Fish farms and fish processing sites information: EIR release

Information requested

You asked for information relating to fish farms and fish processing sites in Scotland with specific reference to animal welfare. Your request covered inspections and the inspection process undertaken by Marine Scotland’s Fish Health Inspectorate (FHI) as well as other regulators. You also asked for copies of any Farm Management Agreements relating to fish farms in Scotland which are held by the FHI. The exact specifics of your request are detailed under the section ‘response to your request’ below. 

As the information you have requested is 'environmental information' for the purposes of the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (EIRs), we are required to deal with your request under those Regulations. We are applying the exemption at section 39(2) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA), so that we do not also have to deal with your request under FOISA. 

This exemption is subject to the 'public interest test'. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption, because there is no public interest in dealing with the same request under two different regimes. This is essentially a technical point and has no material effect on the outcome of your request. 

Response

Your request comprised of 12 specific questions. These are replicated below along with our answers to each. 

1. What are FHI’s (as part of Marine Scotland’s) powers of inspection on fish farms and fish processing sites in Scotland relating to animal welfare? 

We are applying regulation 10(4)(a) of the EIRs - information not held, to this part of your request. The FHI do not have any powers of inspection relating to animal welfare. The regulatory responsibility for animal welfare relating to farmed fish in Scotland resides with the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA): 

https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/animal-and-plant-health-agency 

In addition we have provided the following further context concerning the powers of the FHI. This is provided to you separately out with the official response to the EIR request to facilitate your understanding of the FHI role: 

The principal powers of inspection held by the FHI relate to statutory disease controls and enforcing The Aquatic Animal Health (Scotland) Regulations 2009. The FHI also have powers of inspection in relation to the Aquaculture and Fisheries Scotland Act 2007 (as amended) to ensure satisfactory measures are in place in relation to the control of sea lice and the containment of farmed fish stocks. 

Other powers of inspection also exist in relation to: 

• The Alien and Locally Absent Species in Aquaculture (Scotland) Regulations 2015 
• The Animals and Animal Products (Examination for Residues and Maximum Residue Limits) (England and Scotland) Regulations 2015 
• The Trade in Animals and Related Products (Scotland) 2012 (as amended) 

You can find out further information regarding the role and responsibility of the Fish Health inspectorate on the Scottish Government website: 

https://www.gov.scot/policies/fish-health-inspectorate/ 

2. Is there a service level or other agreement in place between FHI/Marine Scotland and Food Standards Scotland or other Scottish regulatory body relating to the performance of welfare checks on fish at fish processing sites in Scotland? If so, what are the terms regarding these welfare checks in terms of responsibility for the checks, frequency of the checks and outcomes of the checks. 

Regulation 10(4)(a) of the EIRs – information not held, is applied to this part of your request as there are no service level or other agreements in place between FHI/Marine Scotland and Food Standards Scotland or any other regulatory bodies with respect to welfare checks. 

In addition we have provided the following further context to this part of your request. This is provided to you separately out with the official response to the EIR request: 

A service level agreement between the Scottish Government Animal Health and Welfare Division and APHA exists. This includes animal welfare inspections in general, but this does not include specifications for the performance of welfare checks on fish at fish processing sites in Scotland. 

In any situation where an inspection conducted by the FHI raises concerns about the welfare of farmed fish then the situation will be communicated to APHA. When required to do so, the FHI can accompany representatives from APHA on site visits to support their inspections relating to welfare by sharing knowledge, opinion and expertise with respect to farm practices and the requirements of complying with aquatic animal health regulations. 

3. How is welfare monitored on fish farms and fish processing sites? 

Regulation 10(4)(a) of the EIRs – information not held, applies to this part of your request. APHA have the responsibility for welfare with respect to farmed fish in Scotland. Questions concerning the monitoring of this can be directed to them via enquiries@apha.gov.uk 

4. Do you carry out announced and unannounced inspections at fish processing sites and fish farms in Scotland? If so, please confirm the number of announced and unannounced inspections carried out by FHI between January 2018 and January 2023 and please confirm the purpose of the inspections, for example animal welfare, animal health etc. 

