Sea lice count on wild sea trout: EIR release

Information requested

The sea lice counts on wild sea tout spreadsheet published on the Scottish Government website includes entries for

• Blackwater
• Camus
• Dubh
• All in Argyll

You asked for “the approximate location of these sampling sites”.

In later correspondence, dated 26 October 2022, you emailed me directly amending your request and asking for clarification of the location of the Camus site in respect to its addition in the Argyll area. In addition to this you also made a suggestion to us as follows “The MSS spreadsheet lists about 100 sampling sites, but it is clear that several are the same site but under a different name. It would be helpful, if MSS could consolidate the sites of a similar location together which would provide much more meaningful data.”

Response

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.

Here is a copy of all of the information you requested.

The locations for the sampling sites are (in eastings and northings):

Blackwater
e:123500n:931500

Camus
e:209600n:774900

Dubh
e:211400n:710900

With regards to the Camus site, we can confirm that the Camus and Camas na gaul sites are in the same location and that this sample site is in Lochaber and not Argyll. We will be reviewing the data sets to remedy inconsistencies in site names that may have developed over time, and where possible add more precise location data. We will be updating the online data to reflect this as soon as possible.

In response to your suggestion made in your later correspondence of 26 October 2022, the explanation below is being provided to you out with the EIRs and so you will not have the right to request a review for this part of our response under the EIRs.

With regards to consolidation of sites, it is not possible to do this within a similar area if they are separate sampling sites. Localised hydrodynamic patterns can mean that sites relatively close together can have different characteristics. We thank you for your suggestion and hope you find this explanation useful.

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.