Question reference: S5W-27713
- Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
- Date lodged: 3 March 2020
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Current status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 17 March 2020
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what information it has regarding how many (a) farmed salmon and (b) cleaner fish have been killed because of the use of (i) thermolicers, (ii) optilicers and (iii) hydrolicers in each year since 2016.
Answer
The figures recorded as involving thermal treatments in 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 are shown in the following table.
2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | |
Hydrolicer | 89,466 | 115,445 | 7,516 | 57,247 |
Thermolicer | 47,982 | 52,798 | 35,841 | 40,980 |
Optilicer | - | - | 15,610 | 59,817 |
There is no record of mortality kept for cleaner fish.
Please find a link to the published mortality information submitted to Marine Scotland.
https://www2.gov.scot/Topics/marine/Fish-Shellfish/FHI/CaseInformation/Mortalityinformation
The published mortality information relates to voluntary mortality reporting arrangements agreed between Scottish Government and industry stakeholders. The data is comprised of industry reporting and Fish Health Inspectorate (FHI) surveillance and is used to support wider aquatic animal health surveillance and investigations as required. The information presented is not a comprehensive record of fish farm mortality. The published reasons for mortality are those supplied by the industry.
Marine Scotland does not hold information on why there is a particular rate of deaths in relation to each of the husbandry operations. The reasons for mortality are complex and may be related to the health of individual animals within the population, the husbandry methods employed or the environmental conditions encountered prior to, during or after the husbandry operation.