Chamber and committees

Marine Scotland’s fish health inspectorate, monitor sea lice on fish farms through a programme of sea lice inspections and enhanced sea lice inspections. A basic sea lice inspection is conducted whenever aquaculture facilities in seawater are visited, an enhanced inspection is completed in cases where elevated lice numbers have been observed, reported or the site is considered to be at greater risk of elevated sea lice numbers. The number of inspections carried out is noted in the following table:

	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015 (to date)
Basic Inspection	24	250	188	122	90	106	86	52
Enhanced Inspection	2	22	7	10	27	14	29	14

Prior to the enactment of the Aquaculture and Fisheries (Scotland) Act 2007, there were no inspections carried out solely for the purposes of monitoring sea lice populations, hence the absence of data prior to the latter part of 2008. Beyond this there is no requirement to report chronic sea lice infestations to the Scottish Government.

Both emamectin benzoate and hydrogen peroxide are used on fish farms. The risk that any veterinary medicine might pose to human health or the environment is considered by the Veterinary Medicines Directorate during the authorisation process for new medicines. A product will not gain a marketing authorisation under veterinary medicines legislation unless it is considered safe, efficacious and of high quality. A significant component of the safety assessment includes the potential for a medicine to impact upon human health and the environment including non-target animals including wild salmon and trout. If there is a risk that cannot be mitigated or controlled then a medicine will not be authorised.

In addition to this assessment, The Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) includes conditions relating to the use of emamectin benzoate in the site specific licences and associated documentation issued to fish farm operators under the Water Environment (Controlled Activities) (Scotland) Regulations 2011. It is recognised that unrestricted use of emamectin benzoate may pose a risk to marine life and in particular crustaceans in the vicinity of fish farms. SEPA has therefore developed a sophisticated licensing system based on a predictive computer model to set site specific limiting conditions in marine cage fish farm authorisations. These conditions restrict the scale of the use and subsequent re-use of emamectin benzoate to ensure environmental protection. The controls put in place are designed to protect the most vulnerable aquatic animals for which emamectin benzoate is most toxic. The substance displays much lower toxicity to fish and thus in protecting more sensitive animals, the protection of salmon and trout and any other species in the water environment is assured.

Hydrogen peroxide poses a substantially lower environmental risk because the substance rapidly dissociates to water and oxygen, in particular in contact with organic matter. SEPA considers that the substance poses no significant risk to the environment out with the immediate vicinity of the fish farm cages.

(a) Marine Scotland’s fish health inspectorate monitors sea lice on fish farms through a programme of sea lice inspections and enhanced sea lice inspections. A basic sea lice inspection is conducted whenever aquaculture facilities in seawater are visited, an enhanced inspection is completed in cases where elevated lice numbers have been observed, reported or the site is considered to be at greater risk of elevated sea lice numbers. The number of inspections carried out is noted in the following table:

	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015 (to date)
Basic Inspection	24	250	188	122	90	106	86	52
Enhanced Inspection	2	22	7	10	27	14	29	14

(b) The Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) is responsible for the regulation and monitoring of pollution in the environment arising from fish farming and other sectors. Marine cage fish farms are subject to a system of inspections to determine compliance with conditions in licences issued under the Water Environment (Controlled Activities) (Scotland) Regulations 2011. These conditions are imposed in order to ensure the protection of the environment. Such inspections are ordinarily undertaken on two occasions per year in connection with each authorised marine cage fish farm site and will typically involve an inspection of the cage site and/or potentially any associated shore base plus an inspection of records held at the operating company offices.

In addition to these inspections, marine cage fish farm sites are subject to formal monitoring requirements with operators being required to undertake monitoring of the seabed to show the seabed conditions at each farm being during each growth cycle. A salmon growth cycle lasts around 20 to 22 months and the monitoring must be undertaken when the level of stock in the site is at or close to the maximum permitted – normally in the second year of the growth cycle. The monitoring work is typically undertaken by consultants employed by the fish farm operating company with the results being reported to SEPA. SEPA assesses each survey and classifies the quality of seabed conditions based on compliance with published standards.

