Correspondence regarding Genesis II: EIR release

Information requested

All correspondence to and from your staff regarding the "Genesis II" vessel from May 1st to the date at which you process this request. Please provide emails as .eml files including all attachments in their original format. There may some overlap between this request and previous requests given reference numbers 202500466861 and 202500466861. Please include all responsive documents in response to this request, regardless of duplication.

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 into 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 twodifferent regimes. This is essentially a technical point and has no material effect on the outcome of your request.

Response to your request

In response to your request, I enclose a copy of the information you requested, including correspondence and attachments, covering the period between 1st May 2025 and 20th May 2025. However due to limitations within our operating systems, we can only provide the email data in PDF format rather than the requested .eml format.

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.

An exception under regulation 10(5)(e) of the EIRs (substantial prejudice to confidentiality of commercial information) applies to some of the information you have requested. This exception applies because disclosure of this particular information would, or would be likely to, prejudice substantially the confidentiality of commercial information provided by the Gensis II A100 Fishing Vessel and thus cause substantial harm to their commercial interests. Disclosing this information would be likely to give competitors an advantage in knowing location and catch data. Which could substantially prejudice the Genesis II A100 ability to continue successful operations and so could significantly harm their commercial business.

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 a public interest in disclosing information as part of open and transparent government. However, there is a greater public interest in protecting the commercial interests of companies for which disclosure of information could significantly harm their commercial interests.

An exception under regulation 10(4)(e) of the EIRs (internal communications) applies to some the information you have requested because it is internal communication between detecting units and enforcement officials about an incomplete enforcement document.

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 to inform public debate. However, there is a greater public interest in high quality policy and decision-making, and in the properly considered implementation and development of policies and decisions. This means that Ministers and officials need to be able to consider all available options and to debate those rigorously, to fully understand their possible implications. Their candour in doing so will be affected by their assessment of whether the discussions on enforcement actions will be disclosed in the near future, when it may undermine or constrain the Government’s view on that while it is still under discussion and development. The completed enforcement document has been provided as DOC 22. 

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 202500467382 - Information Released - Annex

File type

PDF

File size

8.8 MB