Vision for sustainable aquaculture

5 Achieving the Vision

In order to achieve our Vision, the Scottish Government has identified a number of outcomes that will need to be realised.

Progress is already being made on meeting a number of these outcomes through existing workstreams and in collaboration with stakeholders. There are already several current and forthcoming policies and programmes across government which will contribute to the outcomes and a full list of these workstreams is detailed in Annex B.

The Scottish Government will work with all who have a stake in the future of the aquaculture sector and the environment and communities in which it operates to achieve all the outcomes identified below.

5.1 Spatial Planning and Consenting

The marine and freshwater spatial planning and consenting system will be streamlined and deliver on Scottish Government’s environment, economic and social objectives. The system will support a sustainable, diverse and prosperous aquaculture sector where cumulative risk and impacts are managed.

This will be achieved by:

• improving spatial planning tools at national, regional and local level, and improving understanding and effective management of cumulative risk and impacts
• ensuring the consenting regime is efficient, effective and transparent with alignment between all regulatory processes, and delivers on national and local policy objectives
• tailoring the policy framework to individual finfish, shellfish and seaweed sectors in recognition of their different scales and social, economic and environmental impacts
• making efficient use of Scotland’s marine resource, encouraging the redevelopment of farms where there is no planned production into alternative forms of aquaculture, other marine sector development, or returning the farm site to the wild
• encouraging collaboration between sub-sectors to investigate opportunities arising from the operation of multi-species farms or farm areas
• exploring development beyond coastal waters, between 3 and 12 nautical miles, including potential impacts and the associated regulatory mechanisms

5.2 Environment and Biodiversity

The aquaculture sector will continually work to minimise negative environmental impacts and collaborate with other stakeholders to protect and restore Scotland’s biodiversity in the freshwater and marine environment.

Aquaculture will play its part in Scotland halting biodiversity loss by 2030, and restoring and regenerating biodiversity by 2045^[4].

This will be achieved by:

• working with freshwater and marine stakeholders to deliver Scotland’s biodiversity strategy, including working to understand and reduce impacts in the water environment and on sensitive habitats and species
• creating opportunities for aquaculture to contribute to Scottish biodiversity enhancement and conservation priorities through financial or non-financial means
• accelerating the adoption of approaches which minimise, reduce or remove the discharge of medicine residues and increase the use of effective non-medicinal treatments, waste recovery and preventative measures
• managing sea lice through adaptive regulation and innovation to help protect Scotland’s wild and farmed salmonid populations
• minimising the escape of farmed fish, with demonstrable progress towards the goal of 100% containment in production facilities to help protect Scotland’s wild salmonid populations, with appropriate fines for fish farm escapes redistributed to support wild salmonid conservation and research
• prioritising non-lethal means of mitigating predator interactions that avoid disturbing protected species or entangling birds
• assessing the potential impacts of farmed non-native species at risk of becoming invasive in a changing climate
• controlling the spread of invasive non-native species with appropriate biosecurity management standards
• maintaining antimicrobial use at low levels and adopting innovations that reduce the need for antibiotics over time, whilst maintaining treatment efficacy when used to protect farmed fish health and welfare
• ensuring all wild caught cleaner fish are responsibly sourced, whilst seeking to increase the proportion of farmed cleaner fish used in aquaculture
• further exploring the potential of shellfish and seaweed aquaculture as a means of providing beneficial environmental services, including biodiversity restoration, carbon sequestration and nutrient recycling

5.3 Climate Change and Circular Economy

Understanding, mitigating and adapting to climate change impacts is essential for the future success of the sector. Aquaculture will play its part in Scotland achieving net zero emissions by 2045^[5] and transitioning to a zero waste and circular economy^[6].

