Inspections of Marine Cage Fish Farms: EIR release

Information requested

Information relating to onsite inspections carried out by Marine Scotland on fish farms operated by Mowi Scotland Limited in the sea cages located on the West coast of Scotland in each of the calendar years 2019, 2020 and 2021. 

We sought further clarification from you by email dated 15 August 2022 and you responded the same day to confirm that you were “only looking for data concerning Mowi operated farms” as, although your request referenced this company, it could have been interpreted to include all inspections across the industry sector.

1. Names of sites and dates inspected and in relation to each – (points 2, 3, 4 and 5)

2. Whether each visit was unannounced or by prior appointment.

3. Whether the relative shore-based facility was also inspected.

4. Whether the visit was in response to a request from a third party.

5. Details of any action taken, including warning notices, penalty and enforcement notices and references to the Crown and Procurator Fiscal Services. Please confirm which if any Scottish Ministers were informed about any action taken.

Response

With respect to information concerning visits to fish farms operated by Mowi in Scotland you requested the following specific queries, with each being answered in turn:

1. Names of sites and dates inspected and in relation to each – (points 2, 3, 4 and 5)
This information has been provided to you in an attachment as part of this response. Please note that PSI cases do not involve physical site inspections, this is detailed within the attachment.

2. Whether each visit was unannounced or by prior appointment.
Unannounced inspections are referred to with the case type UNI. For the time period of your request I can confirm that two unannounced inspections have taken place – Loch Leven (1) FS0244 (case number 20190476) and North Shore FS1033 (case number 20190647).

Some further context concerning unannounced inspections may be useful for your consideration. The Fish Health Inspectorate aims to undertake a percentage of unannounced inspections across the aquaculture sector on an annual basis in line with our legislative requirements. This needs to be balanced with the efficiency and effectiveness of such an approach with the consideration of the fact that the inspection of marine farm cage sites, in particular, relies heavily upon the presence of industry staff members to facilitate the process at any given farm site. In addition, fewer unannounced inspections have been undertaken following the Covid-19 pandemic. This is because procedures have required greater engagement with industry stakeholders to confirm both the health status of staff and inspectors prior to a visit to ensure that the inspection process can be undertaken as safely as possible.

3. Whether the relative shore-based facility was also inspected.
We do not record or hold this information and therefore we are applying exception 10(4)(a) – information not held to this part of your request. Further information on why this exception applies is detailed below under the section ‘Exceptions apply’.

Whilst we are refusing this part of your request some further context may be useful to you. It’s likely that in most cases an element of inspection of the shore-based facilities occurs as part of the farm site inspection. For example, this could include inspection associated with biosecurity procedures, mortality storage and disposal activities, or checking the medicine storage facilities. It will vary from site to site and visit to visit as to the extent of the activities which take place at the shore base and therefore the level of inspection required. The records we hold and release provide detail over the scope of the inspection in terms of the areas we look at but do not necessarily detail where those areas are located. In general terms, the shore base facilities are where FHI meet farm site staff, inspect additional records and complete case paperwork if necessary and undertake sampling of fish for specific purposes.

4. Whether the visit was in response to a request from a third party.
We do not hold a definitive record of this information and therefore we are applying exception 10(4)(a) – information not held to this part of your request. Further information on why this exception applies is detailed below under the section ‘Exceptions apply’.

Details within individual inspection case sheets may provide some further information where requests for inspections have been received or made by third parties, but this is not necessarily always collected or detailed. Cases logged against the case type REP (Inspection - Report from company or third party) include third party notifications but do not distinguish between those requests received from the company themselves. In addition, cases assigned the case type WEL (Welfare inspections) are generally a result of a third party notification but can also be generated through other means.

5. Details of any action taken, including warning notices, penalty and enforcement notices and references to the Crown and Procurator Fiscal Services. Please confirm which if any Scottish Ministers were informed about any action taken.
The actions and outcomes of inspections undertaken by Marine Scotland’s Fish Health Inspectorate are subject to proactive publication and relevant information can be found on the Scottish Government’s website: https://www.gov.scot/collections/publication-of-fish-health-inspectorate-information/.

Some of the information relevant to this part of the request has been released previously through responses to previous requests for information which are available on the Scottish Government website - https://www.gov.scot/publications/.

To facilitate your request, information has been provided to you detailing all of the sites operated by Mowi which have received either a warning / advisory letter, or an enforcement notice within the time scale of your request. Please note that where letters have been issued in relation to sea lice these may be associated with the requirements concerning the regulation of sea lice within Scotland, rather than actual site inspections.

I can further advise that communications concerning the enforcement notice served in relation to the Hellisay site were made to the following Scottish Ministers at that time: Fergus Ewing MSP the Cabinet Secretary Rural Economy and Tourism; Roseanna Cunningham MSP the Cabinet Secretary for the Environment Climate Change and Land Reform; and Ben Macpherson MSP Minister for Rural Affairs and the Natural Environment.

In all of the situations involving warning / advisory letters or enforcement notices either no further action was required to be taken, or further actions which were required were complied with. Subsequently no communications or reports were required to be made to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service with respect to these cases, so again regulation 10(4)(a) – information not held, applies to this section of your request.

Answers to the queries concerning this request have been made with respect to the activities and operations of Marine Scotland’s Fish Health Inspectorate. It is important to note that other parts of Marine Scotland can undertake inspections of sea water fish farm sites, for example Marine Scotland Compliance, however, we can confirm that no such inspections have taken place with respect to the timescale of this request.

Exceptions apply
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 an exception under regulation 10(4)(a) (information not held) of the EIRs applies to that information. As detailed above, this applies to information requested through part 3 part 4, and some of part 5 of your request, concerning the inspection of shore-based facilities, if the visit related to a response to a request from a third party, and notices and references to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service.

Under the terms of the exception at regulation 10(4)(a) of the EIRs (information not held), the Scottish Government is not required to provide information which it does not have. The Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested because the specific information concerning inspecting shore base facilities, and visits generated through reports from third parties is not recorded, and because no notices and references have been issued to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, within the time scale of your request.

This exception 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 exception. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exception. While we recognise that there may be some public interest in information about inspecting shore base facilities, visits generated through reports from third parties, and communications with the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Office, concerning actions and enforcement, clearly we cannot provide information which we do not hold.

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.

FOI 202200315581 - Information Released - Annex

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