Seòmar agus comataidhean

Okay—thanks, convener.

I have been a nurse for more than 30 years. I am interested in issues of conscientious objection. Is there enough clarity as to which staff and activities are covered by the conscientious objection provision in the bill?

I remind everybody that I am still a registered nurse. My background is in perioperative care.

Colin Poolman mentioned conscientious objection, so I will put this question to him to begin with. Is there enough clarity as to which staff and activities would be covered by the conscientious objection section in the bill, which comprises only two subsections? What are your thoughts on that?

As the convener mentioned, registered nurses are part of multidisciplinary teams. Carers and carers at home can be part of those teams, too. A patient might reach the point at which they wanted to start talking about ending their life. How should we amend the bill in order to protect other members of multidisciplinary teams?

Okay. Would that include pharmacy staff? I saw Fiona McIntyre nodding.

Would you prefer further provisions in the bill to protect professionals if the bill progresses and becomes an act?

Before I come to my question about conscientious objection, I ask Rami Okasha what he meant when he said that there is a definition in the bill that would open it up more widely. Is that the definition of terminal illness?

Good morning. I am interested in information about salmon mortality. The Rural Economy and Connectivity Committee’s report made recommendations—they are listed as 9 and 10 in the report—regarding the levels of mortality among farmed salmon. Since then, stakeholders have stated that the mortality rates have remained high, citing reports that 17.5 million fish died in 2022.

I know that measures are being taken to address things such as the handling of the fish, the need for a reduction in mortality and a reduction in the levels of stress. Can you provide an update on what is being done to address fish mortality? Are we heading in the right direction and reducing the numbers?

What are we learning from other countries that farm salmon, such as Canada, Chile and Norway, when we compare their rates of mortality and its causes with ours? Do they have jellyfish issues as well?

I am looking at Charles Allan. I want to understand whether the rates are acceptable. I assume that we want to see a reduction in the rates of farm salmon mortalities.

I have a final question. In the RECC report, microjellyfish werenae mentioned as a cause of mortality, but algae blooms were.

Charles Allan said that there are emerging causes of mortality that are different now from what they were decades ago. It is almost like we would be chasing our tail on that, but the Government needs to continue to work on it—to collaborate with researchers and scientists and the marine directorate, and to support any action, because it will be difficult to keep ahead of the challenges. That would be my ask: Government obviously recognises that collaboration and support will be required, so will that take place?

Is there a magic number for the amount of biomass in a pen? How many is too many salmon and how many is not enough? We know that they like to swim together, so is there a magic number? Has that been looked at?