Chamber and committees

I want to pick up on that point, because if a million animals that live on land were to die—chickens or pigs—there would be an outcry.

My sense is that the industry sees a high rate of mortality as the price of doing business; that is what we have heard throughout our evidence sessions. Rachel Shucksmith, do you have any thoughts about what we could do to address the mortality issue, or on how we could support the industry to improve in that area?

I imagine that, if people do not have an email address, they would not have to supply one, but we want to have people’s contact information. The aim of amendment 3 is to point out that we increasingly live in a digital age, and most people have email addresses. I sometimes say to people that, if they can get away in this world without having an email address, they are very fortunate.

I move amendment 2.

My amendment 4 builds on my earlier amendments by recognising the crucial role of vets in ensuring dogs’ welfare. It would require an owner to show their certificate to a vet, as well as a police officer or inspector, if asked, which would help a vet to acquire all the information that was needed to effectively treat a sick dog and help a practice to trace other animals from a negligent breeder or owner that might be similarly affected. The amendment also explicitly acknowledges the crucial role that vets can play throughout the whole certificate process.

Rachel Shucksmith, have you anything to add?

Before I go on to my main question, there is something that I am curious about. Mark, you mentioned that noise is increasingly becoming a consideration, but I also want to ask about smell, because I have been getting quite a bit of correspondence about the smell of fish farms.

Increasingly, there seems to be a noise issue with feed barges, as well as with well boats, from the tubes and the pellets moving through them.

That is great.

I just wanted to clarify something. You have used the word “aquaculture” quite a bit, but I think that you are using it interchangeably with “salmon farms”. We are focusing on salmon farms, but aquaculture covers seaweed and shellfish farming, too.

Rachel Shucksmith, what are your thoughts on getting sufficient guidance on the impact of proposed sites and expansions, and on how they interact with priority marine features and marine protected areas?

My amendment 5 strengthens the requirement on ministers to raise

“public awareness ... of the code of practice.”

Specifically, the Government must identify resources that are needed to effectively communicate information about the new code to the public. That could prompt consideration about the format that information is in and the format in which it reaches different groups, as well as other considerations such as provision in other languages and accessible formats.

At a time of constrained public finances, it is important to include such a requirement in primary legislation to ensure that the new code has an impact. I see that as preventative spend: if we can get people aware and informed, we can stem the tide of all the knock-on effects from what Christine Grahame is trying to do in the bill.

As for amendments 75 and 76, in the name of Finlay Carson, I agree that raising public awareness among school pupils is a great approach, because it is often the young people who are asking for a puppy. On amendment 76, consulting with organisations with an interest in the welfare of dogs on how they can contribute to future steps is important, too.