Various information pertaining to Scotland's salmon farming industry: EIR release

Information requested

1. For the years 2019-2024, please provide:

- The official Marine Scotland figures for the total economic value (GVA) of the Scottish salmon farming industry
- The total direct employment figures (FTE) in salmon farming, broken down by region if available
- The total production value of farmed salmon at farm gate prices
- Export values for Scottish farmed salmon based on official customs/trade data

2. Please provide:

- The specific methodology Marine Scotland uses to calculate these economic values
- The economic multipliers used to calculate indirect and induced economic effects
- The definition of what constitutes direct employment in the sector
- The data sources used for these calculations

3. Please share:

- Any economic impact assessments or reports conducted by Marine Scotland on the salmon farming industry's contribution to the Scottish economy from 2019-2023
- The methodologies used in these assessments
- Any caveats or limitations noted in these assessments

4. Please provide details of:

- Any government financial support provided to the salmon farming industry
- The criteria used to determine this support
- The total value of support provided annually from 2019-2023

Response

As the information you have requested is ‘environmental information’ for the purposes of the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (EIRs), we are required to deal with your request under those Regulations. We are applying the exemption at section 39(2) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA), so that we do not also have to deal with your request under FOISA.

This exemption 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 exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption, because there is no public interest in dealing with the same request under two different regimes. This is essentially a technical point and has no material effect on the outcome of your request.

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. If, however, you do not have internet access to obtain this information from the websites listed, then please contact me again and I will send you a paper copy.

Most of the information you have requested is available from the Scottish Government and the Scottish Parliament websites at the following locations:

1. For the years 2019-2024, please provide:

1.1. The official Marine Scotland figures for the total economic value (GVA) of the Scottish salmon farming industry: Total economic value (GVA) of the Scottish salmon farming industry in 2022 was provided at a Rural Affairs and Islands (RAI) Committee session on its follow-up inquiry into salmon farming in Scotland. This is included in the published official report Meeting of the Parliament: RAI/13/11/2024 | Scottish Parliament Website.

1.2. The total direct employment figures (FTE) in salmon farming, broken down by region if available: Not available, see additional information provided out with the EIRs below.

1.3. The total production value of farmed salmon at farm gate prices: The total production value of farmed salmon at farm gate prices for 2014 to 2023 is available in table 45 of the Scottish Fish Farm Production Survey 2023.

1.4 Export values for Scottish farmed salmon based on official customs/trade data: Not available, see additional information provided out with the EIRs below.

2. Please provide:

2.1. The specific methodology Marine Scotland uses to calculate these economic values: The methodology Marine Directorate uses to calculate the economic value (aGVA) of aquaculture is provided in the data and methodology section of Marine Economic Statistics 2022. The methodology used to calculate the 2022 Scottish Salmon economic value for the RAI Committee session (13 November 2024) was: Scottish aquaculture economic value (aGVA) *0.96. 0.96 was used because Salmon made up 96% of aquaculture production value in 2022. This proportion is published in the aquaculture section of Marine Economic Statistics 2022.

2.2. The economic multipliers used to calculate indirect and induced economic effects: The economic multipliers used to calculate indirect and induced economic effects are provided in the Estimation of the Wider Economic Impacts of the Aquaculture Sector in Scotland.

2.3. The definition of what constitutes direct employment in the sector: The definition of what constitutes direct employment in the sector is provided in the questionnaire documentation of the Scottish Fish Farm Production Survey 2023.

2.4. The data sources used for these calculations: The data sources used for these calculations are detailed in the three individual publications linked to above.

4. Please provide details of:

4.1. Any government financial support provided to the salmon farming industry: Details of Scottish Government grant awards to the salmon farming industry are published & are available here - www.gov.scot/policies/marine-and-fisheries-grants/grants-awarded/

4.2. The criteria used to determine this support: Published EMFF guidance covers criteria for applications - www.gov.scot/policies/marine-and-fisheries-grants/emff/. Marine Fund Scotland guidance, including criteria, is published here - www.gov.scot/publications/marine-fund-scotland-2024-25-generalguidance-notes/

4.3. The total value of support provided annually from 2019-2023: Details of Scottish Government grant awards to the salmon farming industry are already published & are available here - www.gov.scot/policies/marine-and-fisheries-grants/grants-awarded/

The Scottish Government does not have the information

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not have some of 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:

1.1. Total economic value (GVA) of the Scottish salmon farming industry was not calculated for 2019 to 2021. Total aquaculture economic value (aGVA) for 2023 and 2024 has not been calculated as the necessary input data has not been collected.

1.2. The total direct employment figures (FTE) in salmon farming has not been calculated. Information is collected and published as full and part time headcounts.

1.3. The total production value of farmed salmon at farm gate prices for 2024 has not been collected.

1.4. Export values for salmon based on official customs/trade data are only available at a UK level for Atlantic Salmon.

3. There were no economic impact assessments or reports conducted by Marine Scotland on the salmon farming industry's contribution to the Scottish economy from 2019-2023.

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 the information listed above, clearly we cannot provide information which we do not hold.

Additional information provided out with the EIRs

Under regulation 9 of the EIRs (our duty to provide advice and assistance) we would like to advise you that:

1.1. Although the total economic value (GVA) of the Scottish salmon farming industry is not calculated separately for 2019 to 2021. Overall aquaculture and finfish aGVA is available in table 25 of the supporting tables for Marine Economic Statistics 2022.

1.2. Although the total direct employment figures (FTE) in salmon farming are not available we do publish full and part time headcounts. Full and part time staff numbers by region for 2014 to 2023 are available in tables 21 and 35 of the Scottish Fish Farm Production Survey 2023.

1.4. Official customs or trade data is available through His Majesty’s Revenue & Customs (HMRC) at https://www.uktradeinfo.com/. The Scottish Government uses HMRC’s Regional Trade Statistics (RTS) and Overseas Trade Statistics (OTS) publications to monitor the trade of fish and shellfish. The OTS publication contains UK trade broken down to detailed commodities. This is used to monitor trends in the UK exports of Atlantic salmon. We know from published production data that the vast majority of Atlantic salmon is produced in Scotland, but we do not have any data on the proportion of Atlantic salmon exports which are farmed in Scotland, specifically. For the purposes of monitoring, we assume that any trends in the UK exports of Atlantic salmon are also true for the Scottish-farmed proportion of the commodity.

3. Although there were no economic impact assessments or reports conducted by Marine Scotland on the salmon farming industry's contribution to the Scottish economy from 2019-2023, information on the total production value of farmed salmon at farm gate prices for 2014 to 2023 is available in table 45 of the Scottish Fish Farm Production Survey 2023.

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.