Members' Business — S6M-16282 Beatrice Wishart: Opportunities and Challenges for Scotland’s Fishing Sector in 2025

That the Parliament commends the hard-working fishermen of island and coastal communities, including in the Shetland Islands constituency; understands that, as published in the most recent Marine Economic Statistics in December 2024, fishing contributed £335 million to Scotland’s economy in 2022, including £83.3 million from Shetland; notes the dangerous nature of the open sea and the at-sea dangers of manmade infrastructure, as well as from other fishing vessels conducting dangerous procedures and manoeuvres; further notes concern in the sector about increasing competition for marine space and the calls to establish designated cable corridors as a means of addressing spatial squeeze and promoting co-operation; recognises the cultural and economic significance of fishing to Scotland; highlights fish as what it sees as a sustainable, low-carbon source of protein; understands that the Scottish Government has not held a debate on fisheries since 2022, and notes the belief that action to address spatial squeeze in Scotland's seas is in the long-term interests of the fishing sector as well as the wider Scottish economy.