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Crew members of Scotland's fisheries protection fleet are involved in a pay row with the Scottish government.

The union Unite has started a month-long industrial action ballot among about 80 crew over a pay award of 2%.

The union claimed the award had been imposed against the wishes of the workforce.

The fleet is operated by Marine Scotland, a directorate of the Scottish government which said extensive pay discussions were held with staff.

It said it acted lawfully in awarding the pay increase.

The fisheries protection fleet monitors for overfishing and checks whether boats are catching the permitted size of fish.

Unite's members include engineers, cooks, petty officers, merchant officers, mates and deck hands.

General secretary Sharon Graham said: "The 2% pay imposition comes at a time when inflation runs at more than four times that rate and keeps climbing."

She accused the Scottish government of breaking off negotiations before they reached their conclusion.

The Scottish government said that following negotiations, the pay offer was accepted by the Nautilus International union but rejected by Unite.

A spokeswoman said: "As the pay award was several months overdue, and having been accepted by members of one of the recognised trade unions, we decided that it was appropriate to move forward and implement the award which was done with end-February 2022 salaries.

"This decision was not made lightly but we felt it was important that staff received the relevant increases to their pay."

She said the terms of the award, which included pay progression and non-consolidated payments to staff on the maximum of their pay range, saw eligible staff receive earnings increases which ranged from 2.5% up to 7.4% for the lowest paid staff.