Current status: Answered by John Home Robertson on 29 September 1999
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will take steps which would permit salmon farmers to obtain insurance cover for stocks destroyed by the Diseases of Fish (Control) Regulations 1994 (S1 1994/1447).
The insurance industry has indicated that it is not prepared to provide cover for Infectious Salmon Anaemia so long as EU legislation dictates immediate intervention by Government and compulsory slaughter of all fish when disease is confirmed.We are exploring the possibility of greater flexibility in the rules which might, over time, provide the incentive for involvement by the insurance industry.