FOI/202000078475 · FOI/EIR · partially withheld
Information related to salmon disease prevention: EIR release
Information requested
1) What steps are salmon farm operators and the Scottish Salmon Producers Organisation taking to ensure that salmon which have died prematurely from diseases, viruses, lice infestation, flaying damage etc are not entering the human food chain?
2) In cases where outbreaks occur, what percentage of the harvested fish are analysed for infectious diseases and viruses, before entering the human food chain?
3) The Scottish Government acknowledge the decline in wild Scottish salmon on the west coast of Scotland where salmon farms are operating. What monitoring methods and precautions are in place by Marine Scotland, salmon farm operators and the Scottish Salmon Producers Organisation to ensure that infectious salmon diseases and viruses are not being transmitted to wild fish?
Response
The information reauested is attached.
As the information you have requested is 'environmental information' for the purposes of the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (EIRs), we are required to deal with your request under those Regulations. We are applying the exemption at section 39(2) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA), so that we do not also have to deal with your request under FOISA.
This exemption is subject to the 'public interest test'. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption, because there is no public interest in dealing with the same request under two different regimes. This is essentially a technical point and has no material effect on the outcome of your request.
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
We are applying the exemption at section 39(2) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA), so that we do not also have to deal with your request under FOISA. This exemption is subject to the 'public interest test'. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption, because there is no public interest in dealing with the same request under two different regimes.