Announced and unannounced inspections are undertaken by the FHI. In relation to your request a total of 1098 visits have been conducted. Of these visits, two were conducted at processing plants with the remainder being undertaken at fish farms. A total of 20 visits were unannounced. The majority of the inspections conducted relate directly to aquatic animal health. A total of 21 inspections had a welfare component, largely being undertaken as a consequence of third party intelligence and often involving accompanying veterinarian representation from APHA on the site visit. 

Inspections often cover multiple purposes to increase efficiency measures as far as possible. Further detail on the programme of inspections, the purpose of visits and unannounced inspections is available on the Scottish Government website: 

https://www.gov.scot/policies/fish-health-inspectorate/surveillance-programme/ 

In addition we have provided the following further context to this part of your request in relation to FHI inspections to processing plant. This is provided to you separately out with the official response to the EIR request: 

Inspections conducted by the FHI to processing plants are undertaken for aquatic animal health purposes. These are largely concerned with aspects relating to biosecurity to reduce the risk of wider disease and pathogen spread relevant to aquatic animals. In situations where processing plants are involved in the processing of aquatic animals slaughtered for disease control purposes then there is a requirement for such plants to be authorised under the Aquatic Animal Health (Scotland) Regulations 2009.The frequency of inspections can increase in these circumstances in order to confirm that the conditions of authorisation are being met. Further detail is available on the Scottish Government website: 

https://www.gov.scot/publications/aquaculture-processing-establishment-ape-forms-and-guidance/ 

5. How is the appropriate frequency of inspections by FHI decided upon for each fish farm and fish processing site? 

We are handling this question out with the EIR process since it is not a request for recorded information but can still be answered through more general correspondence. 

Fish farm sites are subject to a risk assessment which consider the risk of contracting and spreading disease. The outcome of this assessment influences the frequency of inspection from as much as annually to once every three years. This information is fed into a rolling programme of surveillance managed by the FHI and which directs inspections of any given fish farm site in any given year. 

Additional visits may be conducted, for example where passive surveillance indicates increased or unexplained mortality or suspicion of the presence of a listed disease. 

Further detail is available on the Scottish Government website: https://www.gov.scot/policies/fish-health-inspectorate/surveillance-programme/ 

The programme of inspections must comply with the legislative requirements and principles concerning aquatic animal health in Scotland. 

6. How is it decided whether an inspection on a fish farm or fish processing site by FHI is announced or unannounced? 

We are handling this question out with the EIR process since it is not a request for recorded information but can still be answered through more general correspondence. 

The majority of inspections conducted by the FHI are prearranged although a small number are made which are unannounced. These may be undertaken in situations where an inspector has been unable to contact site representatives to arrange a visit or where cancellations of arranged visits occur and other sites in the nearby area can be inspected unannounced. Other situations may also direct unannounced visits such as intelligence regarding an issue on site e.g. increased mortality or disease suspicion, or undertaking additional enforcement action. Consideration will be given on a case by case basis. 

There is a requirement for cooperation and assistance from aquaculture site staff to facilitate with our inspection process. Balancing announced and unannounced inspections must consider this and the efficiency in using resources appropriately to ensure a cost effective surveillance system which is suitable to meet our legislative requirements. 

7. Do other regulatory bodies carry out announced and unannounced inspections at fish processing sites in Scotland? If so, please confirm the number of announced and unannounced inspections carried out by these bodies between January 2018 and January 2023. 

Regulation 10(4)(a) of the EIRs – Information not held, is applied to this part of your request We are aware that other regulatory bodies will inspect processing plants for a variety of purposes and that these inspections may be announced or unannounced but we do not hold information relating to the number 

of inspections conducted. For example, the Scottish Government is aware that APHA undertake a programme of inspections associated with land-based salmon killing facilities and we believe that 5 inspections have been undertaken with respect to the time scale of this part of your request. 

