Analysis of aquaculture administrative burdens and mandatory mortality reporting: EIR release

Information requested

“Analysis that has been carried out since 2009 in regard to the costs/burdens (financial or otherwise) of aquaculture administrative activities. In light of the RAIC inquiry’s recommendation for mandatory reporting of mortalities it is of particular interest to know if any analysis of the burden of that proposal has been undertaken.”

Response

I enclose a copy of some of the information you requested in Annex A which contains links to relevant published documentation related to aquaculture policy and legislation since 2009. Please note that the list provided is not exhaustive.

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 paper copies.

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 11(2) (Personal Information) of the EIRs applies to the information in Annex B. This exception applies 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.

In response to the second part of your request, no analysis was undertaken of the impact of the Committee’s suggested additional reporting requirements. The Government’s position is set out in the response to the Rural Affairs and Islands Committee, on page 6 of the letter here, and an excerpt is copied below for ease:

Response

More data are collected and published with respect to salmon farming in Scotland than salmon farming in other jurisdictions and in comparison to terrestrial farming sectors. Further data collections would represent significant burden for producers and regulators; we do not believe this burden would be balanced by a sufficiently high benefit given there is already so much data available, neither do we believe it is necessary to mandate any further collections through legislation given there is no evidence of non-compliance. Data already available are sufficient for transparency and regulatory purposes. Ministers are committed to supporting the New Deal for Business, which requires such justifications for additional business burdens.”

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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 202500497680 - Information Released - Annex

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