Publication - FOI/EIR release

Meetings with salmon farming industry: EIR release

Published: 18 November 2024
Directorate: Marine Directorate
Topic: Marine and fisheries, Public sector
FOI reference: FOI/202400431333
Date received: 11 September 2024
Date responded: 6 November 2024

Information request and response under the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004

Information requested

Information on meetings and site visits, between ministers and cabinet secretaries with representatives of Salmon Scotland and of salmon farming operating businesses from 11 September 2019 to 11 September 2024, including

1. Meeting/visit dates
2. Meeting/visit attendees.
3. Requesters of the meeting/visit
4. Subjects discussed
5. Minutes of the meetings
6. Future similar meetings/visits

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.

Response to your request

We have conducted routine searches on the information you requested, and I attach some of the information at Annex B and Annex C. However, not every Ministerial meeting is formally minuted, and we do not hold a comprehensive database with all meeting details. We also do not routinely store details of meeting requesters, so cannot answer comprehensively on this point.

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide some of the information you have requested because exceptions under 6(1)(b) (information already publicly available), regulations 10(4)(a) (Information not held), 10(4)(e) (Internal communications) and
11(2) (Personal data of a third party). of the EIRs apply to the information. The reasons why those exceptions apply are explained in Annex A.

Some of the information you have requested is available on the Scottish Government website:

Scottish Aquaculture Council minutes: Scottish Aquaculture Council - gov.scot (www.gov.scot).
Ministerial visits (which are not minuted) – details are available in Ministerial engagements, travel and gifts - gov.scot (www.gov.scot). This currently covers engagements up to 27 June 2024 and is updated monthly.

Minutes of three meetings listed in Annex C have been published in previous EIRs:

25/11/21: Organic Sea Harvest and Mairi Gougeon: Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and Islands fish farming and aquaculture meetings: EIR release - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) (FOI 2021 00258228)
12/10/23: Scottish Sea Farms/Cooke Aquaculture and Mairi McAllan: Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Net Zero and Just Transition July 23 engagements: EIR release - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) (FOI 2023 00372653)
23/4/24 AquaSur and Mairi Gougeon: Expenses for the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands overseas trips: EIR release - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) (FOI 202400431722)

About FOI

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