October 22, 2007

Use of toxic pesticide re-emerging in Scottish salmon farms

Scottish farmers are returning to the use of a toxic pesticide thought to have been phased out.

Teflubenzuron, commercially sold as Calicide was used to treat sea lice in salmon.

However, as 90 percent of the product is excreted by the salmon into the sea, its use have caused concern to shellfish farmers, especially since it is highly toxic to species undergoing moulting. This category includes some commercially important species such as lobster, crab and shrimp.

Calicide use in the UK needs to be licensed but the amounts to be used are at too small a concentration level to be effective.

The chemical disappeared from use in 2005-2006, but Sepa's tests has recently detected it at three different sites this year.

The Scottish Salmon Producers' Organisation (SSPO) Technical director Dr John Webster said a wider use of Calicide would help UK fish farmers compete against their Norwegian counterparts, which have more lenient regulations on Calicide.

However, Sepa said it has no plans to review its licensing of the chemical.