Views From The Fish Farming Industry - The business reset needs to be turbo-charged

16th January 2024

An interesting article from Fish Farming Magazine set out how the business sees the current situation for their readers.

Salmon Scotland's Chief Executive Tavish Scott explains the Scottish Government is saying the right things but needs to act faster

After replacing Nicola Sturgeon as First Minister, Humza Yousaf promised to reset the Scottish Government's relationship with business.

The wider private sector had grown increasingly frustrated with several policies emerging from St Andrew's House, in particular the deposit return scheme and a crackdown on alcohol advertising.

For our sector and our friends in the commercial fishing industry, the threat to impose Highly Protected Marine Areas also caused widespread consternation - as it did throughout rural Scotland. All three have since been shelved... for now, anyway.

The reset also included measures to re-engage with businesspeople, who felt they sometimes struggled to get the ear of the previous leader.

Yousaf launched the New Deal for Business Group in April 2023, to - and I quote - "help business and trade to thrive and maximise the opportunity of the green economy, with fairness at its heart".

Four main pillars have since been established, focusing on a shared awareness of the economic and business environment, developing the best environment to do business, enhanced partnership working and contribution to what has been dubbed the wellbeing economy. Of key interest to us were subgroups on regulation and business partnerships. There are some expert business voices in the group and the language from the government has been encouraging.

And when I invited the Economy Secretary Neil Gray to visit DFDS Logistics in Larkhall to learn more about the salmon supply chain, he readily agreed. On his visit, Mr Gray asked a lot of good questions - and he listened.

But actions matter more than words.

What the budget tells us
Shortly before politics shut down for the festive recess, the Scottish Government published its draft budget for 2024/25 - the first since Yousaf won the SNP leadership contest.

The scale of the challenges facing Scotland's economy were made clear by the independent Scottish Fiscal Commission (SFC).

Economic growth will remain fragile in the near term with living standards not returning to their 2021/22 level until 2026/27, it warned.

In news that will alarm many businesses, the SFC forecast that inflation will be higher and more persistent than anticipated last year.

Employers are the key to delivering the sustainable economic growth Scotland so desperately needs.

So what was the verdict on the budget from Scotland's business leaders? It was decidedly lukewarm.

A new income tax rate band for those earning more than £75,000 was introduced to partially plug the public spending deficit, causing further divergence from the rest of the UK. Scotland now has the highest marginal tax in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. There are concerns that this will make it harder to recruit high-skilled workers from England and overseas.

If Scotland isn't seen as an attractive place to live and do business, that has an impact on our member companies.

We also wanted to see measures for our supply chain, which is why Salmon Scotland was among the business bodies who called for a business rates freeze.

Read the full article HERE

Map
There are of course more fish farms in Orkney and Shetland not shown on this map.