerial public appointments.

All three of these appointments will be for five years and will run from April 1 2012 to March 31 2017.

Each appointment is part-time and attracts a remuneration of £7,440 for a time commitment of four days per month.The Crofting Commission will take over the functions of regulating, reorganising and promoting crofting from the Crofters Commission on 1 April 2012, in line with amendments made to the Crofters (Scotland) Act 1993 by the Crofting Reform (Scotland) Act 2010. The Crofting Commission will contain a mixture of appointed and directly elected members, making it more transparent, democratic and accountable. There is also a statutory requirement for at least one of the members to be able to speak the Gaelic language and for at least one to appear to Ministers to represent the interests of landlords of crofts.

These Ministerial public appointments were made in accordance with the code of practice published by the Public Appointments Commissioner for Scotland.

All appointments are made on merit and political activity plays no part in the selection process. However, in accordance with the original Nolan recommendations, there is a requirement for appointees' political activity within the last five years (if there is any to be declared) to be made public. Mr Cross has declared activity with the Scottish Conservative Party. Ms Walker and Mr Swann have not declared any political activity.

First Langoustine Landing Of The Year Into Buckie Provides A Flying Start To 2012 For Moray Seafoods

Following a short trip to the North Sea fishing grounds, trawler skipper Sandy West successfully completed the first landing of 2012 of langoustines (prawns), enabling Buckie processing firm Moray Seafoods to get the New Year off to a flying start by ensuring its customers are kept supplied with the highest quality shellfish.

Skipper West and his four-man crew of the Fraserburgh-registered trawler Virtuous set off for the Fladen fishing grounds in the early hours of 1 January and after finding several good fishing marks was able to land its catch of excellent quality langoustines on 4 January into Moray Seafoods.

Waiting to welcome the delivery at Buckie was Fisheries Secretary Richard Lochhead and local MSP and Environment Minister Stewart Stevenson along with Moray Seafoods’ managing director Victor West.

Mr Lochhead said:

Victor West
Sandy West (skipper of Virtuous)
Richard Lochhead MSP
Stewart Stevenson MSP

"Scotland's fishermen do an amazing job, often in very difficult and dangerous circumstances, to ensure we can enjoy the finest and freshest seafood.

"By landing in Buckie, the prawns can be taken straight to the factory for processing before making their way to the nation's dinner plates.

"Scotland's fish and shellfish is increasingly popular overseas - recognising the high quality of the product - and made up nearly 60 per cent of all Scottish food exports in 2010, with a value of £623 million. So, on behalf of all Scots, I'd like to thank our skippers for their efforts and wish them a successful 2012."

Victor West said: 

“We are delighted with the efforts of Sandy and his crew, and this first landing provides an excellent platform to ensure Moray Seafoods’ has a successful year ahead. As a business that supports many local jobs,  we are totally dependent on our hardworking fishermen, which we always appreciate and respect.”

Since its acquisition by Associated Seafoods in July 2011, Moray Seafoods has been enjoying sustained growth, particularly in the important export market for langoustine and crab, and the company intends to further develop these markets over the coming year.

Sandy West said:

“It is fantastic to make this first landing of the year and it always good to know that the langoustines landed today will soon be enjoyed on dining tables around Europe, which underlines the importance of our seafood industry to Scotland.”

Stewart Stevenson said:

“Moray Seafoods is an important local employer and a vital part of the wider Banffshire economy so I’m delighted to be here today to give my backing to their support for quality, locally-landed langoustines.

“The quality of Scotland’s produce is a key selling-point in the drive to boost our exports and langoustines are no exception.  I’m therefore delighted that Moray Seafoods intends to further develop their export markets in the coming year, which I hope will mean further benefits to Buckie and the local employment market.”

Protecting Our Wildlife

The latest reforms to modernise the management of wildlife in Scotland come into force today.

The second commencement order of the Wildlife and Natural Environment (Scotland) Act 2011 introduces a new offence of vicarious liability in relation to the persecution of wild birds.

