Sea lice related monitoring schemes: letter to local authority aquaculture planners

To: Local authority aquaculture planners
From: Scottish Government

Dear Colleagues

Local Authority Environmental Management Plan Sea Lice-Related Monitoring Schemes  

We are writing to provide advice in relation to sea lice-related monitoring activity delivered through local authority Environmental Management Plan (EMP) conditions.  

Improving Scotland’s regulatory and policy framework to manage the potential interaction between sea lice from fish farms and wild fish has been a priority issue for the fish farming sector, wild fisheries and conservation sectors, the Scottish Government, Scotland’s local authorities and regulators, and many other stakeholders across Scotland. 

Arrangements have been considered in detail in recent years, including by Scottish Parliamentary Committees. In January 2019, in response to inquiries by the Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform and Rural Economy and Connectively Committees, the Scottish Government committed to review, develop, and implement evidence-based policy, to improve the management of sea lice and potential interactions with wild fish. 

Our response recognised the challenge in evaluating risks to wild fish and potential cumulative impacts, whereby a number of factors need to be taken into account, including the location of fish farms, marine conditions, the presence of sea lice and number of farmed fish, the biology of sea lice and the timing and likely presence of wild fish, including their susceptibility to potential impacts from sea lice. 

To deliver immediate improvements, in 2019 the Scottish Government adopted an interim measure to advise local authorities to consider the use of EMPs as a condition of planning consent where there was a potential for sea lice interactions between wild and farmed fish. Management of sea lice and their interactions under EMPs allowed the introduction of monitoring schemes which at a minimum would be able to report on the level of lice released into the environment; identify the likely area(s) of sea lice dispersal from the farm; detail how and what monitoring would be collected to assess potential interactions with wild fish; and detail how monitoring information would feed back into management practices. 

The Scottish Government also advised local authorities to build review mechanisms into EMP-related planning conditions to ensure EMPs remained fit for purpose and while new approaches were considered. 

Consideration of a future interactions approach was led by a Salmon Interactions Working Group (SIWG), supported by a Technical Advisory Group. The SIWG explored existing evidence and the actions required to monitor and mitigate potential impacts of farmed salmon and trout on wild salmonids, including through EMPs. The SIWG produced recommendations on a new interactions approach, including for planning advice and environmental monitoring and the potential use of ‘adaptive management’ techniques, and the management of risk. The SIWG and Technical Working Groups brought farming, fisheries and regulators together and reported in April 2020. 

In October 2021 the Scottish Government’s response to the SIWG identified that SEPA would become the lead body responsible for regulating sea lice and wild and farmed fish interactions. To meet this commitment SEPA would take forward the development of an adaptive spatially-based risk assessment framework in line with the SIWG’s recommendations for robust conditions, to safeguard wild salmonids delivered through licence, rather than through planning consent. 

New EMPs sea lice no longer advised by Scottish Government Marine Directorate  

Following extensive consultation [1], [2], SEPA commenced the implementation of a new sea lice risk assessment framework to protect wild salmon populations from 1 February 2024, and wild sea trout populations in March 2025. 

The new framework introduces an adaptative, risk-based decision-making framework which provides environmental risk information at the start of the development process, and which utilises best available evidence to support consenting decisions. The framework also applies sea lice reporting conditions and where appropriate, limits to existing fish farms, informed by modelling-predicted environmental capacity and potential impacts on wild fish. CAR licence variations (applied to existing fish farms) have been appealed to Scottish Government Department of Planning and Environmental Appeals. The appeals process is ongoing and due process is being followed to determine those appeals.  

SEPA also identified the intention for monitoring arrangements which support its framework to replace monitoring schemes delivered under local authority EMP conditions, commencing initial monitoring activity in 2025. As a result, Scottish Government is no longer advising local authorities to consider the use of EMPs for sea-lice related monitoring activity for new fish farm development and SEPA is responsible for providing advice to local authorities about sea lice interactions with wild salmonids as a statutory consultee to planning. 

Update on the requirement of fish farm operators to carry out sea lice-related environmental monitoring as described in existing Environmental Management Plans and SEPA’s monitoring programme for 2026 

For existing EMPs, Scottish Government committed to working with SEPA and others to plan a managed transition away from monitoring under existing EMPs by the end of 2025. SEPA is not currently in a position to invoice fish farm operators to recover the costs of, and so proceed with, the full-roll out of its national monitoring programme in 2026.  We therefore advise that, where sea lice-related environmental monitoring is established through existing EMPs, such monitoring should continue. We will continue to work with SEPA and planning authorities to manage the transition away from monitoring under EMPs as soon as possible and will update all interested parties by the Autumn of next year at the latest. 

This will be complemented by targeted environmental monitoring programmes co-ordinated by SEPA and co-funded by the Scottish Government. The programmes will assess sea lice burdens on wild sea trout at key locations and, where possible, will monitor juvenile populations in rivers for which there is limited baseline data available. SEPA will avoid duplication by conducting monitoring at locations not covered by existing monitoring under EMPs. The monitoring programmes will support SEPA’s assessment of fish farm development proposals when necessary and its regulation of farms, where appropriate. SEPA will continue to engage fish producers, wild fisheries, and local authorities, updating them on the scope of the monitoring programme scheduled for 2026. 

Marine Directorate officials are developing updated working arrangements guidance which sets out how regulators and statutory consultees work together to deliver the fish farm consenting system, given significant changes occurring since the last review of this document in 2010. If you have any questions on this please contact Nikki Milne, Aquaculture Development and Regulatory Review, at: nikki.milne@gov.scot. 

Yours faithfully, 

Iain Wallace
Director of Marine 

Fiona Simpson
Chief Planner

References

[1] Proposals for a risk-based framework for managing interaction between sea lice from marine finfish farm developments and wild Atlantic salmon in Scotland - Scottish Environment Protection Agency - Citizen Space (sepa.org.uk)

[2] Detailed proposals for a risk-based, spatial framework for managing interaction between sea lice from marine finfish farm developments and wild salmonids in Scotland - Scottish Environment Protection Agency - Citizen Space (sepa.org.uk)