West Coast Tracking Project: EIR release

Information requested

1. Copies of any ongoing or ‘live’ contracts or agreements as between any of Fisheries Management Scotland, Atlantic Salmon Trust, Salmon Scotland and/or Marine Scotland / Marine Scotland Science, in relation to the West Coast Tracking Project.

2. Details of any current or expected funding for the West Coast Tracking Project from (i) the Scottish Government and (ii) any part of the aquaculture industry, including but not limited to Salmon Scotland.

3. Details of any current or expected contributions-in-kind for the West Coast Tracking project from any part of the aquaculture industry, including but not limited to Salmon Scotland.

4. Any updates on the outcomes to date of the West Coast Tracking Project since the published updates made in 2022.

5. All correspondence between Scottish Government and any other party concerning the West Coast Tracking Project, covering the calendar year to end 2024.

Response

1. Copies of any ongoing or ‘live’ contracts or agreements as between any of Fisheries Management Scotland, Atlantic Salmon Trust, Salmon Scotland and/or Marine Scotland / Marine Scotland Science, in relation to the West Coast Tracking Project.

I enclose a copy of most of the information you requested. See item 1 attached. An exception under regulation 11(2) of the EIRs (personal information) applies to some of the information requested because it is personal data of a third party and disclosing it would contravene the data protection principles in Article 5(1) of the General Data Protection Regulation and in section 34(1) of the Data Protection Act 2018. This exception is not subject to the ‘public interest test’, so we are not required to consider if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exception.

2. Details of any current or expected funding for the West Coast Tracking Project from (i) the Scottish Government and (ii) any part of the aquaculture industry, including but not limited to Salmon Scotland.

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested. Therefore we are refusing your request under the exception at regulation 10(4)(a) of the EIRs. The reasons why that exception applies are explained below.

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 there is no current or known future funding allocated to this project.

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 details of any current or expected funding for the West Coast Tracking Project, clearly we cannot provide information which we do not hold.

3. Details of any current or expected contributions-in-kind for the West Coast Tracking project from any part of the aquaculture industry, including but not limited to Salmon Scotland.

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested. Therefore we are refusing your request under the exception at regulation 10(4)(a) of the EIRs. The reasons why that exception applies are explained below.

Under the terms of the exception at regulation 10(4)(a) of the EIRs (information notheld), the Scottish Government is not required to provide information which it doesnot have. The Scottish Government does not have the information you haverequested because we are unaware of any current or expected contributions-in-kind from any part of the aquaculture industry.

This exception is subject to the ‘public interest test’. Therefore, taking account of allthe circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosingthe information outweighs the publicinte rest in applying the exception. We havefound 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 aboutdetails of any current or expected contributions-in-kind for the West Coast Tracking project from any part of the aquaculture industry, clearly we cannot provide information which we do not hold.

4. Any updates on the outcomes to date of the West Coast Tracking Project since the published updates made in 2022.

All of the information you have requested is available from the following sources: An open access academic journal article available at http://doi.org/10.1111/jfb.15760. 

The Atlantic salmon trust annual review published at Atlantic-Salmon-Trust-Annual-Review-2024.pdf 

Under regulation 6(1)(b) of the EIRs, we do not have to give you information which is already publicly available and easily accessible to you in another form or format.

5. All correspondence between Scottish Government and any other party concerning the West Coast Tracking Project, covering the calendar year to end 2024.

I enclose a copy of some of the information you requested. Please refer to attached items: 2,3,4 & 5

Exceptions applied:

Regulation 11(2) of the EIRs (personal information)

An exception under regulation 11(2) of the EIRs (personal information) applies to some of the information requested because it is personal data of a third party and disclosing it would contravene the data protection principles in Article 5(1) of the General Data Protection Regulation and in section 34(1) of the Data Protection Act 2018. This exception is not subject to the ‘public interest test’, so we are not required to consider if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exception.

Regulation 10(4)(d) – material in course of completion, unfinished documents or incomplete data.

An exception under regulation 10(4)(d) (unfinished or incomplete information) of the EIRs applies to some of the information you have requested because one of the draft (incomplete) documents within the scope of your request has been withheld in full. The reason for this is, that at the time of your request, the final version of this document was completed and published online and is included in the response to request 4.

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. We recognise that there is some public interest in release as part of open, transparent and accountable government, and this has been met by release of the final version of the document to you. However, for the draft versions, this is outweighed by the public interest in ensuring that incomplete information is not disclosed when it might misinform the public or give a misleading impression of the Government’s view or position on the matter to which the information relates and which was incomplete.

Regulation 10(4)(d) – material in course of completion, unfinished documents or incomplete data.

An exception under regulation 10(4)(d) of the EIRs (unfinished or incomplete information) applies to some of the information you have requested because it is material in the course of completion. This data is being analysed with the intention to publish in a scientific journal. As this is in the course of completion it has not yet been submitted for journal publication and subsequent peer review.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. We recognise that there is some public interest in release as part of open, transparent and accountable government and this will be met by our planned publication by the end of 2025 as specified in the contract released to you as item 1. However, this is outweighed by the public interest in ensuring that incomplete information which is still in being worked on is not disclosed when it might it has not been through the peer review process and therefore may misinform the public. In addition to this if a draft version were to be released at this stage, without any copyright protection, this could substantially prejudice Scottish Government intentions as if the information was already in the public domain it could be rejected for publication by the relevant journal.

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.

EIR 202400446455 - Information released

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