Whiteshore Cockles Limited: dead farmed salmon disposal: EIR Review

Information requested

Original request 202400398393

1. Has the Scottish Government made any decision regarding the above's salmon disposal operation in North Unit?

2. When does the current extension of fish waste burial expire?

3. Has any public funds been committed to this operation?

Response

I have now completed my review of our failure to respond to your request under the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (EIRs) for information regarding the burial of dead salmon by Whiteshore Cockles Limited of North Uist.

In accordance with regulation 16(3)(b) of the EIRs, I have also reached a decision on your request.

Please accept the Scottish Government's apologies for failing to respond to your original request. This was due to an error handling your request at a time when the Central Correspondence Unit in the Scottish Government was migrating from an old IT system to a new one. Unfortunately your correspondence was not identified as an EIR request until you chased us for a response on the 12 February.

I can now provide our response to your original request. The answers to your questions are:

1. Has the Scottish Government made any decision regarding the above's salmon disposal operation in North Unit?

The Scottish Government supports the installation of Whiteshore Cockles Ltd fish waste dryer as a pragmatic and sustainable solution for disposal of salmon mortalities in the Western Isles. We expect Whiteshore Cockles Ltd to work constructively with the Animal and Plant Health Agency for the fish waste dryer to gain approval under the Animal By-Products (Enforcement) (Scotland) Regulations 2013.

2. When does the current extension of fish waste burial expire?

Scottish Ministers authorised a derogation from the disposal requirements in the Animal By-Products (Enforcement) (Scotland) Regulations 2013 allowing Whiteshore Cockles Ltd to bury fish waste at their site in North Uist. The derogation ended on 31 January 2024.

3. Has any public funds been committed to this operation?

The Scottish Government has not directly provided funding to Whiteshore Cockles Ltd. Other public bodies may have provided funding to Whiteshore Cockles Ltd. We are aware that Highlands and Islands Enterprise provided two grants to Whiteshore Cockles Ltd, £404k in November 2016 and £200k in February 2021.

However, you may wish to contact Highlands and Islands Enterprise directly at customer.service@hient.co.uk who may be able to provide additional information.

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.