Conservation of salmon consultation and consultation analysis: data protection impact assessment

10. Annex A – privacy information

Included in this annex are the letters and emails which went out to stakeholders, showing the various ways that we have alerted them to the consultation and seeking their views.

1.1.1 Mailshot to our stakeholder contacts list letting them know the consultation is live.

Conservation of salmon – Assessment for the 2025 fishing season

I am writing to let you know that the Scottish Ministers propose to continue to regulate the killing of salmon in Scotland, including the prohibition on retaining any salmon caught in coastal waters, by means of conservation regulations made under section 38 of the Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries (Consolidation) (Scotland) Act 2003.

Marine Directorate (previously Marine Scotland) has undertaken an assessment of the conservation status of salmon in inland waters in Scotland for the 2025 fishing season. The outcome of that assessment, including proposed gradings for rivers and assessment groups in 2025, is available on the Scottish Government website.

Please note that the presentation of the information relating to the consultation on our website may look different to previous years. This is due to our changed approach to ensure the information is as accessible as possible to all.

This year there are additional questions in the consultation in relation to a proposed amendment to reinstate the early rod season for the Annan district. Further information on this is provided within the consultation materials.

Ministers are required, under the terms of section 38 and schedule 1 of the Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries (Consolidation) (Scotland) Act 2003, to publish notice of the proposals allowing a minimum 28 day period for representations or objections to be made. Notice is hereby given that the consultation will be advertised and commence on Wednesday 7^th August 2024.

If you wish to submit a view on the proposed river gradings, you can do so online through our consultation hub.

You can save and return to your responses while the consultation is still open. Please ensure that consultation responses are submitted before the closing date of Friday 6^th September 2024.

If you are unable to respond using our consultation hub, please contact us for an alternative way to submit your response.

Email to: salmonandrecreationalfisheries@gov.scot

Post to: Wild Salmon and Recreational Fisheries

Marine Directorate of Scottish Government

Victoria Quay

Edinburgh

EH6 6QQ

Data Protection

In accordance with the requirements of section 38 and schedule 1 of the Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries (Consolidation) (Scotland) Act 2003 Scottish Ministers are required to seek representations on the general effect of proposed salmon conservation regulations. You have been contacted because you have previously expressed an interest in contributing to the process. We currently hold a list of e-mail addresses for this purpose and are contacting you again to give you the opportunity to contribute to this year’s consultation. Your details will be stored and used solely for the purposes of this annual consultation or of related matters concerning salmon and recreational fisheries. If you no longer wish to be included in such consultations, please let us know and we will remove you from our contact list. Further details about the Scottish Government’s privacy policy are available.

1.1.2 The consultation paper itself will have a respondent information form (RIF) which uses standard Scottish Government wording as noted below.

Responding to this Consultation

We are inviting responses to this consultation by 6 September 2024.

Please respond to this consultation using the Scottish Government’s consultation hub, Citizen Space (http://consult.gov.scot). Access and respond to this consultation online at https://consult.gov.scot/marine-scotland/salmon-fishing-proposed-river-gradings-2025-season/. You can save and return to your responses while the consultation is still open. Please ensure that consultation responses are submitted before the closing date of 6 September 2024.

If you are unable to respond using our consultation hub, please complete the Respondent Information Form and send to:

Wild Salmon and Recreational Fisheries

Marine Directorate

Scottish Government

Area 1B North

Victoria Quay

Edinburgh

EH6 6QQ

Handling your response

If you respond using the consultation hub, you will be directed to the About You page before submitting your response. Please indicate how you wish your response to be handled and, in particular, whether you are content for your response to published. If you ask for your response not to be published, we will regard it as confidential, and we will treat it accordingly.

All respondents should be aware that the Scottish Government is subject to the provisions of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 and would therefore have to consider any request made to it under the Act for information relating to responses made to this consultation exercise.

If you are unable to respond via Citizen Space, please complete and return the Respondent Information Form included in this document.

To find out how we handle your personal data, please see our privacy policy.

Next steps in the process

Where respondents have given permission for their response to be made public, and after we have checked that they contain no potentially defamatory material, responses will be made available to the public at http://consult.gov.scot. If you use the consultation hub to respond, you will receive a copy of your response via email.

Following the closing date, all responses will be analysed and considered along with any other available evidence. Responses will be published where we have been given permission to do so. An analysis report will also be made available.

Comments and complaints

If you have any comments about how this consultation exercise has been conducted, please send them to the contact address above or at SalmonandRecreationalFisheries@gov.scot.

Scottish Government consultation process

Consultation is an essential part of the policymaking process. It gives us the opportunity to consider your opinion and expertise on a proposed area of work.

You can find all our consultations online. Each consultation details the issues under consideration, as well as a way for you to give us your views, either online, by email or by post.

Responses will be analysed and used as part of the decision making process, along with a range of other available information and evidence. We will publish a report of this analysis for every consultation. Depending on the nature of the consultation exercise the responses received may:

• indicate the need for policy development or review
• inform the development of a particular policy
• help decisions to be made between alternative policy proposals
• be used to finalise legislation before it is implemented

While details of particular circumstances described in a response to a consultation exercise may usefully inform the policy process, consultation exercises cannot address individual concerns and comments, which should be directed to the relevant public body.