Chamber and committees

Our next item of business is consideration of a negative instrument. Do members have any comments to make on the instrument?

As there are no comments, that concludes our business in public.

We have supplementary questions from Emma Harper and Ariane Burgess.

Thank you. Emma—sorry, Elena Whitham. I beg your pardon.

You have identified a problem with the use of cleaner fish that the fish inspectorate is concerned about. Currently, what actions do you take to try to ensure that fish farms are mitigating that issue? What are you actively doing to address the concern that you have just acknowledged?

Do you see your service as being more reactive or proactive?

No. I am sorry—we have to move on. We are very short of time.

I have one final question about recommendation 17 of the RECC report, which was that a review of the compliance policy needed to be undertaken and that, in order for it to be effective, the policy should

“be robust, enforceable and include appropriate penalties.”

Can you highlight any powers that have changed in the FHI since 2018?

I will follow up some of the evidence that you just provided to Rachael Hamilton. During last week’s committee evidence session, WildFish Scotland and Coastal Communities Network Scotland expressed concerns that no progress had been made in reducing sea lice levels and that no sanctions were being applied to fish farms reporting high levels. You are saying that you dispute that—that that is not the case.

Again, we often hear that argument about what a community is. Is the community those who live in the area or those who feel that they are stakeholders or opinion holders? Then there are the interests of the wider community and the wider nation.

That is not unique to the salmon farming industry. If you searched and replaced “fish farm” with “wind turbines” or “commercial forestry” you would see that it is not specific to aquaculture. It is an issue with the ability of communities to influence planning decisions and what may be in the wider, broader community’s interest or the national interest. The same argument could apply to commercial forestry, wind turbines and solar farms. Are you indicating that there is an issue generally with community voices on planning issues?