This will be achieved by:

• delivering emissions reductions in line with our climate targets, ensuring resilience plans are in place and the risks of a changing environment are understood, enabling adaptation to challenges such as water scarcity, warming seas, storms and fish health issues
• producing more seafood, whilst working to reduce waste discharge below regulatory limits and capturing more organic waste for the circular economy
• partnering with innovators to explore further opportunities for the best use of aquaculture by-products, including processing waste, organic waste, mortalities and harvested cleaner fish
• using 100% responsibly sourced marine and vegetable ingredients in finfish feeds, identifying opportunities to use a greater quantity of novel ingredients, trimmings and other by-products
• taking all reasonable efforts in the design and use of equipment to prevent the loss of marine debris and to coordinate recovery and recycling of debris and end of life equipment
• minimising single-use of non-recycled materials such as expanded polystyrene and moving to reusable packaging

5.4 Health and Welfare

Improving aquaculture health and welfare is an ethical responsibility and a priority. Continuing ongoing work by businesses, government and researchers will lead to enhanced health, welfare, economic and environmental performance.

This will be achieved by:

• improving health and welfare and reducing cumulative mortalities over the finfish production cycle to the lowest possible levels
• continuing research into the use of cleanerfish in aquaculture and developing a Code of Good Practice (CoGP) to support improved cleanerfish health, welfare and performance.
• increasing adoption of new and innovative technologies which achieve both positive environmental and health and welfare outcomes, including exploring the potential use of semi and closed containment systems^[7]
• understanding pathogen pathways and appropriate pest management options for seaweed farming

5.5 Community

Communities which host aquaculture or supply chain businesses will be engaged in the sector’s development, share in its success and be supported through a range of lasting benefits, including the provision of employment opportunities. Development of the sector will be underpinned by aquaculture businesses enjoying widespread and enduring social licence.

This will be achieved by:

• protecting and improving the ability of, and opportunity for communities to meaningfully contribute to aquaculture planning and consenting
• embedding consideration of the protection and development of social licence across all operations and management decisions
• developing good practice principles for community benefits from aquaculture developments
• ensuring that statutory and voluntary funds that are raised from the aquaculture sector for the purpose of community benefit are of an appropriate scale and are put to best use
• working with and supporting local authorities to maximise the opportunities and benefits that are available to communities as a result of the presence of aquaculture
• developing clear pathways to support people wishing to enter the aquaculture sector, with businesses contributing to Scotland becoming a leading Fair Work nation by 2025^[8]
• promoting Scottish aquaculture products to increase domestic consumption in support of Scotland’s ambition to become a Good Food Nation^[9]

5.6 Productivity, Supply Chain and Infrastructure

A renewed national focus on innovation, supply chain and infrastructure development will support increased productivity across the sector and the growth of Scottish businesses contributing to Scotland’s Wellbeing Economy^[10].

This will be achieved by:

• improving port and harbour infrastructure to better accommodate aquaculture
• increasing and improving housing stock in rural and island areas to benefit local communities and ensure aquaculture employees can live where they work
• ensuring businesses have access to high-speed broadband to support adoption of new technologies and data monitoring
• connecting businesses with educators and communities to raise the profile of aquaculture careers and equip more people with the skills needed to work in the modern sector
• enabling the further development of an innovative and competitive supply chain which strengthens Scottish options in all areas of aquaculture procurement
• increasing international recognition of Scotland as a leader of aquaculture innovation, creating more opportunities for inward investment that benefit Scottish businesses associated with the aquaculture sector
• identifying new market opportunities for production and supply chain businesses that attract investment and increase domestic and international trade
• identifying opportunities to increase market value of shellfish and seaweed production
• building on Scotland’s position as a major producer of organic aquaculture products
• increasing productivity and quality of farmed shellfish through the identification of opportunities to improve water quality in shellfish water protected areas
• improving understanding of the environmental factors supporting or impeding increased productivity in shellfish and seaweed farms
• developing a Code of Good Practice for seaweed cultivation
• identifying effective pathways to securing greater access to finance for aquaculture production and supply chain businesses
• encouraging business collaboration across all marine sectors to identify opportunities that improve efficiencies within supply chains
• building resilience by increasing the domestic supply of fish ova, shellfish spat and seaweed seed
• exploring opportunities to diversify species farmed in Scotland