The salmon farming industry has been accused of trying to “pressure” Scotland’s environment watchdog by persisting with complaints about how it is regulated.
Salmon Scotland, which represents multinational fish farming companies, is to meet with the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) because it still has concerns about a formal complaint it lodged in 2019.
Sepa investigated the complaint about its allegedly “poor” regulation and in 2020 upheld, or partially upheld, 10 of the 14 issues raised. But Salmon Scotland has now told MSPs investigating salmon farming that it remains “concerned” about Sepa’s response to its complaint.
Campaigners say that salmon companies are putting pressure on Sepa to influence policy and save money. The industry “feels it is above regulation”, claimed one.
They also criticised Sepa for “going out of its way to please Salmon Scotland”. The Scottish Government came under fire for allowing the salmon industry to “run riot”.
Salmon Scotland said that its industry was one of the most heavily regulated in the world. It wanted Sepa to adopt a “risk-based approach” to environmental compliance and to help deliver “sustainable economic growth”.
Sepa stressed that it sought “appropriately positive relationships” with the companies it regulated. It said it would keep liaising with the industry to understand any issues.
The Scottish Government said it was right that there was “ongoing discussion” between the industry and Sepa about regulation.
On 30 July 2024 in response to a freedom of information request, Sepa released details of a formal complaint by Salmon Scotland, which used to be known as the Scottish Salmon Producers Organisation.
A letter copied to ministers on 3 October 2019 alleged that Sepa’s “regulatory practices, standards and behaviours” impacted “detrimentally” on Scottish salmon farmers.
Salmon Scotland said that since 1 June 2019 there had been a “marked decline” in determining permit applications and “an increase in poor regulatory practices”. It cited a series of delays and “inconsistent and incorrect” interpretations of Sepa guidance.
A lack of “appropriate consultation” had resulted in “delays, confusion, inconsistency and errors in decision making,” it claimed. Sepa had failed to provide reports, replies and pesticide authorisations “timeously”, it said.
Salmon Scotland also alleged a “continued lack of engagement” on revising a salmon farm licensing framework and “insufficient regard to the consequences and impacts” of an environmental safety limit review.
“The wide range and scale of the issues experienced by our members points to a long-term failure of Sepa to discharge its duties in accordance with the Scottish Regulators’ Strategic Code of Practice,” Salmon Scotland concluded.
In response Sepa launched an investigation, and formally responded on 18 May 2020. Sepa officials met four times with Salmon Scotland staff, including the industry body’s then sustainability director, Anne Anderson, who was previously head of compliance at Sepa.
Among the ten issues on which Sepa fully or partly upheld Salmon Scotland’s complaint were delays to permit applications and incorrect interpretations of guidance.
Sepa also accepted that there had been inadequate consultation, delays in providing reports, and a lack of engagement. In one instance it had failed to correct an error in an inspection report, it said.
But Sepa rejected the claim that it had paid insufficient regard to the impact of a safety limit review. It also insisted that it had not delayed pesticide authorisations.
Sepa did not accept that it had failed to discharge its duties under the regulators’ code of practice. But it added that there were “a small number of areas where Sepa has fallen short of fully delivering the good practice set out within the code”.
Sepa promised a series of reforms aimed at improving its regulation of the salmon farming industry. It said there had been “significant frustrations building between the industry and Sepa for some time” and urged better communication in the future.
Sepa told The Ferret that its complaint response plan was completed and shared with Salmon Scotland in April 2022. But the industry body has now told the Scottish Parliament’s Rural Affairs and Islands Committee that it still has concerns.
Salmon industry ‘concerned about progress’
In a submission on 13 June 2024 it said: “We remain concerned about progress against some of the points raised in our complaint and there is ongoing dialogue with Sepa to better understand service levels and to drive improvements.”
Salmon Scotland acknowledged that there had been “a significant improvement in engagement with Sepa”. But it added that there were continued “challenges and frustration” with some important regulatory activities, which it didn’t specify.
The industry body raised the issue at a quarterly liaison meeting with Sepa on 24 June 2024. Sepa agreed to another meeting to discuss Salmon Scotland’s continuing concerns, the arrangements for which are still being finalised.
The Green MSP for Highlands and Islands, Ariane Burgess, described multinational salmon companies as “some of the most lucrative” that operate in Scotland.
“Farmed salmon businesses can well afford to drive up standards and reduce their impact on the environment. Instead, they are choosing to pressure the environmental regulator and to influence policy –the very policies designed to regulate their activities,” she said.
Burgess pointed out that one of Sepa’s roles was to prevent businesses from damaging the environment. “So it is very concerning that Sepa appears to be going out of its way to please Salmon Scotland,” she told The Ferret.
The campaign group, WildFish, criticised the salmon industry – and the Scottish Government. “This is a typical response from an industry that feels it is above regulation and should be allowed to do what it likes,” said the group’s solicitor, Guy Linley-Adams.
He laid the blame on “well over a decade of unthinking and unconditional political support” from the Scottish Government. “If you invite an industry to run riot, don’t be surprised when it does,” he added.
The Coastal Communities Network, which brings together 30 groups in Scotland concerned about the marine environment, urged Sepa not to bow to industry pressure.
“Sepa‘s primary task is to protect and enhance Scotland’s environment,” said the network’s John Aitchison. “It would be better able to do so if it had not been given the extra duty of promoting economic growth.”
Salmon Scotland argued that its sector was one of the most heavily regulated in the world.
“We want Sepa to adopt a risk-based approach to environmental compliance that acknowledges the excellent work being undertaken by the sector to safeguard our precious marine environment and our iconic wild Atlantic salmon, while providing the best care for farm-raised salmon,” said the body’s technical head, Dr Iain Berrill.
“If we get this balance right we can deliver the sustainable economic growth that both the Scottish Government and Sepa say they want to see.”
Sepa agreed to meet Salmon Scotland
Sepa highlighted the salmon industry’s important role in Scotland’s environmental, economic and social success. “Following a formal complaint from Salmon Scotland in 2019, Sepa worked to address the number of elements of our regulatory services that we agreed had fallen short of the standards we strive to deliver,” said the agency’s head of ecology, Peter Pollard.
“We seek appropriately positive relationships with those we regulate, and we welcome Salmon Scotland’s acknowledgment of a significant improvement in engagement.”
Pollard added: “Sepa agreed to a request from Salmon Scotland to meet to discuss how it now views our regulatory services with reference to its 2019 complaint. This meeting is currently in the process of being arranged.
“We will continue to regularly liaise with the sector to understand any service issues and address these through normal continual improvement processes.”
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “Scottish salmon is the UK’s largest food export and is a significant contributor to the Scottish economy, providing well paid and highly skilled jobs, particularly in rural and island communities.
“It is right that designing effective legislation involves ongoing discussion between regulators and industry representatives, as well as other key stakeholders, to ensure the regulatory framework is fit for purpose to balance these important priorities effectively.”
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Cover image thanks to iStock/richard johnson.
