Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency

The Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency (SFPA) is an Executive Agency of the Scottish Executive, part of the Scottish Executive Environment and Rural Affairs Department. The SFPA is responsible for both deterring illegal fishing in Scottish waters, as well as monitoring the compliance of the fisheries industry in Scotland with the relevant Scottish and European Union laws on fisheries. The Agency has a fleet of 4 Fishery Protection Vessels, and 2 aircraft for the purposes of monitoring and enforcement in the waters around Scotland.

The SFPA is headquartered in Pentland House, Edinburgh, which also houses the Scottish Fisheries Monitoring Centre and the UK Fisheries Call Centre; also maintaining branch offices in fishery ports around Scotland.

History

The British Parliament has legislated for the protection and control of fisheries in the waters around the United Kingdom since the early 19th century. In 1882, the Fishery Board for Scotland was established for the purposes of protecting sea fisheries in the waters around Scotland. The Board's responsibilities were transferred to the Secretary of State for Scotland in 1939. In 1991, the Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency was established as an executive agency of the Scottish Office. Following devolution in Scotland, the agency transferred to the control of the Scottish Environment and Rural Affairs Department (SEERAD). The letters "DAFS" appearing in the Agency's ensign relate to the former Department of Agriculture and Fisheries for Scotland, part of the old Scottish Office, now replaced after several changes of name by SEERAD.

Responsibilities

From the SFPA's annual report for 2004-05, the Agency has the following mission statement: To monitor the Industry’s compliance with UK, EU and international fisheries laws and regulations in ports and at sea within British Fishery Limits around Scotland, and beyond, through the effective deployment of patrol vessels, surveillance aircraft and the sea fisheries inspectorate and the expeditious presentation of cases of non-compliance for prosecution.

The SFPA had an annual budget of around £26 million in the financial year ending 31 March 2005.

Resources

Fishery Offices

There are 73 warranted British Sea Fishery Officers (BSFOs) based at 18 coastal offices around the coast of Scotland.

These are overseen by three Area Managers based at Peterhead, Inverness and Oban respectively.

Protection Vessels

The SFPA have four fishery protection vessels (FPV) in service as of 2006. FPVs are responsible for the enforcement and monitoring of Scottish waters, although they are not considered military ships and are not armed. They use the prefix FPV, and fly the SFPA's ensign.

The FPV fleet is being brought up to date with the introduction of the new Jura class, offshore patrol vessels with a displacement of 2,200 tonnes. These vessels can stay on effective patrol for up to 30 days. The first of the class, FPV Jura joined the fleet in March 2006.

Two of the FPVs are of the older Sulisker class. (The first of the class, FPV Sulisker was launched in 1980 and decommissioned late 2005) These are offshore patrol vessels with a displacement of 1,365 tonnes and a maximum speed of 18 knots. They can spend up to 21 days on patrol. The two ships are named:

FPV Vigilant (launched in 1982)
FPV Norna (launched in 1987)

The remaining FPV is of the Minna class, an inshore/offshore patrol vessel with a displacement of 781 tonnes and a maximum speed of 14 knots. The Minna class can also spend up to 21 days on patrol. Currently there is only one vessel of this class, FPV Minna which was launched in 2004.

FPV Minna was a replacement for the inshore FPV Westra which was decommissioned in 2003, and is currently lying in Rosyth Naval Yard awaiting disposal.

Aircraft

The SFPA also have 2 aircraft: WD 64 (Watchdog 64) (G-SFPA) & WD65 (G-SFPB). Both are Reims Cessna Caravan II F-406s, based at Inverness Airport. The aircraft are operated by Highland Airways under contract.

Both aircraft are due to be replaced by Reims Vigilant F-406 surveillance aircraft in mid 2006.

Scottish Fisheries Montoring Centre

The Scottish Fisheries Montoring Centre (FMC) is a feature of the Operations Room of the SFPA. The centre is responsible for the maintaining and monitoring the VMS satellite tracking system.

United Kingdom Fisheries Call Centre

Since 1st June 2005, the UKFCC has been the single point of contact for all notification or reporting requirements from fishing vessels in UK waters, working of behalf of the SFPA, the Marine Fisheries Agency of England and Wales (MFA, previously part of DEFRA), and the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Northern Ireland (DARNDI) to enforce relevant UK and European Union laws on fisheries. It is manned 24 hours a day.

Vessel Replacement Programme

The Scottish Executive approved funds for the Agency to replace its ageing Sulisker class vessels. FPV Jura was launched in June 2005 as a replacement for the FPV Sulikser. The Jura is a larger ship at 2,200 tonnes and can stay on patrol for up to 30 days.

The Jura was constructed by Ferguson Shipbuilders of Port Glasgow as the first ship to replace the Sulisker class vessels. In the tendering for the next two vessels to be built, the Scottish Executive awarded the contract to a Polish shipbuilder rather than Fergusons, sparking strong criticism from the Scottish National Party.

In May 2006, the vessel replacement programme was delayed when the Agency was forced to suspend the tender process for a second Minna type inshore vessel after it was found that the process was in breach of EU procurment rules. ^*

External links

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