Success of the NAFC Marine Centre’s Data Collection Programme

That the Parliament welcomes the news that, during 2018, more than 55,000 fish and shellfish were measured at sea and on shore by scientists from the NAFC Marine Centre UHI; understands that this will provide information that could be used to assure long-term sustainability of the fish and the fishing industry around Shetland; notes that much of this work was completed on board the Atlantia II; welcomes the reports that this research showed that numbers of both juvenile haddock and whiting have substantially increased; acknowledges the pivotal role of the area's fishermen in ensuring the success of the research; believes that news of population increases shows the value of the sustainability awareness that is enabled by work such as this, and thanks the centre's staff and the Shetland fishermen on their work to provide this valuable data.