Question reference: S5W-35255
- Asked by: John Finnie, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
- Date lodged: 18 February 2021
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Current status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 25 February 2021
Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much additional biomass of farmed salmon and trout has received consent since the Rural Economy and Connectivity Committee concluded in its report, Salmon farming in Scotland, that "urgent and meaningful action needs to be taken to address regulatory deficiencies as well as fish health and environmental issues before the industry can expand."
Answer
The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) introduced a more stringent regulatory framework for marine finfish aquaculture in June 2019 following the recommendations of the Rural Economy and Connectivity Committee Salmon farming in Scotland report, and after extensive consultation with a wide-range of interests. The regulatory framework included measures to improve environmental compliance and to ensure the size of fish farms is better matched to environmental capacity.
The recent cyber attack on the SEPA means that it does not currently have access to statistics on the additional biomass that it authorised since November 2018. However, based on information in previous reports for farmed salmon between June 2019 and November 2020 SEPA approved approximately 25,000 tonnes of additional biomass under its new regulatory framework.