Scotland’s largest salmon producer is set to publish data on sea lice in a move welcomed by the Scottish Conservatives.
Marine Harvest has signalled its intention to seek formal certification from the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC).
That means it will have to comply with the ASC’s farm-by-farm sea lice data publication requirement.
The Scottish Conservatives pushed the SNP to include this requirement for all salmon producers in the Aquaculture and Fisheries (Scotland) Bill, but the Scottish Government used its majority on the Rural Affairs Committee to reject the Conservative amendment.
Scottish Conservatives rural affairs spokesman Alex Fergusson MSP said:
“Marine Harvest is the biggest producer of farmed salmon in Scotland, so this announcement represents a very significant move by the industry.
“Marine Harvest’s decision to go down this route is to be greatly commended, but it puts the spotlight firmly on the rest of the industry which must now follow suit if it wishes to avoid the question of ‘what is there to hide’ in relation to sea lice data.
“It also begs the question of why the Scottish Government was so keen to suppress regular publication of farm-by-farm data when the biggest producer appears perfectly willing to open its activities to public scrutiny.”
