Payments and support to Scotland's salmon farming industry: EIR release

Information requested

The following information regarding payments and support to Scotland's salmon farming industry:

1. For the period 2019-2024, please provide:
- A detailed breakdown of all financial support, grants, and payments made to salmon farming companies
- The total value of payments made under each support scheme or program
- The names of recipient companies where this information can be disclosed
- The criteria used to award these payments

2. Specifically, please provide details of:
- Any payments made under the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) or its successor funds
- Any COVID-19 related support payments to salmon farming businesses
- Any other rural support payments made to salmon farming operations
- Any emergency payments or special support measures

3. Please provide information about:
- The conditions attached to these payments
- Any monitoring or reporting requirements for payment recipients
- Any assessments of the economic benefits derived from these payments
- Any cases where payments were withdrawn or companies required to repay support

4. Please share:
- Any evaluations or reports on the effectiveness of financial support to the salmon farming sector
- The methodology used to assess applications for support
- Any changes to support criteria or payment schemes during this period

If any of this information is already publicly available, please direct me to where I can find it.

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 inapplying  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.

Response to your request

I enclose a copy of most of the information you requested in the format you asked for.

Some of the information you have requested is available online, I have added links to the relevant information in the answers below. 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 website(s) listed, then please contact me again and I will send you a paper copy.

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

- A detailed breakdown of all financial support, grants, and payments made to salmon farming companies
A. Details of Scottish Government grant awards are available at www.gov.scot/policies/marine-andfisheries-grants/grants-awarded/
See attached Annex A for details of payments.
- The total value of payments made under each support scheme or program
See attached Annex A for details of payments.
- The names of recipient companies where this information can be disclosed
A. Details of Scottish Government grant awards are available at www.gov.scot/policies/marine-andfisheries-grants/grants-awarded/
- The criteria used to award these payments
A. European Maritime & Fisheries Fund (EMFF) guidance, including criteria, is published here -
www.gov.scot/policies/marine-and-fisheries-grants/emff/
Marine Fund Scotland (MFS) guidance, including criteria, is published here -
www.gov.scot/publications/marine-fund-scotland-2024-25-general-guidance-notes/

2. Specifically, please provide details of:

- Any payments made under the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) or its successor funds
A. Details of Scottish Government grant awards are available at xwww.gov.scot/publications/marine-fund-scotland-2024-25-general-guidance-notes/
See attached Annex A for details of payments.
- Any COVID-19 related support payments to salmon farming businesses
None.
- Any other rural support payments made to salmon farming operations
None.
- Any emergency payments or special support measures
None.

3. Please provide information about:

- The conditions attached to these payments
Please see the attached Annex B which details the conditions attached to awards & payments.
- Any monitoring or reporting requirements for payment recipients
Please see the attached Annex B which details the monitoring & reporting requirements.
- Any assessments of the economic benefits derived from these payments
EMFF evaluation report for the UK as a whole published in 2020: (PDF) Evaluation of the implementation and early impact of the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) in the UK.
- Any cases where payments were withdrawn or companies required to repay support
Please see Annex A which lists withdrawn applications. There were no repayments of EMFF or MFS grant by salmon farming companies.

4. Please share:

- Any evaluations or reports on the effectiveness of financial support to the salmon farming sector
An EMFF evaluation report for the UK as a whole published was in 2020: (PDF) Evaluation of the implementation and early impact of the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) in the UK.
There were no evaluations or reports on the effectiveness of financial support to the salmon farming sector conducted by Marine Scotland from 2019-2024.
- The methodology used to assess applications for support
There were no evaluations or reports on the effectiveness of financial support to the salmon farming sector conducted by Marine Scotland from 2019-2024.
- Any changes to support criteria or payment schemes during this period
The last round of awards to the aquaculture industry through European Maritime & Fisheries Fund (EMFF) was in May 2020. The EMFF was replaced by the Marine Fund Scotland (MFS) which opened in April 2021 and continues to operate on a yearly basis.

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 202500450923 - Information Released - Annex A

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PDF

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13.2 kB

EIR 202500450923 - Information Released - Annex B

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PDF

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3.4 MB