SSPO ready for round two of salmon probe

THE Scottish salmon industry will come under the spotlight again tomorrow in round two of Holyrood’s probe into the environmental impacts of fish farming.
The Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform (ECCLR) Committee will take evidence from the Scottish Salmon Producers Organisation (SSPO), represented by general manager David Sandison.
Also appearing before the committee will be environmental lobby groups, Highland Council and government body Marine Scotland.
Last week, the committee heard from the Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS), which had produced a review of the literature on Scottish salmon farming’s environmental impact.
The session tomorrow, which starts at 9.30am, will hear first from John Aitchison, of the Friends of the Sound of Jura, which campaigned against Kames Fish Farming to stop the siting of a new trout farm in the region; Sam Collin, marine planning officer at the Scottish Wildlife Trust and convener of the LINK Aquaculture subgroup; and the SSPO.
Then in the next group, MSPs will question Anne Anderson of the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa); Mark Harvey, planning team leader at Highland Council; James McKie, head of Marine Scotland’s licensing operations team; and Rob Raynard, aquaculture and fish health programme manager at Marine Scotland.
A parliamentary press officer said committee members ‘may ask more about sea lice and disease impacts on wild and farmed salmon, the impact of ‘escapee’ farmed salmon on wild populations and any approaches to reducing the impact of salmon farming in the future’.
Sandison (pictured) described the meeting as ‘a great opportunity for us to engage better, to engage at a political level but also to engage with regulators, who are actually keen to hear from us’.
The committee’s proceedings can be watched live via https://www.scottishparliament.tv/ on channel Committee Room 1.