November 2, 2020

 

Serious sea lice problem strikes Scotland's salmon farms

 

 

Salmon at Scottish farms in Argyll and Bute, Skye and the Outer Hebrides were found in terrible conditions, campaigners from the Salmon and Trout Conservation (S&TCS) Scotland said, as footage revealed lice-infected wild salmon.

 

As a result, the charity wants the Scottish government to implement a rigorous regime of independent monitoring and verification of salmon farms to resolve the problem.

 

Sea lice is a major problem across Scotland's farmed salmon industry, with parasites from open net farms earlier this year blamed for wild salmon numbers plunging to their lowest level since records started.

 

According to the charity, investigators found serious sea lice eruptions concurrently at salmon farms near Oban, Lochgilphead, Dunvegan, Broadford, Loch Maddy and Loch Boisdale.

 

Despite measures by salmon farmers to stem the problem, a footage from last month showed that sea lice is still a severe problem for Scottish fish.

 

"It seems that little, if anything, has changed, since the 2018 Parliamentary Inquiry, in the way that salmon farms are managed to address escalating sea lice parasite issues. The Scottish government has failed to introduce a proper regime of regulation and enforcement on salmon farms and consequently parasite and disease issues are being allowed to run riot,"said Andrew Graham-Stewart, director of S&TCS.

 

"We have no doubt that the appalling lack of control over sea lice on salmon farms will continue until such time as the Scottish government introduces a rigorous regime of independent monitoring and verification. Without such a regime, farms will continue to be run out of sight and out of mind of the regulators, with devastating consequences for Scotland's wild salmon and sea trout."

 

Nick Measham, CEO of Salmon and Trout Conservation UK, warned that problematic fish farms could have a significant impact on wild fish, "especially when salmon farmers allow sea lice numbers to run out of control."

 

In response to the recent developments, Scotland has revealed plans to introduce new legislation that will require farms to report their sea lice levels. However, a government spokesperson also said that mean sea lice levels have fell "substantially since 2016, and, so far, are broadly similar in 2020 to levels in 2013."

 

The spokesperson added: "…we have already acted to review compliance policy and reduce the levels at which farms should report and when we might intervene. We intend to lower intervention levels further in 2021.

 

"We will also introduce sea lice reporting legislation, which will require every salmon farm to submit a weekly sea lice average, one week in arrears, to the Scottish government. This will allow us to provide for an electronic reporting and publication system improving transparency and helping with sea lice management."

 

- The Herald