Aquaculture and Fisheries Consultation Analysis - Summary Report

2 Overview of Respondents

2.1 The consultation generated 1,342 responses. These responses represented a good cross-section of interested opinion from the aquaculture, marine, freshwater fisheries, environmental, voluntary and public sectors, with a range of additional responses from interested members of the public and other commercial businesses.

2.2 Of these, some 1,193 were in the form of "Interest Group Responses" received from individuals associated with the aquaculture industry and voluntary sector, consisting of letters providing general comments on the paper but not addressing the questions asked in the consultation, and questionnaire proforma endorsing the responses of the respective industry organisations.

2.3 A further 149 were in the form of "Detailed Responses" referring to the length and detail of comments on the consultation questions in many of these responses. Most of the detailed responses focused on the consultation questions, although some consultees chose not to answer some of the questions. Many commented on the proposed Bill and the wider industry itself, either in addition or in preference to directly answering the consultation questions.

2.4 Each response received for the consultation was read in detail. It was a key principle of the consultation analysis and the Bill development process that each response be given due consideration. However, the main focus of the consultation analysis was on the content of the responses rather than the number, and as such, it was primarily focused on the Detailed Responses.

2.5 While the Interest Group Responses received consideration in the consultation process, they were not directly included in the analysis for two reasons:

• The letter-style "Interest Group Responses" did not answer or address the issues raised in the consultation questions, and were limited to general comments and views on the upcoming Bill.
• The large number of proforma questionnaires submitted contained the same views and content for each respondent. This content also reflected that expressed in Detailed Responses submitted by other respondents, particularly from the aquaculture industry. As the analysis was mainly focused on the content of responses, the proforma questionnaires were not individually considered in this analysis. However, the views contained within them have been captured in several detailed responses

2.6 Many respondents endorsed the views of sectoral bodies in their responses. Some freshwater fisheries respondents endorsing the response of the Association of Salmon Fisheries Boards ( ASFB) and River and Fishery Trust ( RAFTS), and several aquaculture industry respondents endorsing the response of the Scottish Salmon Producers Organisation ( SSPO).

2.7 Each respondent to the consultation was assigned to one of eight broad stakeholder groups, and also to a further sub-group. Table 2.1 shows the eight groups and 18 sub-group categories used in the consultation analysis; for consistency, these are the same respondent groups used in the consultation analysis undertaken by Marine Scotland for the Aquaculture and Fisheries Bill in 2007.

Table 2.1 - Definitions of Stakeholder Categories

2.8 As shown in Figure 2.1, a third of the detailed responses were from the freshwater fisheries sector; just under a quarter were from individuals/politicians; and the voluntary sector and aquaculture sector accounted for 14% and 12% of the detailed responses respectively. The other four stakeholder groups accounted for the remaining 17% of responses.

Figure 2.1: Response Rates by Stakeholder Group