In addition to these self-monitoring surveys commissioned by farm operators, SEPA carries out audit work related to seabed monitoring on a small number of sites, perhaps 5 to15 sites annually. Some of these surveys involve SEPA taking samples and analysing these or using other techniques such as accompanying the fish farmer and their consultants to assess the veracity of their survey and sampling methodology.

(c) Inspections of farms producing fish for human consumption are carried out by local authorities according to the Food Law Code of Practice (Scotland) under the food establishment rating scheme which determines inspection frequency based on risk.

(d) There are no inspections made of the effect of fish farming on wild salmon in Scotland. Marine and freshwater fish farms are authorised by local authorities under the Town and Country Planning Act 1997. Prior to determining an application, the local authority conduct a detailed assessment of the potential impacts of the proposal on the environment, including wild salmonids, and will seek advice from statutory consultees (including SEPA, Scottish Natural Heritage and the local district salmon fishery board). The Scottish Government is also working with Scotland’s salmon farming industry and representatives of the wild salmon sector on a strategic programme of further research that includes a study to explore any impacts of sea lice from fish farming in Scotland.

Marine and freshwater fish farms (both shellfish and fin fish) are authorised by local authorities under the Town and Country Planning Act 1997.

Development of a type listed in Schedule 2 to the Town and Country Planning Environmental Impact Assessment) (Scotland) Regulations 2011 will require an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)if it is likely to have a significant effect on the environment, by virtue of factors such as its size, nature or location. In practice this relates to nearly all new applications for fin fish farm development.

Where an EIA is required, the local authority will require all relevant issues to be considered and addressed. This will be likely to include the impacts of the development on wild salmonids and they will seek advice from statutory consultees (including The Scottish Environmental Protection Agency, Scottish Natural Heritage, the local district salmon fishery board and Marine Scotland) as appropriate.

Shellfish farms are not covered by these regulations but, if required, the planning authority will seek additional environmental information to inform their decision.

The River basin management plans (RBMP) introduced in response to the EU Water Framework Directive, identifying water bodies that are at risk of failing to meet good ecological status or good ecological potential and prioritises them for improvement. Assessment of local fish assemblages including Atlantic salmon contributes to the overall ecological status of water bodies. Consequently, where local salmon populations are impacted by anthropogenic activity, this should trigger a downgrade of the waterbody status and subsequent management action through the RBMP process.

Health reviews are carried out within the first 24 hours and within the first 10 days of life. Motor, social and other skills development are reviewed at six to eight weeks; verbal, motor, social and other skills are reviewed at 27 to 30 months, and there are opportunities to discuss development in these skills at the immunisation contacts at two months, three months, four months, 12 to 13 months and three to five years. Vision screening takes place in the pre-school year, with the exception of one health board where it takes place in Primary One.

NHS Education for Scotland (NES) is supporting NHS boards to increase access to psychological intervention at an early stage in the patient journey by training a range of staff to deliver evidence-based low intensity psychological interventions. These are now widely available, and include cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)-based guided self-help and behavioural activation.

NES support training in CBT, which has been shown to reduce relapse rates in depression when compared to medication alone. NES also support training in mindfulness-based cognitive therapy, which also reduces relapse rates in depression. These two high intensity interventions can, therefore, help prevent a chronic illness from developing.

A development review is carried out at 27 to 30 months. There are opportunities to discuss development at the six to eight week health review and at the two months, three months, four months, 12 to 13 months and three to five years immunisation contacts. Vision screening takes place in the pre-school year, with the exception of one health board where it takes place in Primary One.

Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) activities are funded through a combination of grant-in-aid support and charging to recover economic costs of its regulatory actions. These support SEPA’s delivery of its statutory obligations with regard to the delivery of the relevant regulatory requirements.

Planning authorities are responsible for (a) monitoring and (b) enforcing planning conditions relating to onshore windfarms and hydro schemes. It is for the landowner, unless otherwise specified, to ensure that the conditions of consent for development on their land are accorded with.

Funding is not ring-fenced for these purposes but comes from the general local government settlement.