Meeting of the Parliament 20 March 2025 [Draft]
I completely agree, and I am coming on to that. I am not for massive regulation; I am for small state. However, there is a role for the Government in ensuring that the industry is sustainable for the future.
It is too large a report to touch on everything, and I do not have time to do so, but I want to touch quickly on a few key parts. Mortality is a very serious issue. Mandatory mortality reporting to the fish health inspectorate is a positive, so that we can all ensure that significant events do not occur and that, when they do, everything is done to work out why. The Government has said that it will look at issues around persistent high mortality and consider regulatory powers to limit or halt production at sites with high mortality rates. That is welcome, and I look forward to seeing that progress.
A number of serious concerns have been raised around welfare. I welcome a new assessment of options, which will be completed prior to the September update to committee. As my colleague Edward Mountain mentioned, it is vital in any farm system that robust health and welfare standards are in place, which includes good monitoring and ensure long-term sustainability and ethical management practices.
The use of wrasse was an important discussion for the committee. Wrasse plays an important role in natural habitats, helping to maintain the balance of marine ecosystems. For that reason, they are widely used in aquaculture as an alternative method of controlling sea lice to chemicals. The committee heard evidence that almost a third of cleaner fish die within a few weeks of being deployed in marine pens. More worrying than that for the committee is the great concern about the impact that the catching of wild wrasse is having on other fish stocks and the health of our marine ecosystems.
The Scottish Government recognised that, in the light of evidence in the University of Glasgow’s report on wrasse, an assessment of the fishery should take place before the opening of the season in May 2025. I am not sure whether the cabinet secretary is due to speak again in the debate, but, if so, it would be great to hear more about that assessment in her closing remarks. If she will not speak again today, perhaps she could write to the committee on that point.
It is disappointing to see that the Government does not support the collection of data that would include wrasse mortality. I recognise that the industry is producing a lot of data, but it would have been good to know about levels of wrasse mortality. Such data would have given us useful insight into how efficiently or otherwise the sector currently uses wrasse.
It is absolutely vital that we remember the massive importance of wild salmon to our natural environment. In 2023, we saw the lowest wild salmon catch since records began, with a 25 per cent reduction compared with the figure for 2022. I come from an area with rivers that once teemed with fish. It is devastating to see our rivers now nearly empty. I do not blame the farmed salmon industry, but, like all of us, it has a role to play. It must ensure that wild salmon genes are not mixed with those of farmed salmon through escapes and that, where they might cross paths, habitats are healthy. The committee stopped short of calling for a pause or moratorium on new site expansion, but, as the cabinet secretary mentioned, it is no secret that various groups and individuals have called for that.
The most important point that I want to press is that, for the protection of our wild fish stocks, our communities and the farmed salmon industry, it is absolutely vital that the committee’s recommendations, along with the measures in the cabinet secretary’s response, are implemented. It might be that we need to put more regulation in place, or that sites need to move further offshore. Some areas might no longer be suitable. However, it is only through discussion and action that we will have the sustainable and thriving salmon farming sector that Fergus Ewing described, for all who are involved.
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