It may be beneficial for you to contact other regulators: APHA, SEPA, Food Standards Scotland, and local authorities to learn more about any inspection programmes they implement: 

• the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) - https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/animal-and-plant-health-agency 
• the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) - https://www.sepa.org.uk/ 
• Food Standards Scotland - https://www.foodstandards.gov.scot/ 
• local authorities - https://www.mygov.scot/organisations 

8. How is the appropriate frequency of inspections decided upon for each fish farm and fish processing site by these other regulatory bodies? 

We are applying regulation 10(4)(a) of the EIRs - Information not held to this part of the request and suggest that you contact those other regulatory bodies who may be able to provide information in relation to this part of your request. 

9. How is it decided whether an inspection on a fish farm or fish processing site by these bodies is announced or unannounced? 

We are applying regulation 10(4)(a) of the EIRs - Information not held, to this part of the request and suggest that you contact those other regulatory bodies who may be able to provide information in relation to this part of your request. 

10. Please provide copies of all farm management agreements relating to fish farms in Scotland which FHI holds. 

We are applying regulation 10(4)(a) of the EIRs – Information not held, to this part of the request. The FHI do not routinely collect or hold copies of farm management agreements which are inspected as part of our aquatic animal health surveillance. The results of those inspections are published on the Scottish Government website: 

https://www.gov.scot/collections/publication-of-fish-health-inspectorate-information/ 

For your information, we contacted you on two separate occasions to establish a time scale with respect to this part of your request. In absence of any reply to those communications we have applied the time scale of 1 January 2018 to 1 January 2023, this has been adopted from other parts of your request e.g. question 4 above. 

Farm management agreements are also made publicly available through website planning portals of any given local authority, where these relate to and have been submitted to facilitate the statutory planning process. Local authorities can be contacted through the following website: 

https://www.mygov.scot/organisations 

11. Please confirm what if any code of practice or official guidance is referred to within farm management agreements relating to fish farms in Scotland held by FHI. 

We are applying regulation 10(4)(a) of the EIRs – information not held, because we do not hold copies of FMAs and subsequently cannot detail their content with respect to codes of practice or official guidance. 

As further context to this part of your request, and again as information provided out with the official response: 

The Aquaculture and Fisheries (Scotland) Act 2013 details the statutory requirements for either a farm management agreement or a statement. In addition the industry’s own code of good practice stipulates some of the details which a farm management agreement should cover - https://www.salmonscotland.co.uk/code-of-good-practice 

12. Is there any agreement in place between FHI or Marine Scotland and another regulatory body relating to the performance of welfare checks on fish farms and/or fish processing sites in Scotland? If so, what are the terms regarding these welfare checks in terms of responsibility for the checks, frequency of the checks and outcomes of the checks. 

We are applying regulation 10(4)(a) of the EIRs – information not held, to this part of your request. As we have detailed above the FHI / Marine Scotland do not hold any statutory responsibility with respect to fish welfare. We will liaise with the appropriate regulatory body in situations where we have concerns about fish welfare. There are no agreements in place between the FHI/Marine Scotland and any other regulatory body with respect to the performance of welfare checks on fish farms and/or fish processing sites in Scotland. 

Exceptions apply

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not have some of the information you have requested. Therefore we are refusing parts of your request (as detailed above) under the exception at regulation 10(4)(a) of the EIRs. The reasons why that exception applies are explained through the individual question responses. 

This exception is subject to the 'public interest test'. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exception. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exception. While we recognise that there may be some public interest in information relating to fish farms and fish processing sites in Scotland with specific reference to animal welfare, clearly we cannot provide information which we do not hold. 

Some of the information you have requested is available through the weblinks provided above and detailed within individual question responses. Under regulation 6(1)(b) of the EIRs, we do not have to give you information which is already publicly available and easily accessible to you in another form or format. If, however, you do not have internet access to obtain this information from the website(s) listed, then please contact me again and I will send you a paper copy. 

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at http://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.