Regulation of fish and shellfish farm deposits: island communities impact assessment screening

Step one – develop a clear understanding of your objectives

What are the objectives of the policy, strategy or service?

The objective of the proposal is to clarify the consenting process between 3-12 nautical miles and reduce duplication of regulation in line with the programme for government.

Under the current framework, responsibility for the regulation of fish farm environmental discharges differs between 0-3 nautical miles and 3-12 nautical miles.

Between 0-3 nautical miles, responsibility lies with the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA). SEPA previously regulated this area under The Water Environment (Controlled Activities) (Scotland) Regulations 2011. From November 2025 SEPAs regulatory powers, out to 3 nautical miles come from the new framework provided in The Environmental Authorisations (Scotland) Regulations 2018 (“EASR”) as amended by The Environmental Authorisations (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2025.

Between 3–12 nautical miles the regulation of fish farm environmental discharges currently falls under the marine licensing regime, administered by Marine Directorate - Licensing Operations Team (MD-LOT) on behalf of Scottish Ministers, as set out under The Marine (Scotland) Act 2010.

The objective of the amendments to The Marine Licensing (Exempted Activities) (Scottish Inshore Region) Order 2011 (The Exempted Activities Order) is to avoid duplication of regulation in relation to environmental discharges from fish farms and clarify the application of the existing exemption for the deposit of fish and shellfish farm equipment.

What are the intended impacts/ outcomes and how do these potentially differ across the islands?

It is considered there will be no differing impacts across islands or between island and the mainland, as the proposal is simply an administrative change of responsibility for the regulation, it does not alter the regulation that is already in place.