Committee
Rural Affairs and Islands Committee 11 March 2026 [Draft]
11 Mar 2026 · S6 · Rural Affairs and Islands Committee
Item of business
Salmon Farming in Scotland
There are many points there that it is important for me to address.I would not hesitate to come back here to say, depending on the outcome of the modelling, that we are going to look at potentially introducing regulation in this space or implementing other measures to collect information. However, it is important to note that, in our response to the committee last year, we said that we need to do the work to see how we determine whether there is an issue. Again, that is why the modelling work that we have presented to you was done. It is still to be peer reviewed, and we will work through that process. However, the initial outcomes of that model found that there was not a systemic issue that we needed regulation to address.We have not said that the whole data picture is complete. As I outlined in my previous response, from the work that was commissioned, as well as the work that the committee and the Scottish Animal Welfare Commission have done, we know that there are gaps in relation to the issue of cleaner fish in particular. One focus for the coming year would be to consider what other information we need to publish in that regard.I understand that, since its appearance before you a couple of weeks ago, Salmon Scotland has written to the committee to outline the information that it would be looking to publish, and we want to enter into further discussions with it, too.On the recommendation that was made on the fish health report, there is a lot of information out there. Ultimately, some resources would be required to pull that together. I think that a comparison was made with Norway, but we are not comparing like with like in terms of the information that is already published and publicly available. If we were to compile a fish health report, we would just be reformatting the information that is already publicly available. Again, that information is there, but if the committee recommends that we should think about putting in the resources to reformat that information in a different way, we would consider that. However, I would question the value of doing that, given the pressures that we are under in terms of the resources that we have to ensure that we are delivering on all the commitments that we made to the committee, and how we would prioritise that work.
In the same item of business
09:13
The Convener
Con
Our next agenda item is the conclusion of our work on assessing the progress that has been made since our follow-up inquiry on salmon farming by taking evide...
Edward Mountain (Highlands and Islands) (Con)
Con
I remind committee members and members of the public that my entry in the register of members’ interests shows that I am a joint owner of a wild salmon fishe...
The Convener
Con
Thank you, Mr Mountain. I invite the cabinet secretary to make a brief opening statement.09:15
The Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands (Mairi Gougeon)
SNP
Good morning. I thank the committee for the opportunity to update it on the progress that we have made just over one year on from its report on salmon farmin...
The Convener
Con
Thank you, cabinet secretary. We have allocated approximately two hours for this session. As expected, we have quite a few questions to get through, so succi...
Mairi Gougeon
SNP
You have raised a few issues, which I will try to address. However, it is not a case of our saying that avoiding a burden for the industry is more important ...
The Convener
Con
That is the issue. We know that individual farms collect a lot more data than they are mandated to publish, as part of their good animal husbandry, animal we...
Mairi Gougeon
SNP
I am sorry. Do you mean in relation to the model that was sent to the committee on persistent high mortality?
The Convener
Con
Yes. We can model it, but no mortality thresholds that would trigger Government intervention were identified.
Mairi Gougeon
SNP
First, I want to respond to your point about there not being trust in the information that is there. Charles Allan might want to come in on this in a minute,...
:Hazel Bartels (Scottish Government)
The recommendation was to regulate in relation to sites that have persistent elevated mortality. We considered that it was not relevant to regulate without u...
The Convener
Con
I will come back in first. I take on board the Government’s advanced analytical understanding of mortality. However, that is where the approach falls short a...
Mairi Gougeon
SNP
That is the point that we are trying to make. First, before we determine whether we need to regulate, we need to discover whether there is a problem and how ...
:Hazel Bartels
To add to that, if it was found that there was such a problem, the next question that we would have to ask ourselves as policy makers is whether regulation w...
The Convener
Con
It is not just about changing behaviour. If we find farms that regularly have high mortality rates, they need to be closed down.
Mairi Gougeon
SNP
I am sorry, but it is not as straightforward as that. Again, that is why the modelling work that has been done is so important. If problems were identified, ...
The Convener
Con
The committee recommended mandated mortality reporting. We have heard that the Government is not providing that to the level that we would like. However, you...
Mairi Gougeon
SNP
No. I would say that we have rejected the mandating of it, because that information is available and we have it. Before introducing regulation, there are oth...
:Hazel Bartels
On the specific point that has been raised, I would just say that none of the data sets was collected in order to do the piece of analytical work that we hav...
The Convener
Con
I will run through some of our recommendations and compare them with what was delivered.The committee recommended that the fish health inspectorate should ha...
Mairi Gougeon
SNP
There are many points there that it is important for me to address.I would not hesitate to come back here to say, depending on the outcome of the modelling, ...
The Convener
Con
Stakeholders including Animal Equality UK have highlighted record-high mortality rates in 2025. What is your basis for the conclusion that persistent elevate...
Mairi Gougeon
SNP
Not at all. That is a scientific piece of work that we have presented to the committee. I am sure that Charles Allan and Hazel Bartels can talk a bit more ab...
Alasdair Allan (Na h-Eileanan an Iar) (SNP)
SNP
The committee has raised an issue about the accessibility of data, and comparisons have been made with Norway’s fish health reports. I appreciate the point t...
Mairi Gougeon
SNP
The main focus in that regard is Scotland’s aquaculture website, which is largely where such information can be found. As I touched on in a previous response...
:Jill Barber (Scottish Government)
Work was done to make Scotland’s aquaculture website more user friendly, as the cabinet secretary said. There has been on-going work on the availability of i...
The Convener
Con
I will bring in Beatrice Wishart.
Beatrice Wishart (Shetland Islands) (LD)
LD
I was going to ask about the improvements that the public could see, but I think that that question has been answered.
Emma Roddick (Highlands and Islands) (SNP)
SNP
Cabinet secretary, I am concerned that the mortality figures that we are scrutinising are still incomplete. We still cannot see mortality figures in freshwat...