FOI/19/00730 · FOI/EIR · partially withheld
Ushenish, South Uist marine fish farm development: EIR release
Information requested
Copies of all papers / responses to external enquiries / internal correspondence from Marine Scotland Science relating to the development of a marine fish farm at Ushenish, South Uist at or around National Grid Reference NGR:NF86023620, specifically in respect of the potential implications that such a development would have on established Disease Management Areas, to cover the period 1 January 2017 to 12 March 2019.
This was clarified on 7 April 2019 to exclude any correspondence or other information relating to Mowi.
Response
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.
Please find attached copies of the information requested.
Some information has been redacted from that supplied. This is because an exception under 11(2) (personal data) of the EIRs applies to that information. The reasons why that exception applies are explained in the Annex below:
ANNEX
REASONS FOR NOT SUPPLYING INFORMATION An exception applies
An exception under regulation 11(2) of the EIRs (personal information) applies to some of the information requested (the names and contact details of individuals) 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
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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. The reasons why that exception applies are explained in the Annex below: ANNEX REASONS FOR NOT SUPPLYING INFORMATION An exception applies An exception under regulation 11(2) of the EIRs (personal information) applies to some of the information requested (the names and contact details of individuals) 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.