Question reference: S5W-04482
- Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
- Date lodged: 3 November 2016
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Current status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 11 November 2016
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to stop the spread of amoebic gill disease from farmed salmon to wild fish.
Answer
Scottish Government, through Marine Scotland’s Fish Health Inspectorate, encourages best practice and ensures regulatory conformity with respect to biosecurity measures within aquaculture in order to prevent or minimise the spread of any diseases and to reduce any potential impacts.
Amoebic Gill Disease (AGD) is caused by Neoparamoeba perurans - a free living parasite which is ubiquitous within the marine environment. Understanding of the factors which influence the development and spread of AGD are currently limited. Until the modes of transfer of the disease are better understood then specific actions to prevent spread or potential spread are difficult to define.