More powers to FRS

A new legislation, introduced at the end of last year, provides powers for FRS to inspect fish farms to assess whether satisfactory measures are in place for controlling parasites and preventing escapes.

It is meant as a “backstop” to the measures in the voluntary industry code - A Code of Good Practice for Scottish Finfish Aquaculture- in order to ensure that farms who could not, or would not, sign up to the code would have to adhere to certain minimum standards.

The majority of Scottish fish farming businesses are already adhering to the Code of Good Practice, which has been operational since 2006, and should therefore not face an additional unnecessary burden and are unlikely to have problems that would require enforcement notices to be served, according to the Scottish Executive.

Dr Rod Wootten from the Parasitology Group at the Institute of Aquaculture, Stirling University, said the Government seemed to be taking a more strict approach to sea lice control, in an effort to protect wild fish: “There are important interests in wild salmon fisheries in Scotland. The idea of the legislation is to protect wild fish,” he told Norsk Fiskeoppdrett.