Holyrood committee launches follow-up inquiry into salmon farming in Scotland.

In November 2018, the then Rural Economy & Connectivity Committee (RECC) said that urgent action needed to be taken to improve the regulation of the Scottish salmon farming industry and to address fish health and environmental challenges. 

At the time, the Committee set out 65 recommendations about how challenges, such as the control of sea lice, rising fish mortalities and the need to reduce the sector’s impact on the environment, should be addressed. The Committee also said that the current standards of regulation of the sector was ‘not acceptable’.  

Commenting, Rural Affairs & Islands Committee Convener, Finlay Carson MSP, said; 

“The RECC recommendations of 2018 aimed to put in place measures that would maintain the reputation of Scottish salmon as an internationally recognised premium product, and so preserving the significant economic and social value this industry brings to Scotland. 

"Picking up the baton from our predecessors, we will find out what progress has been made in developing the industry since 2018 and how the various fish health, environmental and climate change challenges it faces are being addressed.” 

Over the course of nine evidence sessions, the RAI Committee will revisit the recommendations hearing from aquaculture stakeholders; salmon farming representatives; non-governmental organisations; and regulators.  

In September, the Committee will meet with local community groups to learn more about the impact salmon farming is having on local communities. Members will also visit the Scottish Association for Marine Science and salmon farms to increase their understanding of how the sector is developing. 

Further information about previous Committee work on salmon farming and updates on the progress on the RAI inquiry (including a timeline) can be found here. 

ENDS 

Background  

• Scottish farmed salmon was the UK’s top food export by value in 2023. Figures from the HMRC show that export sales for the calendar year totalled £581m. 
• In 2022, 169,194 tonnes of Atlantic salmon were produced in Scotland – a decrease of 36,199 tonnes on the 2021 total of 205,393 tonnes, which was the highest level of production ever recorded in Scotland. 
• In 2023, data published by the Fish Health Inspectorate (FHI) recorded 17.4 million fish mortalities on Scottish Salmon farms which exceeded the 17.2 million of 2022’s record-breaking year.   
• Further background to the salmon industry in Scotland, including the fish health and environmental issues, can be found in the SPICe briefing on salmon farming in Scotland published at the time of the previous RECC Committee inquiry. 

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