Questions and answers
Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.
- Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
- Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber
Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.
Filter your results Hide all filters
Displaying 1568 questions Show Answers
Question reference: S5W-36098
- Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
- Date lodged: Thursday, 11 March 2021
- Current Status: Answered by Ben Macpherson on 24 March 2021
To ask the Scottish Government which fish farms hold EPS licences for the use of acoustic deterrent device(s) (ADDs) or acoustic startle device(s) (ASDs); which fish farms are currently using unlicensed ADDs/ ASDs, broken down by (a) how many devices and (b) which model is being used; whether Marine Scotland will comply with its duty to enforce Habitats Regulation 39(2) under which it is an offence to disturb or injure any dolphin, porpoise or whale if any farm is still using unlicensed ADDs /ASDs, and whether Marine Scotland will delay enforcement of Habitats Regulation 39(2) until the end of that farm’s current production cycle for farms not yet equipped with double-skinned anti-predator nets, Seal Pro nets or equivalent.
Answer
Question reference: S5W-36096
- Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
- Date lodged: Thursday, 11 March 2021
- Current Status: Answered by Ben Macpherson on 23 March 2021
To ask the Scottish Government, with reference to the 2020 Marine Scotland-funded study, at what sound pressure level in decibels did bottlenose dolphins show startle responses to a low frequency simulated acoustic startle device signal; whether the magnitude of startle response increases exponentially with increasing sound pressure level; whether sounds which trigger the startle reflex disturb and displace affected mammals, and what the published sound pressure level is of the Genuswave low frequency acoustic startle device.
Answer
Question reference: S5W-36099
- Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
- Date lodged: Thursday, 11 March 2021
- Current Status: Answered by Ben Macpherson on 23 March 2021
To ask Scottish Government what sound pressure level in decibels Marine Scotland has determined as the threshold for disturbance for small cetaceans and what the sound pressure level output is of each model of (a) acoustic deterrent device and (b) acoustic startle device manufactured by (i) Terecos, (ii) Genuswave, (iii) Lofitec, (iv) Ace Aquatec, (v) Airmar and (vi) OTAQ.
Answer
Question reference: S5W-36095
- Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
- Date lodged: Thursday, 11 March 2021
- Current Status: Answered by Ben Macpherson on 23 March 2021
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-35390 by Ben Macpherson on 11 March 2021, whether Marine Scotland’s decision to make public EPS licence applications by fish farms after a determination has been made is compliant with (a) Marine Scotland’s duties under Articles 7 and 6 of the Aarhus Convention principles of public participation and (b) the requirement of the Nolan principles of public life that “information should not be withheld from the public unless there are clear and lawful reasons for so doing”.
Answer
Question reference: S5W-35899
- Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
- Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 March 2021
- Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 23 March 2021
To ask the Scottish Government how much (a) it and (b) NatureScot has spent on legal costs since 2016 to defend the right to kill beavers.
Answer
Question reference: S5W-36207
- Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
- Date lodged: Thursday, 11 March 2021
- Current Status: Answered by Ben Macpherson on 23 March 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what analysis Marine Scotland has carried out of the impact that acoustic deterrent and startle devices within a narrow channel might have on migration and access to feeding and nursery grounds.
Answer
Question reference: S5W-36094
- Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
- Date lodged: Thursday, 11 March 2021
- Current Status: Answered by Ben Macpherson on 23 March 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what the sound pressure level in decibels was at which Kok et al (2017) recorded avoidance by harbour porpoises; what the sound pressure level was at which Brandt et al (2012) recorded a 96% reduction in porpoise clicks at a station 7kms away from a single Lofitec acoustic deterrent device, and what sound pressure level in decibels Marine Scotland has determined as the threshold for disturbance for small cetaceans.
Answer
Question reference: S5W-36097
- Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
- Date lodged: Thursday, 11 March 2021
- Current Status: Answered by Ben Macpherson on 23 March 2021
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-35394 by Ben Macpherson on 11 March 2021, whether it considers that double-skinned anti-predator nets, Seal Pro nets or equivalent are ‘satisfactory alternatives’ to the use of acoustic deterrent devices already in use in Scotland.
Answer
Question reference: S5W-36206
- Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
- Date lodged: Thursday, 11 March 2021
- Current Status: Answered by Ben Macpherson on 23 March 2021
To ask the Scottish Government whether Marine Scotland has considered evidence suggesting that almost all fish farms that use acoustic deterrent devices use multiple arrays of these and, if so, and in light of the reported concerns regarding how the use of these devices might impact on animal welfare, what action the agency plans to take.
Answer
Question reference: S5W-36190
- Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
- Date lodged: Thursday, 11 March 2021
- Current Status: Answered by Ben Macpherson on 23 March 2021
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of Marine Scotland stating that its model for determining whether cetaceans can be maintained at Favourable Conservation Status within each SCANS-III block relies on the assumption that cetaceans are evenly distributed over the seabed, whether Marine Scotland has considered evidence that porpoises are not evenly distributed and that the habitats predicted to be of most importance to porpoises in the absence of acoustic deterrent devices (ADDs) are also the areas where fish farms are located with historic use of ADDs, and whether Marine Scotland will revise its model in light of any such evidence.
Answer
![](/assets/images/loader.gif)