The Scottish Parliament’s environment committee has today welcomed draft legislation that is set to reform Scotland’s fish farming and freshwater fisheries sectors, allowing it to proceed towards becoming law. After a period of evidence gathering and committee sessions with expert witnesses, including the Scottish Wildlife Trust, the Rural Affairs, Climate Change and Environment Committee has recommended that the Parliament supports the general principles of the Aquaculture and Fisheries (Scotland) Bill.

However, in its summation, which comes after the Aquaculture and Fisheries Bill’s first stage of Parliamentary scrutiny, the Committee has warned that several improvements are needed to allow the legislation to achieve its aim of allowing both sectors to develop sustainably.

The Scottish Wildlife Trust is encouraged by the progress made so far but agrees that improvements are required in both the Bill and Government policy to protect the environment that underpins the fish farming sector.

The Committee’s stage one report published earlier today, calls for increased transparency on sea lice data from fish farms, recommending that data be collated to a finer detail than currently proposed by the industry. It also supports the development of standards for fish farm equipment to reduce the likelihood of fish escapes and calls for guidelines on the use of acoustic ‘seal scarers’ to deter seals from fish farms as an alternative to shooting.

Alex Kinninmonth of the Scottish Wildlife Trust said:

“Most of us can accept fish farming as a positive contributor to our economy as long as the industry places a high duty of care on the very environment that provides its unique selling point.  The reforms that this Bill could bring about are an important stepping stone in setting a sustainable course for fish farming in Scotland.

“We particularly welcome the Committee’s call for improved transparency on sea lice data; the publication of data at a meaningful level is already commonplace in Ireland and would give greater public confidence that the Scottish industry is taking the issue seriously.

“And the killing of seals is abhorrent to many, so alternatives such as deploying seal scarers or anti-predator netting must be encouraged, but their effect on other marine wildlife must be properly assessed beforehand – the news that a benign acoustic deterrent is being developed is therefore good news.”