Chamber and committees

Was that one hour before making a decision about whether to give your support?

Did you want to see the amendments in order to make a decision about supporting them?

I think so. I think I have the gist of your response—that everybody is in agreement that we need ministerial accountability to drive the direction.

I have another quick question. You have already mentioned post-smolts, and the situation where salmon spend less time in the open pens—one summer instead of two. I see that Mowi has just released the first post-smolts in Loch Etive to the Isle of Muck. Is the industry considering adopting that approach more widely?

No—I rolled my questions together. It sounds as though the planning system needs to be enabled to achieve the aim of moving pens, where that is necessary.

As well as housing, there is community benefit. When the committee did its inquiry, there was talk of how the industry can provide benefits to communities. The Griggs review also referred to how communities can be better supported. When the committee carried out community engagement in Oban, some people thought that the jobs were piecemeal, whereas Tavish Scott said that there are a lot of jobs and that average earnings are £36,000. Will you talk about the different ways in which communities can be supported?

I will be really quick. Ben Hadfield, you mentioned that stocking densities have been lower in Scotland compared with those in Norway, on the back of the difference in sea temperatures. Are you considering reducing the stocking density here because of the changes in water temperature?

I have a wee final supplementary. That reminds me that we visited Dumfries and Galloway, which has a hatchery, so it isnae just the Western Isles that are benefiting in terms of employment. That was an interesting visit.

On our visit, the committee saw what looked like healthy fish, externally, in that their gills looked okay and there were no sea lice. However, what is the trigger number of moribund fish for you to investigate the cause of death?

Does AI technology help to reduce stress because you are not handling the salmon?