Hansard

I am pleased to close this afternoon’s debate on behalf of the Rural Affairs and Islands Committee, as its deputy convener. I reiterate the committee’s thanks to all the stakeholders who engaged with our inquiry. Their views were invaluable to us in drawing up our report’s conclusions and recommendations. I also thank members across the chamber for their contributions to what has been, mostly, a constructive and thoughtful discussion about an industry that I am sure we all want to succeed in becoming more sustainable.

Members such as Rhoda Grant, Fergus Ewing, Tim Eagle, Jamie Halcro Johnston and Colin Smyth rightly spoke about the economic and social benefits that salmon farming brings to their communities. They made the important point that, as well as being directly responsible for supporting jobs in its sector, the industry is indirectly responsible, through the wider supply chain, for supporting jobs in areas such as transportation, engineering and food processing.

I have first-hand knowledge of how important salmon farming is in my constituency of Shetland. In fact, figures that Shetland Islands Council provided to the committee suggested that local aquaculture provides around 400 full-time jobs and accounts for around 12 per cent of our islands’ total GVA. The committee heard about the local initiatives that fish farmers support through their community benefit funds and the funding that is made available to local authorities, through sea bed leases, from salmon farm development.

However, at our community engagement event in Oban, the committee also heard that, for some, the benefit of that funding is not always clearly visible to the general public. That is why we recommended that the Scottish Government should develop good practice principles for community benefits from aquaculture developments. We think that that would help to provide greater transparency on community benefit packages and would help to ensure that they are tailored to the characteristics of each development and to their local communities.

The cabinet secretary said that the Scottish Government would explore our proposal on good practice principles with stakeholders to ensure that any decision is in place ahead of the 2026 Crown Estate Scotland lease fee increases. The committee will be keen to see how that work progresses over the coming year.

Many members spoke about the challenges that the sector is currently grappling with, including those relating to fish mortality. The committee was disappointed not to see more progress on that issue since the REC Committee report. I welcome the news of a reduction in the overall mortality rate last year and hope that that progress will continue, but that will happen only if the Scottish Government provides the support that the sector needs to adapt and innovate so that it can address some of the environmental and climate-related factors that many members touched on in their contributions.

Members spoke about the need for better regulation and enforcement of the industry to help improve performance. The committee highlighted mortality as one area where the Scottish Government must address gaps in accountability and governance. The committee was also concerned about the structure of the wider regulatory framework, which does not seem to take full account of how salmon farming impacts wild salmon. That lack of a holistic approach to regulation was consistently emphasised by stakeholders such as Fisheries Management Scotland in their evidence to the committee.

Members also discussed the need for more consistency and transparency in how data is collected and reported on by the Scottish Government and industry. Timely reporting of that data makes it easier to find on the Scotland’s aquaculture website and seems to be a reasonable solution to the issue. I welcome the fact that the cabinet secretary is now committed to modernising how data is presented on that website, but that work to improve accessibility is long overdue. It would certainly help the general public to understand more about salmon farming and might even help to dispel many of the concerns, myths and misconceptions about how the industry operates.

Another key point made in today’s contributions was about the need for improvements to research and scientific evidence. That would develop a more robust evidence base about the environmental footprint of salmon farming and the impact on the marine environment of certain chemicals that are used by the industry, while also addressing gaps in knowledge about the interactions between farmed and wild salmon. The committee believes that dedicated research pens would not only help to answer some of those questions but would help Government to make better decisions about policy.

Several members discussed environmental and welfare considerations about the use of cleaner fish in salmon farming. Although the committee acknowledged the steps taken by industry and the Scottish Government to better protect the welfare of wrasse and lumpfish, we remain concerned by evidence about the welfare of those fish, and especially about the high mortality rates being reported and about the sustainability of wild wrasse fisheries. I know that the Scottish Government is expecting further advice on that from NatureScot and the Scottish Animal Welfare Commission, and I am sure we all hope that that will translate into concrete measures to enhance the welfare of those animals.

Colleagues spoke about the welfare of farmed fish, and Fergus Ewing mentioned the £1 billion that the industry has invested to promote good fish welfare at farms. The committee was supportive of that investment to market Scottish salmon as a premium product. We also noted the industry’s need to balance treating fish to meet requirements regarding sea lice with the potential unintended consequences that that might have for fish health and welfare.

The committee recognises the economic contribution of the Scottish salmon farming sector, both as a successful national export and as a driver of prosperity in rural and island communities such as mine. It was also clear to the committee that the sector faces a number of environmental and fish health challenges, especially in the wider context of climate change and rising sea temperatures, which the sector and the Scottish Government must understand and adapt to.

This debate does not signal the end of our interest in the issue. The committee will return before the end of this session of Parliament to consider what progress has been made in implementing our, and the REC Committee’s, recommendations. We expect the Scottish Government to use its time wisely to make more tangible progress in future-proofing the industry.