There has been a “lack of progress” from the Scottish Government in implementing reforms recommended for the salmon farming industry, MSPs have said.
Members of the Rural Affairs and Islands Committee further warned such delays could be “detrimental to the long-term viability” of the sector.
The remarks came in a follow-up report published more than six years after a previous Holyrood committee made 65 recommendations for change in the industry.
The MSPs said some of these have been implemented, but they are “concerned” many of the changes suggested have not been acted upon.
Their report complains of a lack of action in areas including research into the environmental impact of chemical use on fish farms, and also on calls for the planning process to be simplified to allow farms to relocate from unsuitable sites.
But, like the previous committee in November 2018, the MSPs said they will not be calling for a moratorium on new fish farms or the expansion of existing ones.
They said they “seriously considered” whether calling for a moratorium would be appropriate, saying such a move would “send a clear signal to the Scottish Government and industry that further urgent progress is required”.
But it added the impact this would have on communities where fish farms are located and those working on them was “unclear”.
Noting the industry itself has “made improvements and recommendations”, the committee said as a result it “does not currently support a moratorium or pause on production”.
This is the view of the majority of the committee, but Green MSP Ariane Burgess and the SNP’s Emma Roddick both made clear they disagree.
With farmed salmon said to be the UK’s biggest food export, committee convener Finlay Carson stressed the “importance of the salmon farming industry to the Scottish economy and the jobs it supports in many rural and island communities”.
He also said MSPs realise “the efforts made by the industry to invest and innovate to overcome the new and unpredictable challenges it faces”.
But he insisted “further progress should have been made in implementing” the recommendations made in 2018.
Carson added: “Ultimately, it is the Scottish Government’s role, as well as the industry’s, to drive the change agenda required to allow science, research and the regulatory landscape to keep pace with the rapidly changing marine environment.
“That is why we are calling for the Scottish Government to redouble its focus on regulatory issues to ensure that this industry, which is so important to the Scottish economy, is both future-proofed and enabled to grow sustainably.”
Dale Vince, the founder of the Green Britain Foundation – a charity working to make the nation greener – said the committee’s failure to back a moratorium is “hard to understand”.
He said: “Even a properly-run factory farm for salmon causes great environmental harm – and are there any of those? The people and wildlife of Scotland deserve better.”
But Charles Millar, executive director of the Sustainable Inshores Fisheries Trust, said the committee had “pressed the multinationals who use our waters for salmon farming to clean up their act”.
He added: “The key missing information here, though, is what economic costs this industry imposes on other sectors, from fishing to marine tourism.
“Scottish ministers ought to have done a full cost benefit analysis long ago, and until they have this data we need a moratorium on new fish farms.”
Tavish Scott, chief executive of industry body Salmon Scotland, said salmon farms “already have world-leading welfare and environmental standards” as well as being subject to strict regulation.
He said the sector “continues to innovate”, saying this is why survival rates for fish “are at a four-year high” with levels of sea lice infestations at an “historic low”.
He added: “Consumer sales of our nutritious fish are on track to break all records,” saying Salmon Scotland had “engaged constructively with MSPs to provide evidence of the significant progress our sector has made, and we note that most of their recommendations are for the Scottish Government”.
Rural Affairs Secretary Mairi Gougeon said: “Scotland’s salmon industry is a significant contributor to our rural economy and we are wholly committed to the sector’s success.
“We’ve made significant progress on a number of key issues, including on, for example, the management of sea lice and environmental protection, since the previous wide-ranging committee inquiry.
“We’ve also published our vision for sustainable aquaculture, setting out how we will support the development of our aquaculture industry to operate within environmental limits while continuing to deliver social and economic benefits for Scotland.
“I am grateful to the committee for their detailed report and recognise the call to make progress at pace in other key areas. We will consider the report carefully and respond in due course.”
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