CROWNING GLORY
Future of a Scottish institution in the balance
Alex Adrian had 20 years’ experience in aquaculture before joining the Crown Estate in 2007 and worked in almost every sector of the industry, from hatcheries, to fish health, to environmental monitoring, quality standards, and even processing.
It is understandable, then, that he is happier talking about the future of fish and shellfish farming than he is about the prospects for his own organisation.
But he now finds himself thrown into a maelstrom, the result of post-referendum politics in Scotland, and he is trying his diplomatic best to take the long view.
He does admit that he, along with the rest of the industry, has been surprised at the speed with which things have moved.
‘After the referendum, most people thought nothing much would change because it was a yes or no question. We were voting for change or the status quo. Then the ‘vow’ came at the last minute and the Smith Commission arose from that.’
The ‘vow’ was an eleventh hour pledge signed by David Cameron, Nick Clegg and Ed Miliband, committing cross-party support to more powers for the Scottish parliament in the event of a no vote. It paved the way for the proposed legislation that will end the role of the Crown Estate, as we know it, in Scotland.
Asked about this politicisation of the Crown Estate, Adrian said ‘you need to be wary that you’re not throwing the baby out with the bathwater’. But he believes the Smith Commission has, in a way, taken the politics out of the debate.
‘If it’s not a reserved matter and the revenues are now going to be coming to Scotland, that’s fixed a lot of it.
‘In my personal opinion, there was a political issue with everything being controlled by Westminster. Where the money went was more symbolic than practical. We all know you have the Barnett Formula and it all goes into one pot, out of which came funding for Scotland anyway.
‘But it’s perceptions that are important and folk want to see more local control over revenues in Scotland – by the likes of aquaculture – are re-invested in communities and in R&D and so on.’
He doesn’t think people disagree with the devolution of the Crown Estate in principle but says the industry is ‘quite happy with what we do’ and that the question now is ‘how far you divvy it all out’.
‘If we’re part of the Scottish government, it’s now a case of clarifying what we can do and how the Scottish government can use our knowledge and expertise to the best effect.
‘That should be a decision based on what is the best thing for the administration of the assets and the businesses involved in them. What you should be careful of is creating additional burden for the industry by something that’s supposed to be a good thing for Scotland.’
Adrian is not involved in the ‘high level’ negotiations with ministers but said the Scottish government will decide whether to keep them as some sort of unit or subsumed into the workings of a government body like Marine Scotland. ‘We just don’t know.’
‘The desire in the Smith Commission proposals is for the management of the assets to go to local authorities, but that will be a decision for the Scottish government.’
There are fears in the industry that it would lead to a conflict of interests if the local authorities controlled seabed leases and planning applications.
All Adrian would say was it would be a pity to waste any resource, be it expertise or anything else the Crown Estate currently offers – ‘I think that’s what’s absorbing everybody at the moment’.
‘Our customers tell us that they don’t want to lose sight of all the benefits you get from having a strategic overview, particularly when you’re looking at businesses that are spread throughout Scotland,’ he said.
That overview comes not just from the Crown Estate’s remit but from experience built up over many years.
‘You need to have good knowledge and good contacts in the business to do it well because you are dealing with ongoing things in aquaculture, reviewing leases, changing the types of development, and so on.’
If farmers want to develop a new farm they have to check that the space is available and the Crown Estate is the first port of call.
‘We encourage them to take out an option, so it’s a secure interest for three years. We go through an assessment of their ability to develop the lease, because we’re not wanting to hand over the seabed unless something’s actually going to happen.
‘But for the salmon guys, we know them well. We give them two years to get the planning application from the council. But in large part these things are won or lost in the conversations you have in the communities beforehand. If you’re going to try and fight this out at the application stage you’re probably going to lose.’
He cites the recent development of a site on
Colonsay by Marine Harvest as ‘the benchmark for pre-application consultation’. The company put its proposal to a vote on the island and because there were fewer than five objections, it didn’t even have to go before a planning committee.
‘That’s remarkable for something of that nature,’ said Adrian. ‘But in little communities like Colonsay you can do that. If you’re in a sea loch and some are pro and some are anti, it’s trickier.
‘But that’s what we’re trying to say – if you don’t become integrated and people don’t see a benefit of you being there, or at least no disadvantage to you being there, then you’re on a hiding to nothing. You need to spend about 12 months doing that in our experience.’
The application process in Scotland is unnecessarily complex, he believes, and here he spots a possible new role for his team.
‘One of the debates going on at the moment is the degree of regulation in Scotland and whether it is proving a disincentive for some of those big multinationals who could spend their money elsewhere.
‘There are three separate sets of legislation administered by three bodies – local authorities, the Marine Scotland licensing team and SEPA. All the statutory bodies get consulted on the SEPA application, the planning application and on the Marine licence. So it’s not just the industry that has to go out and deal with all these bodies, all the bodies have to deal with all the bodies. Nobody wants to let go of what they feel their legislative obligations are.’
The industry, he said, does not need any additional administrative layers that further devolution might bring. He is all for growth, by default.
And his vision for this growth goes far beyond the Crown Estate’s role.
‘The industry wants more, the government wants the industry to get bigger but you do start to run out of practical space. But rather than getting another site, we say is there a way of negotiating with the local community and saying if we increase the size of this farm would that be better for you, rather than looking for a new location. The community has to see a value in you being there.
In the terrestrial landscape, farmers are seen as a good thing. Why doesn’t this happen with the sea?”
‘There are certain hardwired environmental limits – things you can monitor and quantify quite easily. But there are other less quantifiable things, like visual impact and interaction issues. If you can put in place measures that give some accountability to what you’re proposing, then why shouldn’t you get more space?’
He said he would also like to encourage salmon farmers to look into shellfish, in sites where they have no further interest in salmon farming.
‘They don’t have to be the shellfish farmer and they can retain the lease, but they can enter into an agreement with the shellfish farmer so it’s not going to waste.
‘Salmon farming would benefit from being seen as a wider aquaculture portfolio, growing seaweed and shellfish as well, and having not just environmental stewardship but economic stewardship, helping shellfish men with their equipment maybe.
‘In the terrestrial landscape, farmers are seen as a good thing, by and large. Why doesn’t that happen with the sea? When people see fish farms they don’t see the millions invested, or someone there keeping an eye on the environment.
‘We’re trying to get fish farms seen as part of the landscape rather than as these interlopers who fly in with all their mon ey and technology.
‘It’s a hearts and minds issue, especially for the salmon guys who are actively seeking growth. They have to be seen as offering some kind of local value. For example, in the Hebrides, a fish farmer helps local farmers ship the sheep around with their landing craft because they graze on different islands. Another helps with the local moorings for the yacht club. There is a lot of in teraction. It’s about becoming more part of the community so people think it’s better to have a fish farm around than not have one.
‘You can translate that into better growth because people will say, yes, I’m quite happy the benefit you offer will transfer to our community.’
He laughingly called this transformation in attitudes his ‘raison d’etre’, but he is serious when he talks about the industry’s future, as if it was a crusade in which he and his organisation will still be playing their part.