SEPA's Sea Lice Regulatory Framework

Background

1. Wild salmon numbers have been in decline across all regions of northern Europe over the last few decades. There is no scientific consensus as to the cause(s) for this decline. Declines are seen in regions with and without salmon farms. Into this state of decline entered the new SEPA Sea Lice Regulatory Framework (SLRF), designed to look not at the cause of past decline, but to focus on the potential pressure that present-day wild salmon stocks may experience from sea lice originating from salmon farms.

2. The industry met with senior Ministers to express their concerns in relation to the implementation of the SLRF. The Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Land Reform, and Islands (RALRI) asked the Chief Scientific Advisor Marine to consider the scientific underpinning of SEPA’s framework.

3. As part of the process, CSA Marine met with Salmon Scotland and representatives from the sector and listened to their concerns. CSA Marine and SEPA then met to clarify some relevant technical and factual details of the SLRF. Redacted notes of all meetings, agreed by parties present, are available.

4. The expectation of all parties is CSA Marine would report back to Cabinet Secretary RALRI, and Cabinet Secretary for Climate Action and Energy. That is the purpose of this report and its annexes.

5. As a result of SEPA’s implementation of the SLRF from February 2024, Notices of Variation (NoVs) were issued to farm operators, and the industry subsequently appealed against some of the conditions contained within NoVs.

Reporting structure

6. Reporting follows a three-tiered approach: A summary submission to The Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Land Reform, and Islands (RALRI) and The Cabinet Secretary for Climate Action and Energy; a full report (this document); and a set of annexes. The annexes provide detailed background to the SLRF^[1] and draw on the scientific evidence related to the areas of concern raised during the meeting with representatives from the sector.

7. Neither this report nor its annexes provide a comprehensive review of the SLRF underpinning science, that is found elsewhere ^[2], and reviewing the science is an ongoing process. This is a report on the salmon farming industry’s concerns and a response to those concerns. Some of the concerns raised (but not all) lead to the five recommendations.