Seòmar agus comataidhean

The consideration of planning permission for the siting of individual fish farms is a matter for local authorities who deal with each new fish farm site on its merits through the terrestrial planning process. As part of this process, advice is provided by statutory consultees (including Scottish Environment Protection Agency, Marine Scotland and Scottish Natural Heritage) and any representations from other interested parties and the general public are also considered. It is an offence under the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010 to harass a seal at a designated haul-out site.

The Animals and Wildlife (Penalties, Protections and Powers) (Scotland) Bill which was passed by the Scottish Parliament on 17 June 2020 includes amendments to section 110 of the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010 to remove the ability of Scottish Ministers to grant licences for the purpose of preventing serious damage to fisheries and fish farms and to protect the health and welfare of farmed fish. All other licensing provisions within section 110 remain unchanged.

Guidance on the use of the other provisions will be prepared to ensure compatibility with the US Marine Mammal Protection Act.

Under Section 129 of the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010, Scottish Ministers must review and publish a report on the operation of the seal licensing regime every five years. The next report due in September 2020 will consider all aspects of the operation of the seal licensing system and include consideration of the application of non-lethal management measures.

The Scottish Government currently has no plans to revoke or vary existing seal licences.

The following table provides a breakdown of the number of sites using ADDs, by company, including the device model and whether it is always on, for the period October 2018 to September 2019, as reported in the most recent seal licensing applications. Furthermore, Scottish Ministers are due to report to Parliament on the use of Acoustic Deterrent Devices (ADDs) by 01 March 2021, which will include a comprehensive assessment of the usage of ADDs.

Number of fish farms by company using ADDs by type, from October 2019 to September 2020 (as reported on seal licensing applications for the period 01 February 2020 to 31 January 2021)

The proposals to establish new environmental governance arrangements in the European Union (Continuity) (Scotland) Bill are relevant to the implementation of the Aarhus Convention. The proposals will allow people freely to bring matters of concern about the implementation of environmental law to the attention of the new, independent governance body, and they will receive information on how these matters are considered and, if relevant, resolved. The intention of the provisions is to replace, with domestic arrangements, the governance role carried out by the European Union institutions until the end of the transition period.

Work on expanding testing for the NHS has focussed on NHS laboratories which already have arrangements in place for receiving samples from patients, testing safely and ensuring that the data from test results is captured. However, we are working with two laboratories based in the veterinary science sector to increase capacity: Biobest, and the Moredun Research Unit. Contracting is underway with both organisations.

This will further increase our testing capacity, which currently is as follows:

Active maximum weekday NHS lab capacity: over 10,000 tests a day;

Weekend capacity: around 8,000 tests a day.

In addition to this we have further capacity through the UKG run Lighthouse Laboratories. Glasgow Lighthouse Lab has capacity to process approximately 20,000 tests a day and may process tests taken from across the UK.

If organisations would like to submit offers of support they should contact the National Laboratories Programme Team or Scottish Enterprise who will share the survey to allow an assessment to be undertaken.

The Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) is the competent authority in the UK responsible for the testing of food producing animals for residues of authorised veterinary medicines products and prohibited substances. National Residues Surveillance Programme is carried out by VMD in accordance with The Animal and Animal Products (Examination for Residues and Maximum Residue Limits) (England and Scotland) Regulations of 2015. Food Standards Scotland collect samples on behalf of VMD in approved game handling establishments.

The testing of red grouse for the presence of anthelmintic compounds authorised for use in medicated feed, such as flubendazole, has been carried out since 2016. VMD publish annual figures on gov.uk and advise that they have not tested any samples which exceeded the Maximum Residue Limits (MRLs).

The testing of gamebirds for the presence of metals such as lead is carried out by the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) as part of the National Residues Surveillance Programme in accordance with The Animal and Animal Products (Examination for Residues and Maximum Residue Limits) (England and Scotland) Regulations 2015. VMD publish annual figures on gov.uk. Since 2015 one sample exceeded the Maximum Residue Limit for lead, although this was not in Scotland.

Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) currently require all contractors to use non-lead ammunition for goose management when shooting over Ramsar sites, including land beyond that required by the Environmental Protection (Restrictions on Use of Lead Shot) (Scotland) Regulation 2004, and expect that by 2021 all shotgun ammunition purchased by SNH for use in goose management schemes will be non-lead based.

Where SNH issue licenses to shoot deer on public land the use of non-lead ammunition will be required to shoot all but roe deer by 2021. For roe deer, non-lead alternatives will be required by 2024.

In terms of deer shot by Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) staff or Deer Culling contractors, it is expected that lead ammunition will be phased out by the end of 2022. A small proportion (approx. 9%) of the deer shot on land managed by FLS is carried out under other arrangements such as leasing and in these circumstances non-lead ammunition will be required by 2023.

The Scottish Government has welcomed a statement from UK field sports bodies on the phasing out of lead shot alongside recommendations made by the independent Deer Working Group and the Grouse Moor Management Review Group. We will publish our formal response to both reports in due course.