Scottish aquaculture sets transparency standard for rest of UK
Plans for Aquaculture Data Hub to be based on Scotland model
Scotland is ‘way ahead’ of the rest of the UK in collecting and providing data about its aquaculture sector, a panel on the future of UK aquaculture heard last week.
In a presentation to Seafish’s Aquaculture Common Issues Group (ACIG), Tim Huntington of aquaculture consultant Poseidon made the case for establishing an Aquaculture Data Hub in the UK.
Good and accessible information would serve several purposes he argued: investors would understand the sector and the permitting environment better; regulators would be able to ensure regulations were fit for purpose; producer organisations would better understand the needs of their members; and greater transparency would allay the fears of the sector’s detractors.
Different agencies
Currently, data on the industry, outside of Scotland, is held by different agencies, including Cefas (Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture), the Crown Estate, Seafish and Defra, and in a variety of formats.
In contrast, Scotland’s aquaculture sector is way ahead, said Huntington, with its mapping of active and inactive sites, shellfish water protected areas, Crown Estate (Scotland) lease areas, and links to location guidelines.
In Scotland, there is also data on escapes, annual emissions, stock movements, permit conditions, site details and facilities, antimicrobial use, and sea lice data.
There is also data on resources, including publications, with links and a glossary, all on the Scottish government’s Scotland’s Aquaculture portal.
Detailed mapping
Huntington also pointed to Ireland’s detailed mapping of aquaculture sites in the Marine Institute’s AQUAMIS portal.
The project to build a UK Aquaculture Data Hub, being implemented by Cefas, follows the identification of a lack of comprehensive information available to researchers, policy makers, managers and stakeholders.
The aim is to create a data centre to harness information, similar to Scotland’s Aquaculture website, providing access to information on aquaculture locations, sectoral production statistics and environmental performanSce, and host key position papers for the industry in one place.
Seafish’s ACIG, set up in 2009, is an industry led body meeting to discussS environmental, legal and production issues facing UK and overseas aquaculture.
