Marine Economy Week 2022

The topic for day two was ports and harbours, and we were fortunate to be joined by Ivan McKee MSP, minister for business, trade, tourism and enterprise, who provided our keynote address (link to day two). Mr McKee gave us an insightful vision of the Scottish Government’s ambition for the blue economy, particularly when considering the two Green Freeports which will be created in Scotland.

Joining Mr McKee on our panel was Richard Ballantyne, chief executive of the British Ports Association, and Steve Regan, owner of the Ardersier Port Authority Energy Transition Facility.

Richard underlined the size and strength of the UK and Scotland’s ports and harbour sector, which handle 95% of UK trade and employs more than 115,000 people. England is currently in the process of setting up a number of new freeports, which may act as a precursor to the two new green freeports which are in the process of being created in Scotland.

Steve Regan provided the developer viewpoint, and the exciting progress being made at Ardersier, the role it intends to play in Scotland’s net zero ambitions supporting the ScotWind leasing. The owners of Ardersier are also embracing circular economy principles and practices.

Just as we were hosting day two of Marine Economy Week, the Queen’s Speech was taking place, which included the Harbours, Seafarers and Remuneration Bill, in response to the concerns arising from the much publicised P&O Ferries issue. We await to see how that bill will be received by the sector, but undoubtedly it is a piece which we will be closely monitoring, and providing updates to our clients who may be impacted.

Innovation in the aquaculture section was the topic of discussion for day three. Our IP & technology partner, Jamie Watt, was joined by Hanne Mertens, chief operating officer of Aqua Pharma Group, the Norway-based but global veterinary services provider to the aquaculture industry.

Hanne covered a range of topics, including the developing trends, challenges for the sector, and emerging regulatory themes.

An important thread running through this discussion was that while our waters are perfectly suited for aquaculture, operators are acutely aware of their responsibilities to the environment. The concepts of welfare below the waters, circular economies and environmental footprints, are becoming increasingly important for aquaculture operators.

The aquaculture sector has proven its agility and credentials at being at the forefront of innovation, in the face of numerous challenges such as sustainability and consumer demand. The opportunities are there for the Scottish sector to work collaboratively, with other nations, and other sectors, to harness the most from our water’s natural capital.

Marine and offshore renewable energy was the topic for day four and we were joined by William Black, deputy director of energy strategy and strategic coordination and energy consent within the Scottish Government, and Andy McDonald – director of offshore wind development and operations at ORE Catapult, the UK’s leading innovation and research centre for the offshore renewable energy sector.

The session was hosted by energy partner Omar Ali and planning partner Peter Ferguson.

It was natural that a large part of this discussion would focus on ScotWind, it is the first round of offshore wind leasing in Scotland for a decade, and the world’s largest offshore leasing competition.

It’s clear the significance of ScotWind to Scotland’s net zero ambitions, and the opportunity for the supply chain to support such a major piece of Scottish infrastructure. The discussion centred around the key factors which would make ScotWind a success for all stakeholders, including the communities closest to the developments. True collaboration among those stakeholders will be important, including the infrastructure and skills required, regulators, planners and developers.

The last session of the week was on the theme of people and skills and was hosted by employment senior associate Ewan Stafford, and our senior associate specialising in immigration, Ashley Fleming.

We were joined by Martin Leyland from Shetland Seafood Auctions and Angus Ferguson from Onboard Maritime, a specialist training provider for the maritime sector.

Martin kindly underlined the importance of Shetland to our seafood industry – it is the second largest port in the UK for landed fish. Prior to the pandemic there was more fish landed in Shetland than the whole of England, Northern Ireland and Wales combined.

The maritime sector in Scotland provides 75,000 jobs, which is around 3% of the total Scottish workforce. More than a quarter of Scotland’s fishing workforce is not from the UK, and nearly one in five are not from the European Economic Area.

A key area of discussion was around the challenges in the sector to adequately attract, recruit and retain skilled people, particularly in the more remote areas of Scotland. This is no mean feat when you consider that Scotland’s marine area is seven times greater than that of the land mass.

The topic of immigration as a route to solving some of Scotland’s recruitment challenges, was explored, as well as the transition of skills from either different sectors, or different parts of the world.

Given where the sector is, emerging from the pandemic and still managing the impact of Brexit, the discussion touched on what operators could be doing now to help overcome some of those people challenges.

There are definitely opportunities in Scotland’s marine economy, there are also challenges to overcome.

The Scottish Government outlines some 25 different sub categories which make up our marine economy.

Our Marine Economy Week brought together as many of those sectors as was practical, but there are some underlying themes which we can all take away – those of innovation and collaboration, while protecting our precious marine environment.