As a resident of Buckie, I am acutely aware of how important our fishing industry to coastal communities like Buckie, and elsewhere across Scotland.
Similarly, as a farmer myself, I feel the sense of comradeship between the primary industries of farming and fishing, and that has allowed me to work with the industry during my short time as one of your Members of the Scottish Parliament.
Fisheries is an immensely diverse industry, and while the industry does face collective challenges, each sector within the industry has its own unique challenges.
Those challenges include; the threat of Highly Protected Marine Areas, which were only paused but not abandoned, reports of unfair numbers of Marine Directorate checks on UK-registered vessels compared to EU-registered vessels, subsea cabling, harbour charges, the TCA ending in June 2026, encouraging new entrants into fishing, and the competing use of the marine environment.
I will be a champion for the fishing industry, and my door is always open to constituents who want to raise issues about the industry or government policy that may impact it.
