ALEX Salmond has called on David Cameron to honour his word and allow Scottish ministers to speak on behalf of the UK's fishing industry during European summits.
In a letter addressed to Cameron and obtained by the Sunday Herald, the First Minister criticises a decision to lock out Richard Lochhead, Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Food and the Environment, from tomorrow's meeting of the Agriculture and Fisheries Council, and give the seat to an unelected member of the House of Lords.
Salmond said the Environment Secretary, Elizabeth Truss, informed Lochhead on Friday that she would not be attending Monday's meeting - but her place would be taken by House of Lords member, Lord de Mauley, instead.
"Lord de Mauley has no direct fisheries responsibilities and never has had," Salmond said.
In the letter, Salmond referred to previous agreements, including the Memorandum of Understanding - signed in 2013 - which makes provision for Scottish ministers to lead discussions in the council where an issue is of greater relevance to Scotland than the UK as a whole.
He said: "In 2010, both you and the Foreign Secretary agreed that it is reasonable, given Scotland's overwhelming interests in fisheries, that Scottish ministers could speak for the UK delegation."
The fishing industry has been found to have a far greater social-economic and cultural importance in Scotland than it has relative to the rest of the UK.
The Scots fishing industry has also been affected by the EU's Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) due to restrictions that have been imposed.
Salmond said the Prime Minister needed to "take urgent action" to ensure the Government "abides by the terms of our previous agreement on representation at European Council meetings". He asked that Lochhead "is able to take the lead" at the gathering.
The main area of fishing policy under discussion at the meeting is the deep-sea stocks regulations, where quotas will be agreed.
Salmond said: "Scotland has the dominant interest in this activity, with fishing taking place almost exclusively by Scottish vessels, and landings of these species by vessels in membership of Scottish producer organisations are in the region of 95% of all UK landings this year."
The First Minister also accused the Government of being "asleep at the wheel" when it comes to additional payments by the UK to the EU budget.
Salmond added: "It would be a travesty if on Monday the interests of Scotland's fishing industry are represented not by a Cabinet Secretary with seven years of experience and direct responsibilities to the industry, but by an unelected Lord with no previous experience whatsoever. It is a recipe for a further failure in Europe."
The Council is made up of the agriculture and fisheries ministers of the 28 EU member states.
Among the tasks decided by the fisheries wing of the Council are quotas for each species, fishing effort limits and setting the annual Total Allowable Catches (TACs).
The Smith Commission, which was set up to discuss further devolution to the Scottish Parliament, received a copy of the letter from Salmond's office.
A Downing Street spokesman last night did not comment on the specifics of the letter.
Instead he said: "The Government takes its responsibility to act for all parts of the UK extremely seriously. Our ministers put our country's interests first and foremost in all they do.
"We have consistently and successfully worked with the Scottish Government to argue for and to secure the best deals for our fishing industry. Their hand is strengthened by being part of the UK."
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