Wild Atlantic salmon 'under threat' from escaped farmed fish and sea lice
Fish farms are being frequently hit by parasite infestations and mass escapes that threaten the survival of the UK's wild salmon stocks, The Salmon and Trout Association (S&TA) said.
The S&TA said that official reports, released to the group under freedom of information powers, showed that the government's inspection regime was failing and was too lenient – a claim disputed by the Scottish Salmon Producers' Organisation.
It said their evidence raised significant questions about the common practice of routinely warning fish farms, often up to 10 days in advance, that an inspection was to take place. This often allowed salmon farms to take action on sea lice and repair damaged nets before the inspectors arrived.
Conservationists believe that high sea lice levels and escaped farmed salmon have caused a steep slump in wild Atlantic salmon numbers as the parasites kill young salmon before they breed, and genetically weaker farmed salmon cross-breed with wild fish. The industry disputes both claims.
Guy Linley-Adams, the association's solicitor and a former conservation director with the Marine Conservation Society, said all inspections should be unannounced and all inspection reports must be published weekly, in line with more rigorous enforcement procedures used in Norway.
A majority of Scotland's fish farms are Norwegian-owned yet they enjoyed weaker regulations in the UK, he said.
"The information contained within the inspectors' reports gives the lie to the bland reassurances we are given by the salmon farming industry and indeed Scottish government that the industry is properly regulated," Linley-Adams said.
The Scottish government said there were tougher standards being introduced, in cooperation with the industry, to improve sea lice monitoring and tighten up enforcement. Alongside a national database of sea lice levels across Scotland, all fish farms would be required to sign up to management agreements and mandatory reporting of sea lice "failures."
