Scientists and fishing industry representatives have said the Scottish Government’s marine science body is underfunded and has a  “shadow” of the reputation it once had.

Professor Michel Kaiser backed the comments he made at a Rural Affairs and Islands Committee last month, when he said that what is required is not just more funding, but “a whole cultural reform”.

The professor started his career in 1991 at the Marine Laboratory in Aberdeen said that then it had “been internationally renowned.” “These days," he said, "it's not somewhere you'd want to work because it's been systematically over three decades, hollowed out shell of its former self.”

The marine laboratory in Aberdeen, Marine Scotland Science, was formerly part of Marine Scotland but has now been absorbed into the Marine Directorate.

“The staff,” said Prof Kaiser, “are so time-pressured, there is no headroom left for them to actually draw on the excellent academic community that we do have in Scotland. And that's not because of a lack of desire. It's because of a lack of time.”

Representatives of the fishing industry have also weighed in on the lack of investment in science. Elaine Whyte Executive Secretary of the Clyde Fishermen’s Association observed, “We are seeing underspending on science budgets annually, and overspending on compliance.”

Last year just over £14 million was allocated to science and around double that resource dedicated to compliance, the enforcement of current regulations.

“There is a need,” she said, “for neutral baseline science. More frequent baseline surveys of stocks are key to informed, balanced and sustainable management. Often science is conducted with a specific narrow objective, for example to inform MPAs or to be "innovation".

“There is also a growing reliance on citizen science and computer modeling.”

She noted that computer modelling systems are reliant on data. “If limited or not particularly relevant raw primary sample data is entered to the system, then of course the accuracy of any modelling outcomes can be non reflective of the actual reality of the marine environment or stocks.”

“We would urge a move towards more baseline neutral survey work. It's not always about huge budgets, a lot could be done through building trust and dialogue. We have an under-utilised reference fleet around the coast in local fishing boats, and with a robust and cost effective neutral observer programme a lot could be achieved in the collation of data. We've tried it before, it can work, it works in Norway.”

A fishing boat pictured on the Firth of Clyde as it returns to Troon (Image: Colin Mearns) At the RAI committee meeting last month the issue of trust in the independence of the science was also raised.

Fish stock assessment scientist and former director of the Scottish Government Marine Laboratory,  Robin Cook said: “A more insidious problem which undermines the credibility of Marine Directorate science, which is the position which science sits in relation to government”.

“If you look at the European laboratories across Europe and indeed in North America, in the United States, the science is managed at arm's length from government, and as a result, the perception from other scientists is that here is a more independent organization. 

"Here there's a lack of trust actually between people outside government and government science, because there's a fear that it's been manipulated or influenced unduly. And one gets a strong flavor of that actually in the discussions around issues in the Clyde.”

Marine Scotland Science was previously overseen by an independent science advisory body, but since its absorption into the Marine Directorate this has been dispensed with.

“That,” Cook said, undermines the perception that what the science coming out of Marine Scotland is actually neutral, objective science. It looks as though it's too influenced by government.”

The Clyde, and in particular its cod stocks, is one area where questions have been asked over whether the science has been adequate or appropriate to back policy decisions, especially over the extension of the Clyde cod closure to include prawn trawlers and creel fishing.

But, at the RAI committee scientists also raised other issues around how the poverty of funding and support results in a poverty of data, all the more problematic in these times of climate change. .

“One of the challenges ahead,” said Professor Colin Moffatt, former Chief Scientific Advisor Marine to the Scottish Government, "is handling some of the other developments happening in Scotland’s seas, which include both climate change and offshore wind construction. 

“We have got a significant piece of work to do, because the rate of change is such that it's going to impact fisheries. It's going to impact every aspect of what it is that we are doing in the marine environment. And if we impact our marine environment adversely, we impact our terrestrial environment as well. And so consequently, I think that we need the evidence to be making sure we're making the right decisions on what human activities can take place where and where. And we don't have that.”

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “The Scottish Government has a duty to balance environmental and economic issues. The current approach reflects our commitment to maximise protection of cod and minimise their disturbance during spawning, while mitigating socio-economic impacts on our coastal communities.

“The Marine Directorate science programme has evolved over recent years to ensure that it supports our commitments to monitor and report, while also providing data and evidence for emerging areas of demand. Investment in marine science has been maintained over recent years with £16.5m allocated in the 2024-25 budget.

“The Directorate continually works with a range of experts, nationally and internationally, to improve our methods for data collection and analysis, and often collaborate with fishermen on science and data collection, including in the Clyde region during the 2024 closure and as part of an innovative study on razorclam electrofishing.  

“In January 2024 the Marine Science and Innovation Strategy was published, setting out the direction and ambition for the future of marine science in Scotland, and identifying that collaboration and innovation will be fundamental for a forward-looking marine science function.

“The Marine Directorate has also appointed a new independent Chief Scientific Advisor for Marine in 2024, Professor Mark Inall who will be working with the Directorate in improving the science and evidence provided to support Scottish Government priorities and commitments.”