· FOI/EIR · not held
Correspondence regarding chemical usage in salmon farming: EIR release
Information requested
Information requested on the use of chemicals via well boats including the 'Clean Treat' system since 1 January 2017. Please include data on the use of Azamethiphos, Deltamethrin, Hydrogen Peroxide and any other chemicals used via well boats. Please include correspondence with salmon farming and chemical companies (including Benchmark - the manufacturer of 'Clean Treat'), Government agencies such as SEPA and SNH and internal Scottish Government correspondence. Please include discussions regarding the 'Clean Treat' system in particular and the treatment, capture and disposal of chemicals used via well boats.
Response
As the information you have requested is 'environmental information' for the purposes of the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (EISRs), 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.
I enclose a copy of some of the information you requested.
While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide some of the information you have requested because exceptions under regulations 10(4)(a) (do not hold) and 11(2) (personal information) of the EISRs apply to that information. The reasons why these exceptions apply are explained in the attached.
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.