The Scottish Fishermen’s Federation (SFF) is urging the country's government to work with the fishing industry, not against it, if it is to avoid a repeat of the Highly Protected Marine Areas (HPMAs) fiasco of 2023.

This year, the country's fishing sector, along with the salmon farming industry and coastal and island communities, successfully fought off "unjustified" plans to ban fishing in at least 10 percent of Scotland’s seas.

"Clearly, as we are reminded in headlines from around the world every day, we need to tackle the climate crisis and biodiversity loss, but ministers will have to change their mindset and see fisheries as just one part of highly complex systems and not simply a cause of what’s going on," said Elspeth Macdonald, chief executive of the SFF in an end of year message.