Question reference: S6W-26889
- Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
- Date lodged: 17 April 2024
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Current status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 25 April 2024
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what work it has done to assess any impact of salmon farm mass mortality events on the welfare of (a) salmon farm workers and (b) local communities, in light of the article published in Nature on 7 March 2024, which found that mass die-offs on salmon farms have reportedly been increasing over the last decade in every country where salmon farming operates, including Scotland.
Answer
The 7 March 2024 publication by Nature Scientific Reports concerning mass mortality events in salmon aquaculture focused on the community impacts in relation to specific catastrophic events in Chile. Similar impacts on communities have not been experienced in Scotland and the Scottish Government does not consider that speculative extrapolation between Chile and Scotland on community impacts or worker safety is appropriate given differences in circumstances and approaches including health and safety regimes.