Fisheries Management Scotland has welcomed ground-breaking recommendations to regulate the country’s fish farming industry and safeguard our threatened wild salmon and sea trout stocks.

Once implemented, the proposals will reward best practice while ensuring that appropriate sanctions are available where operators fail to meet the far-reaching measures. Crucially, the new regime would put the protection of wild salmon and sea trout at the centre of regulation at a time when stocks are approaching crisis-point.

The recommendations come from a special working group set up after two Scottish Parliament committee inquiries investigated salmon farming in Scotland and concluded that the status quo was not an option. The Salmon Interactions Working Group included representatives of fisheries management, conservation and industry bodies. The report’s authors have urged Ministers to implement the unanimous recommendations in their entirety.

Dr Alan Wells, Chief Executive of Fisheries Management Scotland, said: “We welcome the publication of the report of the Salmon Interactions Working Group. This report sets out a comprehensive suite of recommendations that will put the protection of wild salmon and sea trout at the centre of a reformed regulatory system.

“Atlantic salmon and sea trout populations in Scotland are approaching crisis point and it is vital that Scotland’s Government and regulatory authorities do everything in their power to safeguard these species in those areas where they can make a difference. The SIWG report was agreed unanimously and both Fisheries Management Scotland and the fish farming industry have jointly committed to ensure that the recommendations are implemented in full. We therefore urge the Scottish Government to support the delivery of the recommendations as soon as practicably possible.”

Notes

Read the full report of the Salmon Interactions Working Group

Read Fisheries Management Scotland’s summary of the recommendations in the report