Seòmar agus comataidhean

Certainly. Last week, we heard that sea lice numbers are reducing significantly in Scotland and that all farms are managing sea lice numbers well. Do you concur with that? Do you have any comment on the self-reported nature of that data and how non-reporting of that information might impact our understanding of what the overall picture is on sea lice numbers?

I want to pick up the issue of enforcement. You said that you have not taken full enforcement action in the past year. We have had assessments from WildFish Conservation that 1,391 counts of more than two sea lice per fish have been submitted since 2021. Can you give a fuller picture of why enforcement action, up to and including prosecution referrals, has not been taken?

Following on from that, I understand that we are talking about complex data, but it is important that other people are able to scrutinise the data and understand the situation. What is SEPA doing to improve data transparency to enable that shared understanding of the evidence?

The committee has also heard that tighter sea lice regulation might have a knock-on effect on fish health due to pressure being placed on fish farmers to apply more treatments to comply with lice thresholds. Are you working with veterinarians to monitor any potential unintended consequences of tighter sea lice regulation on fish health and welfare?

Will you be able to react quickly enough, and with sufficient urgency, once information on where action is needed is there?

It certainly helps. In terms of the remaining environmental impacts, what are the biggest challenges?

My question has been answered.

At the moment, based on the data that is available to you and the evidence that you have around the impact of sea lice more widely—on wild salmon—are you confident that the numbers of sea lice in Scotland are going down, or are you waiting for the data that you will collect?

What can farms do to mitigate the risk of fish escaping?

From your perspective, there is no problem with being able to identify any issues, should they arise, with any particular farm not managing its sea lice numbers as well as you would expect it to.