FOI/202100226663 · FOI/EIR · unclear
Scientific testing and impact of Acoustic Deterrent Devices (ADDs): EIR release
Information requested
Please provide information on scientific testing and the impacts of Acoustic Deterrent Devices (ADDs) since 1 January 2020. Please include emails, letters, data, reports, scientific studies, assessment and any other information from manufacturers of ADDs (e.g. OTAQ, Ace Aquatec & GenusWave), salmon farming representatives (e.g. SSPO, Mowi, Scottish Sea Farms and the Scottish Salmon Company), government agencies (e.g. JNCC) and scientists (e.g. SAMS). Please also include information on '2nd Generation' ADDs since 1 January 2020. Please include any correspondence with NOAA, the EU and other government agencies on ADDs including compliance with the US MMPA since 1 January 2020.
Response
Attached is some of the information requested. Please note that the Scottish Government is required to provide all the information we have in scope that does not have an exception applied, and in this case this includes documents that have since been updated. Where this is the case, I have noted that the information is not up-to-date and provided a link to where the most recent versions can be found online. Due to limits on attachment sizes, I will follow this response up with an additional email with a further document. Some of the information you have requested is available online, and I have provided URLs within these documents where applicable. Under regulation 6(1)(b) of the EIRs, we do not have to give you information which is already publicly available and easily accessible to you in another form or format. An exception under regulation 11(2) of the EIRs (personal information) applies to some of the information requested because it is personal data of a third party and disclosing it would contravene the data protection principles in Article 5(1) of the General Data Protection Regulation and in section 34(1) of the Data Protection Act 2018. This exception is not subject to the 'public interest test', so we are not required to consider if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exception. About FOI The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at http://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.
Detected exemption language
An exception under regulation 11(2) of the EIRs (personal information) applies to some of the information requested because it is personal data of a third party and disclosing it would contravene the data protection principles in Article 5(1) of the General Data Protection Regulation and in section 34(1) of the Data Protection Act 2018.