Holyrood report calls for action on salmon industry reforms
The report from the Scottish Parliament’s inquiry into the salmon industry says the “slow rate of progress” in improving the regulation and enforcement of the Scottish salmon farming industry needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency, and it calls for “stronger leadership” from the Scottish Government.
The MSPs’ report stops short of calling for a moratorium on growing the industry, despite the dissenting views of two of its members, but it has not ruled out such a move in future.
The Scottish Parliament’s Rural Affairs & Islands (RAI) Committee has been reviewing progress on the recommendations made in 2018 by its predecessor, the Rural Economy and Connectivity Committee (REC) in 2018, which had called for sweeping changes for Scotland’s salmon industry.
The latest report, Follow-up inquiry into salmon farming in Scotland, follows a series of hearings that focused on four key themes: fish health and welfare; environmental impact; interactions between wild and farmed salmon; and the location of fish farm sites.
The MSPs also undertook a fact-finding visit to Oban in September; hosted a community engagement event on salmon farming with local stakeholders; visited marine research facilities at SAMS and visited Dunstaffnage farm operated by Scottish Sea Farms.
Finlay Carson MSP, Convener of the Rural Affairs & Islands Committee, told Fish Farmer: "We’re really concerned about the slow rate and progress across many of the recommendations back in 2018. One of the critical issues is about the lack of accountability, lack of perceived enforcement, and throughout the committee sessions, there was a feeling that nobody was had overall oversight of the industry as a whole, whether that was planning, whether it was environmental issues, whether it was animal fish welfare. Everybody seemed to be working in silos. So what we really need to do is get the government to pull it all together."
He added: "We haven’t ruled out a moratorium in the future. The ball’s in the court of the government. It’s down to them to make sure that they can deliver the recommendations. But if they don’t, and if we don’t get a satisfactory response to this report... we will seriously look at the implications of a moratorium or a pause and how that might extend, whether it to be new inshore farms or to any development of fish farms."
‘Further progress should have been made’
Launching the report, Finlay Carson said: “We recognise the importance of the salmon farming industry to the Scottish economy and the jobs it supports in many rural and island communities.
“We also realise the efforts made by the industry to invest and innovate to overcome the new and unpredictable challenges it faces.
“But further progress should have been made in implementing the REC Committee’s recommendations of 2018 as well as anticipating the impact of climate change and rising sea temperatures on the industry. This would have helped address some of the polarised views the industry is currently facing in relation to the production process.
“Ultimately, it is the Scottish Government’s role, as well as the industry’s, to drive the change agenda required to allow science, research and the regulatory landscape to keep pace with the rapidly changing marine environment.
“That is why we are calling for the Scottish Government to redouble its focus on regulatory issues to ensure that this industry, which is so important to the Scottish economy, is both future-proofed and enabled to grow sustainably.”
Call for action
The RAI Committee is calling for a clear timetable be provided setting out how both the outstanding 2018 recommendations, and its own recommendations, will be implemented within the next year.
The Committee also asks the Scottish Government to set out how implementation will be measured and calls for dedicated ministerial oversight of the workstream involved to drive delivery.
It considered calls for a moratorium on new farms, or expansion for existing farms, but concluded against that, given the lack of certainty around the impact a moratorium on production would have, especially on those directly employed on farms or living in local communities. Two committee members – the Scottish Greens’ Ariane Burgess and Emma Roddick of the SNP – dissented from that view.
Specific recommendations include:
Fish mortality: Powers should be given to the Fish Health Inspectorate (or another appropriate body) to limit or halt production at sites which record “persistently high mortality rates”. The Scottish Government to establish a research project focused on testing and improving the modelling of environmental conditions that are known to cause high mortality events on salmon farms.
The report also calls for the publication of more comprehensive, consistent and transparent mortality figures, including cleaner fish, and an annual fish health report detailing the health and welfare status of all farmed finfish in Scotland.
Impact of salmon farms on the marine environment: The report calls for further research to address the “significant gaps in knowledge, data, analysis and monitoring around the adverse risk of salmon farming on the marine environment”, especially around discharges from farm pens and the use of medicines. It recommends investment in dedicated research pens, which the industry would be asked to help pay for.
Farmed fish welfare: The report calls on the Scottish Government to bring forward additional regulations and official guidance under the Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006 to set specific baseline standards for the welfare of farmed fish. The committee also calls for an update on the ethics and welfare implications of using cleaner fish for sea lice control.
Data and transparency: The report calls for an upgrading for the “Scotland’s Aquaculture” website to make data more accessible and user-friendly.
Wild salmon: The report says a timetable should be published for implementing the outstanding 42 recommendations of the Salmon Interactions Working Group report “as a matter of urgency”. It also calls for an immediate end to the siting of farms “in the close vicinity of known migratory routes for wild salmon”.
Planning: The committee raises concerns about the “slow progress” in tackling issues with the planning and consenting process, especially regarding relocating existing farms. It recommends that a way be found for communities to share the benefits of salmon farms sited in their locality, through consultation with stakeholders and affected communities.
The Committee says it will revisit progress made on issues raised in the report in one year and may make further recommendations at that time.
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