Mull Aquaculture and Fisheries Association (MAFA)

 Annual General Meeting  (unapproved )

Wednesday 13^th December 2006, Craignure Hall

1          Present           Bob Lawson (Chair), Nick Turnbull (Secretary), James Hilder               (MICT) and around 20 members and associate members.

2          Apologies        Linda Cameron (Chair - Community Council), Geoff Kidd

3          Approval of minutes of last year’s meeting – proposed by Douglas Wilson,             seconded by Paul Gallagher

4          Report of the MICT/MAFA meeting on the proposals for a Coastal Marine       National Park held Thursday 7^th December

            James Hilder gave a brief synopsis of this meeting. There had been a fantastic    turnout of around 200 people and a great sense of community spirit. There was a     feeling that many at the meeting had come ‘off the fence’ as a result of the             presentations and discussions.  He stressed the importance of MAFA in that the            establishment of the group last year had meant that MAFA had been able to make             representations on the consultation paper and that Mull was more aware of the         implications of a CMNP than other parts of Scotland. It had been made obvious            that most of the money available for the set up of the Park will be spent on    administration and that hardly any would be available roads and housing and that     even the Scottish Executive do not know what the Park Board will deliver.  It had          been obvious from the talk given by the last speaker, Dr Rupert Ormond, that            Mull does not need a National Park to protect fishing rights.  Three points of    action were put forward:

1          Ian McKinnon had suggested that there should be a referendum and had set up a           petition requesting this

2          People should respond to the Consultation Document – stressing that a CMNP is          not needed for Conservation measures.

3          Let the Inshore Fishing Groups settle in.  The Isle of Mull initiative is still to go    ahead.

            Minutes of the meeting will made be available on the MAFA and MICT websites.

            Bob Lawson thanked James and MICT for their role in making MAFA aware of           the proposals for the CMNP and for the work that he had done in arranging and        chairing the meeting.

5          Chairman’s Report

            Bob Lawson gave a report on the setting up of MAFA and the meetings that he             and members of the committee had had with SNH and with MSPs both in    Tobermory and in Holyrood.  He commented on the lack of democracy shown by    the MSPs in that although the Marine Park Bill had been debated very few MSPs          were in the chamber but that when a vote was taken they all followed the Party       line. It is obvious that Ross Finnie is keen that there should be a CMNP and that     this would be a first for the UK.  Although the group had made representations, it          had been made clear by the SE that they needed evidence that these represent the    feelings of the members as a whole; so Bob Lawson urged all those present to fill     in the ballot form which will show that members have been consulted and             whether or not they agree with the views expressed by the committee.

            James Hilder added that the Sound of Mull initiative appears to be ‘on hold’,     possible because of a possible CMNP.

6          Secretary and Treasurer’s Report

            This was provided as a typewritten report by Nick Turnbull.  He also gave a brief          synopsis of the meeting earlier that day which had been arranged by Scottish     Executive.  This had been attended by 50 people, was badly organised and those      from the SE were only prepared to consider the benefits of a CMNP as they saw it       and were unwilling to discuss any downsides to the scheme. He was also concerned that the Inshore Fishing Groups set up by the Executive appeared not             to be given statuary powers, but these Groups were in the early stages of             development.  He stressed that other people on Mull should be as concerned as            the fishermen are.  Nick thanked Keri Logan for her help as Treasurer and Cath             Mayo as Minutes Secretary.

            James Hilder asked if the Regulating order put forward by Highland Council was           going to a public enquiry . Sec. was able to confirm that there was to be no public             enquiry as to the best of his knowledge the Regulating order has now been   dropped( this was a fisheries reg. order that included parts of the Sound of Mull)

7          Review of Subscriptions

            There is £300 in the account; the meeting with the MSPs involved the cost of     going to Edinburgh and it was likely that there would be more of these in the             future.  Also it was important to be able to pay Keri for the work she is doing.

            There had been a donation of £500 from the Gala Day on the South end of the Island.   

            After some discussion the following rates were suggested:

            Boats  Per man                                  £30                  Unanimous

            (the discussion had centered on a proposal that the rate per boat by £70 and £35          for a smaller boat, but this was considered to be the fairer option)

            Large Fish Farms                               £350                Unanimous

            Small Fish Farms                   £30 - £200                   Unanimous

            (Only Seafish Authority were represented; it was suggested that Pan Fish would            be happy with this; the feeling of Marine Harvest was not known, but there has             been a change in personnel)

            There was discussion about how this fitted in with the rules which say that a       voting member should pay £5.  This could be overcome by the £5 being paid, the     rest be given as a donation.  Companies would nominate a member who would   have a vote.  It was assumed that everyone already a member wishes to remain.

            Associate members are non-voting, do not have to pay a levy, but can of course            make a donation.

8          Association members’ opinion on 3 Options

            These options were put to the meeting as it is important that any representation to          the SE must be that of the whole association. MFA want individuals to make         representations before 10^th January to the SE; not necessarily to use the        questionnaire supplied by on-line by SE.  It is essential in any letter to state        explicitly if the writer wishes their name to be withheld from any resulting publicity (anonymous) or is the writer does not mind (non-anonymous)

            The motions and voting was as follows 

            MAFA members continue to express concerns over the introduction

            of a CMNP                                                                                                     23

            MAFA approve the introduction of the CMNP                                     0

            MAFA members do not know                                                              0

8          Election of Office Bearers

The Chair and Secretary have agreed to stay in post

Chair   Bob Lawson                 Proposed Paul Gallagher           Seconded  Andy Durie

          (Static Gear)

Vice Chair  Douglas Wilson     Proposed Bob Lawson Seconded Steve Barlow

         (Aquaculture – shell)

Secretary  Nick Turnbull         Proposed Sally Davis                Seconded   Alistair Mackie

            (Aquaculture – shell)

Treasurer       Keri Logan

Committee      Paul Gallagher              Scallop fishing

(existing)           Steve Barlow                Commercial Divers

                        Andy Durie                   Static gear

                        Alistair Mackie Static gear

New members Sally Davis       Proposed Nick Turnbull            Seconded Steve Barlow

                        (Aquaculture)

                        Nick Mawhinney    Proposed Nick Turnbull  Seconded Andy Durie

                        (Shell fish farmer and marine engineer)

Geoff Kidd and Dougie Reid have resigned from the Committee

AOCB

The way to get more members was discussed as it was important to capitalise on peoples’ concern expressed at the meeting on December 7^th.  The possibility of writing to the manager of each of the fish farms encouraging employees to become associate members was discussed, but Sally Davis had done this with little success.  It was suggested that an account of the meeting be sent to Round and About and Am Muileach along with a copy of the subscription form.  This would also have a standing order form attached to it.

Bob Lawson urged everyone to go to meetings prior to the elections in May to question candidates directly on CMNPs and to make sure that the candidates were aware of the opinion of those on Mull.

Douglas Wilson proposed a vote of thanks to Nick for all the hard work he had put in in the running of MAFA and in the organisation of the meeting on December 7^th.