This offence allows for the prosecution of those minority of landowners or managers who fail to take the appropriate steps to ensure their employees and contractors act within the law.

The legislation also includes measures for a new hare close season, changes to the deer act and snaring law.

Environment Minister Stewart Stevenson said:

"The introduction of vicarious liability highlights the importance of landowners and managers who run shooting businesses taking a proactive role in ensuring that their employees and contractors are aware of the law and their responsibilities for wild birds on the ground they manage. 

"Guidance being developed by Scottish Land and Estates, which I was pleased to contribute to, will help their members take the right approach. Most such businesses already do act responsibly, but the small minority of managers and owners who don't will be at risk of prosecution if their employees are found to have broken the law in this area. It is very important we get this right, alongside the other elements of the Wildlife and Natural Environment Act, in order to safeguard some of our most spectacular wildlife."

Luke Borwick, Chairman of Scottish Land and Estates, commented:

"Scottish Land and Estates understands the motivation behind the Scottish Government's vicarious liability measures and is fully committed to stamping out wildlife crime. From the outset we have made clear our reservations about the necessity for a statutory approach but it is now important that there is absolute clarity for landowners, managers and gamekeepers on how the legislation will be enforced.

"We are already very active within the Partnership for Action against Wildlife Crime in Scotland and have founded the Wildlife Estates Scotland scheme. Through joint working mechanisms such as these we hope to now ensure that it is only those who are actually culpable who are affected by this legislation rather than the vast majority who could potentially incur additional cost burdens."

Detective Inspector Brian Stuart, Head of the UK National Wildlife Crime Unit said:

"This landmark legislation highlights the significance of the role of the landowner/manager in ensuring their employees manage their land to the highest of standards. Vicarious liability will serve as a deterrent to those owners and managers who turn a blind eye to questionable practices on their land, whilst also providing law enforcement with much needed powers to target the minority of land owners and managers who are content to benefit from offences committed by their employee rather than acting as custodians of our natural environment."

The Wildlife and Natural Environment (Scotland) Act 2011 was passed by the Scottish Parliament in March 2011.

The second commencement order comes into force on January 1, 2011 bringing into effect vicarious liability, new close season for hares and changes to the Deer Act and snaring law.

The first commencement order came into force on June 29, 2011 bringing into effect game law reforms and species law licensing orders.

Scottish Natural Heritage are responsible for implementation of many of the elements of the WANE Act including species law licensing and the Deer Management Code.

Vicarious liability

• New criminal law provision makes shooting business land owners and managers responsible for certain crimes committed against wild birds on their land by their employees, contractors and agents. However there will be no conviction under vicarious liability unless it can be shown that a crime was committed and that it was the owner's or manager's employee, contractor or agent who was responsible.
• Defence to vicarious liability for a land owner/manager to show he/she did not know about the crime and took all reasonable steps and due diligence to prevent it.

New close season for hares

• WANE Act introduces a new close season for brown hares and mountain hares. The close seasons are February 1 to September 30 for brown hares and March 1 to July 31 for mountain hares. It will be an offence to intentionally or recklessly kill, take or injure a hare during the close season. The first close seasons for hares will start on February 1 2012 for brown hares and March 1 2012 for mountain hares.
• The close season is intended to provide protection for hares during the period when the are most likely to have dependent young.

Changes to the Deer Act

• The majority of the deer provisions come into force on January 1 2012, including measures in relation to deer management and provision of a Code of Practice on Deer Management. There are provisions on competence in deer stalking linked to a review by SNH planned for 2014. The exemption to allow the despatch of deer due to suffering is also clarified.

Changes to snaring law

• The majority of the snaring provisions, which includes the setting of snares, duty to inspect, record keeping, and the compulsory training course which operators must successfully complete, will come into force on January 1 2012.
• The requirement that all snares must be fitted with an ID tag and number is not expected to come into force until early 2013 to allow snaring operators sufficient time to successfully complete the compulsory training course which is a prerequisite for getting an ID number from the police.