Scottish salmon industry fulfils commitment to publish detailed sea lice information
Siri Elise Dybdal
The information is the most detailed ever published by the industry reporting across 30 areas of the north-west coast and islands. It is calculated from data supplied by the farms during the period January to March 2013.
The report highlights statistics as well as the management strategies undertaken to protect fish health. Each area report includes contextual information on Farm Management Areas, stocking, fallowing and strategic treatments.
The publication showed thatt here were no reports of successive treatment failures during the period in any of the areas
Scott Landsburgh, chief executive of the SSPO, said: "I am pleased to announce the publication of this very comprehensive report. It is the industry's voluntary commitment to provide information about sea lice management and is significantly more extensive than anything produced before. We hope that the collation and publication of this information will promote a more informed and transparent relationship between the wild and farmed salmon sectors. A useful next step would be to match this up with data the wild fish groups could provide to measure what, if any, impact salmon farms have on sea lice numbers in wild fish."
A study currently being commissioned by the Scottish Aquaculture Research Forum and jointly funded by the Scottish Government and SSPO will be crucial in determining any impact and will be the most authoritative work done to date on this issue in Scotland.
