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I would be happy to furnish the committee with further information on the timescales and what future iterations of that work will look like.

The convener is absolutely right. We recognised that in our vision for sustainable aquaculture, which we published in July last year. Communities should be able to see benefits from hosting aquaculture and fish farms in their area. That can of course be enhanced and improved, and we set out the outcomes that we want to achieve in that vision.

There are opportunities for us to enhance the community engagement element through the work that we are taking forward through the consenting task group. That will provide real opportunities for progress.

Even if we did all that, it would not address the real causes of the mortalities.

I come back to the response that Jill Barber gave earlier on the consenting task group’s work and SEPA’s new framework. All the work that is being done in the meantime, and which has been done since the previous report, has all been critical, because it is about guiding fish farms to the areas that are most appropriate for them, where there are fewer of some of the challenges that we know exist in the environment.

Good morning to the committee members. I thank the committee for the opportunity to discuss the follow-up inquiry into salmon farming in Scotland.

The salmon farming industry is a hugely successful sector in Scotland and we support it, recognising the benefits that it delivers today and can deliver in the future. We know that the sector can be a truly sustainable success story only if economic growth goes hand in hand with positive outcomes for Scotland’s communities and natural environment. I am therefore pleased to discuss today the progress that has been made to address the challenges and opportunities that were identified in the “Salmon farming in Scotland” report.

Aquaculture is an important component of Scotland’s blue economy, with farmed salmon the UK’s leading food export. Our vision for sustainable aquaculture, which was published last year, sets out the Government’s ambitions for the sustainable development of the sector, operating within environmental limits, and recognising the considerable social and economic benefits that the sector delivers.

I am pleased with the significant progress that we have made on our aquaculture commitments since the response to the Rural Economy and Connectivity Committee report in 2018, despite the emergency response demands that resulted from the management of Covid and European Union exit.

We have a broad agenda on which we are generating momentum. We are prioritising action across key areas such as protection of the environment and biodiversity, consenting, community benefit, business, and animal health and welfare. If it is helpful, I would like to outline a few examples that demonstrate the breadth of the work that has been undertaken in that time.

In 2022, salmon farming production generated £324 million of gross value added, which is 7 per cent of the Scottish marine economy. It supports around 12,000 highly skilled and well-paid jobs across farming operations and supply chain businesses. The Scottish Government and its partners continue to work together to ensure that communities see the direct benefit of aquaculture. As the committee heard from Crown Estate Scotland, from 2017 to 2022, aquaculture generated in the region of £58 million in rents, with the net revenues from marine assets out to 12 nautical miles distributed to coastal local authorities for the purpose of community benefit.

Following the independent review of aquaculture regulation, we established the Scottish aquaculture council and the consenting task group to co-ordinate work towards a sustainable future for the sector. The consenting task group has delivered a new pre-application consenting framework that co-ordinates regulatory activity early in the development process. It is currently being piloted in the Shetland and Highland local authority areas. That work seeks to minimise delays by streamlining and removing unnecessary duplication without compromising environmental safeguards, while ensuring that there are effective and transparent mechanisms for community engagement.

As laid out in the programme for government, we will continue to work collaboratively to improve the fish farm consenting processes. A consultation is currently live on proposals to extend Scotland’s marine planning zones, which would enable development beyond three nautical miles. We remain committed to progress on spatial planning, including through the implementation of national planning framework 4 and the development of regional and national marine plans.

Significant progress has already been made to support the protection of the environment. That includes work on more than 50 actions, as described in our wild salmon strategy and implementation plan.

In February this year, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency commenced the implementation of a new sea lice risk assessment framework for wild salmon, and a new framework for protecting sea trout populations will start in March next year. The introduction of that framework marks a crucial milestone and highlights the progress that has been made since the recommendations of the previous parliamentary inquiries.

SEPA continues to roll out a new strengthened environmental regime to ensure the protection of the marine environment. The transfer of all farms on to the framework is due to be completed by the end of this year. Following a public consultation, we will introduce a new environmental quality standard for emamectin benzoate in June 2028 to ensure that the use of that medicine stays within the United Kingdom technical advisory group’s recommended limits to protect the environment.

As outlined in evidence to the committee, the sector is investing heavily to address fish health challenges, which are of course complex and changeable. We have made progress to introduce mortality and sea lice reporting, and we have lowered the sea lice intervention levels for farmed fish following the session 5 report’s recommendations. The farmed fish health framework continues to facilitate strategic approaches to support fish health and brings together a variety of different Scottish Government officials, fish health inspectors, sector regulators and our innovation partners. There has also been progress in relation to science and innovation, and we continue to invest in developing our science and evidence base.

On top of that, I asked the Scottish Science Advisory Council to consider the use and communication of science and aquaculture consenting, in response to issues raised in the independent review, which published its recommendations in 2022. I know that the committee is also aware that we published a new marine science and innovation strategy in January this year. A new chief scientific adviser for marine has been also appointed, which paves the way for further progress in relation to science and innovation.

I recognise that, as ever, there is always more work to do. However, with all of that, I hope that the committee will acknowledge and welcome the significant progress that has been made. I am happy to take any questions from the committee.

They are covered by the 2006 act.

Hazel, I do not know whether you want to add more.

It will be a challenge for the industry to adjust to that new standard, so, ultimately, the period enables that to happen.

We have to strike a balance between the reductions that some would expect to see and the fish health element. We have to make sure that the previous standard is phased out in a realistic way that will not adversely impact fish health—while, of course, recognising the time needed to adjust. That is how the timescale was developed.

We talked about the industry as a whole at the start of the session and went into great detail about the work that goes into an application, the licences that have to be received and the amount of modelling work that is undertaken to ensure that fish farms are operating within environmental limits. The fact that they have been granted their licence to operate means that they are very much operating on that basis.

Jill Barber will correct me if I am wrong, but I think that things have remained relatively consistent when we look at the overall mortality rates in the surveys that we have produced and at the survival targets over the past 20 years. I do not think that that detracts from the fact that we all want to tackle the serious issue of mortality as best we possibly can. As I have stated throughout my appearance before the committee this morning, it is not in anybody’s interests to see such high mortality levels.

I think that we are quite honest and transparent about where we are at, but I would disagree on some aspects. I think that we have to be optimistic about our ability to address these challenges. Equally, I do not think that we can be complacent and say that a 25 per cent rate of mortality is good, because it is not—we would want to see improvements in that respect. Industry would certainly want to see that situation improve—