Fish Health Inspectorate: sea lice information

To ensure the Scottish aquaculture industry continue to demonstrate satisfactory measures are in place for the prevention, control and reduction of sea lice on farm sites, Aquaculture Production Businesses (APB) are required to report weekly average adult female sea lice numbers when a specified reporting level is reached.

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To ensure the Scottish aquaculture industry continue to demonstrate satisfactory measures are in place for the prevention, control and reduction of sea lice on farm sites, Aquaculture Production Businesses (APB) are required to report the weekly average adult female sea lice numbers per fish on farm sites, under the Fish Farming Businesses (Reporting) (Scotland) Order 2020.

To ensure the Scottish aquaculture industry continue to demonstrate satisfactory measures are in place for the prevention, control and reduction of sea lice on farm sites, Aquaculture Production Businesses (APB) are required to report the weekly average adult female sea lice numbers per fish on farm sites to Scottish Ministers no later than 8 days after the end of the reporting week. The report shall include the information required in the sea lice notification form. 

Information held relating to the reporting regime, is obtained by Marine Scotland, either through industry reporting or via Fish Health Inspectorate (FHI) surveillance.  This is used by the FHI to help assess whether satisfactory measures are in place in relation to the prevention control or reduction of sea lice (Lepeophtheirus salmonis). It is our aim to actively publish the information 12 days after the end of the reporting week on Scotland's Aquaculture Website.

The following limitations must be considered in relation to the published information:

  1. The information presented is not a comprehensive record of weekly sea lice data but the details of the weekly average adult female sea lice levels per fish as reported by industry or where information has been obtained through FHI surveillance.
  2. The information relates to live reporting regime and therefore may be subject to change at any point. Changes may not be easily recognisable between published versions and may be ‘historical’. The information is only an accurate record at the point in which information extraction occurred.
  3. In line with the current surveillance regime data older than 3 years (on a calendar year basis) will be archived and not expected to be subject to further change.
  4. Where information refers to treatment activity obtained through increased monitoring, this can reflect both actual and planned treatments. In relation to planned treatments these may or may not have taken place.


Reporting regime period

Reporting level

July 2017 - 9th June 2019

3

10th June 2019 – 28 March 2021

2

*Weekly average adult female sea lice reporting levels

This information was obtained through the reporting policy that was in place prior to 29 March 2021. It relates to previous arrangements which required reporting only where specific levels were met or exceeded (i.e. a weekly average of (2 adult female sea lice per fish). The new policy, as set out above, requires sea lice numbers to be reported weekly irrespective of the count.

Sea lice data from 29 March 2021

Scotland's aquaculture sea lice data

Sea lice notification form and guidance
Sea lice reporting guidance
Sea lice regulation topic sheet
Sea lice count information - until week 12, March 2021
Sea lice data: 2017 - 2020
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