Chamber and committees

We could be here for an awfully long time if we all took the liberty of asking people questions that do not relate to the recommendations from the previous committee.

At this stage, it is appropriate to let members know that, as a result of the additional hour that we—quite rightly—spent discussing media reports about the salmon industry, we are running about an hour late. I am minded to push on but want to check how that would work with the witnesses’ plans for today.

Is it a regular occurrence for the fish health inspectorate to arrive prior to dead fish being removed? Is that something that you experience? We are interested in how random or unannounced the fish health inspectorate’s visits are. What is a normal routine in a normal month or year? How often would the fish health inspectorate carry out an unannounced visit that might take in the time of day when dead fish are removed from a pen?

I am aware that I did not ask Edward Mountain for his declaration of interest.

Just very briefly, we heard during our community engagement that the level of emamectin benzoate that you are allowed to use is now so low that it is effectively ineffective and is, in fact, being used less and less by the industry. Is that correct?

Thank you. I call Rhoda Grant.

Christine Grahame has a brief supplementary question that will be directed at Ralph Bickerdike.

I call Emma Roddick.

I want to clarify something important. You mentioned the freshwater treatment, delousing and treatment for gill disease. What exactly do those processes entail and what happened? What was the freshwater treatment prior to the visit for? Was it for delousing or was it a gill disease treatment? That is unclear.

Okay.

We will kick off questions. We aim to finish at approximately 11 o’clock.

Over the past week, there have been accusations in the media that, prior to the committee’s visit, the fish farm that we visited tried to hide the truth and paint an inaccurate picture of the salmon farming industry. One of the main issues was the quantity of dead fish that were allegedly removed prior to the visit. What quantity of dead fish was removed the morning prior to the visit and what weight was removed from the pen at Dunstaffnage that was shown in video footage?

Thank you, minister. Do members have questions?