Chamber and committees

As it has been such a long session, inevitably, there is a list of further information that you have committed to provide. On the committee’s timetable, it looks like we want to deal with the issue and report by the Christmas recess. Will you provide timely responses to some of the requests for further information?

I appreciate that. Thank you for what has been a lengthy session. Your feedback and responses have been hugely helpful.

That concludes the public part of the meeting and we will now move into private session.

We now move on to our third theme: farmed salmon health and welfare. Emma Harper has a question.

The cabinet secretary will be pleased to hear that we are moving to our final theme, which is on consenting and planning.

Once they are in operation, how do you monitor them and what indicators do you use to ensure that they are operating within the parameters that you set out, which would allow further expansion of the industry?

That is helpful because, as a committee, we have often heard direct comparisons in relation to levels and allowed discharges. However, you are suggesting that it is very difficult to compare apples with apples.

We will tidy up this theme with a question from Tim Eagle.

On that, we received information to suggest that research on salmonid species has shown that they are capable of experiencing pain, and that operational laboratory welfare indicators have been developed to highlight that. However, there is no legislation to implement regulations on sticking to the indicators. Is the Government considering bringing that in?

I am sorry, Elena, but we seem to be moving away from the topic of wrasse. It is my understanding that a petition on wrasse is being assessed by the Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee. The Scottish Government has put in a late submission on that petition, suggesting that it was

“now in receipt of a report titled ‘Assessing the implications of wrasse fishing for marine sites and features’, which brings new evidence of potential wrasse fishing interactions with Special Areas of Conservation”

and marine protected areas. However, that report was written and received by the Government in 2020. To suggest that the Government is “now in receipt” of new evidence is disingenuous at its best.

It also follows on from a parliamentary question from our committee member, Ariane Burgess, on whether appropriate assessments had been carried out, to which the response was that

“the Scottish Government does not hold the information you have requested”—[Written Answers, 25 March 2024; S6W-25557.],

which is obviously untrue, given the report that was published in 2020. Why has there not been more progress on wrasse, given that these issues were first raised in 2020?

The industry representatives said that there has been a lack of progress, so there is some need for urgency. Some indication of when the pilots will be concluded and reported on would be helpful to the committee. Is the Government likely to report on the findings of the pilots and on what further action it is taking on the back of them? When are we likely to get such a report?