Chamber and committees

Thank you.

Are you able to give any numbers in relation to enforcement or where you have looked at enforcement?

The committee has heard concerns that the use of chemicals has increased since 2018. What does your monitoring tell you about trends in the amount of medicines and chemicals used since 2018? Has the availability of data and analysis improved to provide a better picture all round?

Good morning, Mr Allan. The Rural Economy and Connectivity Committee’s inquiry noted a concern that enforcement action in relation to breaches of sea lice levels had not been sufficiently robust. The report recommended that

“it must be robust, enforceable and include appropriate penalties.”

Do you believe that the enforcement regime has improved since that report was published?

I will go back to animal welfare and the inquiry from five or six years ago. Can you specify which recommendations have not been met?

So, there has been progress.

Some of the witnesses have alluded to welfare standards. Have welfare standards on fish farms improved since the REC Committee’s inquiry?

That happens only if you have had some kind of complaint. You do not go and visit a fish farm that you have had no complaint about.

Okay. How do your standards go above and beyond legal standards for the quality of products in Scotland? Organisations such as Quality Meat Scotland and some of the supermarkets go above and beyond them. How does your organisation do that?

In terms of how the scheme operates, I understand that announced visits are made to fish farms. Is that correct?