SEPA's Sea Lice Regulatory Framework

Executive Summary

The Sea Lice Regulatory Framework (SLRF), implemented by SEPA, aims to manage the potential impact of sea lice from salmon farms on today’s wild Atlantic salmon and sea trout populations. The science and evidence used to justify and inform SEPA’s framework are areas of concern for the industry. Ministers requested CSA Marine to engage with the sector and report back on these concerns.

CSA Marine met with Salmon Scotland and SEPA to understand and then evaluate the industry's concerns. Eight categories of concern raised by the industry are identified, mapped to five actionable recommendations for Ministers to consider. The concerns span documented scientific clarity, model robustness, regulatory transparency, and adaptive management.

CSA Marine concludes, first and foremost, that the framework is scientifically defensible; implementation and documentation, however, require improvement. The industry's concerns are valid in several areas and merit Ministerial attention; in other areas the concerns are directly addressed in this report and its annexes.