A FOI reply from APHA dated 20 November 2020 admitted that "APHA have carried out no inspections" of salmon farms since 1 May 2020:
Download the letter as a PDF online here
Last month (4 November 2020), Scottish Salmon Watch filed a FOI request for information relating to the inspection of salmon farms since 1 May 2020:
From: Don Staniford <salmonfarmingkills@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, Nov 4, 2020 at 10:38 AM
Subject: FOI re. inspections of salmon farms since 1 May 2020
To: SM-APHA-Enquiries APHA <enquiries@apha.gov.uk>
Please provide information relating to the inspection of salmon farms since 1 May 2020.
Please include inspection reports, emails, letters, photos, videos, assessments and any other information relating to the inspection of salmon farms since 1 May 2020.
This FOI request would certainly capture information in relation to Kames Fish Farming's Loch Tralaig salmon farm.
Please consider this a FOI request under the relevant FOI and Environmental Information regulations.
Please provide the information electronically.
Please provide a receipt.
Thanks,
Don Staniford
Director, Scottish Salmon Watch
Fish Farming Expert
reported (27 May 2020) that the RSPCA suspended in-person assessments of salmon farms on 23 March with contactless assessments available by mutual agreement on Monday (1 June):
So instead of on-farm inspections (for which the RSPCA rake in over £500,000 per year for certifying ca. 60% of salmon farming in Scotland as 'welfare friendly') RSPCA auditors who include former Mowi manager Ian Michie conduct inspections via WhatsApp, Google Meet and Google Hangout.
Scottish Salmon Watch reported earlier this week (27 May 2020) on an inspection carried out by the Scottish Government's Fish Health Inspectorate at RSPCA Assured Mowi in Loch Greshornish on 10 March before the Coronavirus crisis prompted a more relaxed regime:
Read more via "RSPCA Suspend Salmon Farm Inspections"
Scottish Salmon Watch reported in September 2020:
The Ferret reported (24 September 2020):
Scottish Salmon Watch today (2 December 2020) requested APHA to review their FOI reply dated 20 November 2020:
From: Don Staniford <salmonfarmingkills@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, Dec 2, 2020 at 10:23 AM
Subject: Re: FOI re. inspections of salmon farms since 1 May 2020
To: SM-APHA-Enquiries APHA <enquiries@apha.gov.uk>
Could you please double check your records?
Specifically in relation to the FOI request which asks for "information relating to the inspection of salmon farms since 1 May 2020" which we interpret more widely than APHA.
This in our view would include any correspondence on inspections of salmon farms even if none took place. For example, there would presumably be email correspondence with the Scottish Government and other parties in relation to welfare abuse allegations at Loch Tralaig.
Where is the information on Loch Tralaig and APHA's "joint inspection" with FHI?
Please consider this a formal request for a review or deal with more quickly by disclosing the information requested on 4 November 2020.
Thanks,
Don
And Scottish Salmon Watch filed a FOI request with the Scottish Government:
From: Don Staniford <salmonfarmingkills@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, Dec 2, 2020 at 10:33 AM
Subject: FOI re. welfare abuse investigation of Kames in Loch Tralaig
To: <ceu@scotland.gsi.gov.uk>
Please provide information relating to allegations of welfare abuse by Kames in Loch Tralaig since 1 July 2020.
Please include inspection reports, emails, letters, photos, videos, assessments, discussions with Kames, APHA, RSPCA and other agencies and any other information relating to Kames in Loch Tralaig since 1 July 2020.
Hence this FOI request.
Please consider this a FOI request under the relevant FOI and Environmental Information regulations.
Please provide the information electronically.
Please provide a receipt.
Thanks,
Don Staniford
Director, Scottish Salmon Watch
Read more via:
The Scottish Government provided some information on 8 December 2020:
From:
Don Staniford <salmonfarmingkills@gmail.com>Date: Wed, Dec 9, 2020 at 9:33 AM
Subject: Fwd: FOI re. inspections of salmon farms since 1 May 2020
To: SM-APHA-Enquiries APHA <enquiries@apha.gov.uk>
Cc: <APHA.Scotland@apha.gsi.gov.uk>
Further to Scottish Salmon Watch's formal request for a review dated 2 December 2020 (see enclosed below), please find corroborative evidence that APHA did in fact inspect Kames's Loch Tralaig salmon farm in September 2020. Here's information sourced from a FOI disclosure yesterday (8 December 2020) from the Scottish Government:
Please see the next email for full FOI disclosure.
This begs the question: why did APHA lie when it stated on 20 November 2020 that it had "carried out no inspections" of salmon farms since 1 May 2020?
Following APHA's reply to this review, Scottish Salmon Watch will be filing an official complaint.
Thanks,
Don
From: Don Staniford <salmonfarmingkills@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, Dec 9, 2020 at 9:57 AM
Subject: FOI re. mortalities & chemical use at freshwater salmon farms since 1 January 2019
To: AccesstoInformation <foi@sepa.org.uk>
Please provide information on mortalities and chemical use at freshwater salmon farms (including hatcheries) since 1 January 2019.
Please note a FOI reply yesterday (8 December 2020) from the Scottish Government which included:
The FOI disclosure yesterday (8 December 2020) by the Scottish Government implies that SEPA receives mortality data (and perhaps chemical use data) in exactly the same way as marine salmon farms but does not publish it via Scotland's Aquaculture.
Please therefore provide the Excel spreadsheets for ALL freshwater salmon farms with data on mortalities and chemical use since 1 January 2019.
Please also provide any email correspondence and letters from Kames detailing mortalities at freshwater salmon farms including Loch Tralaig (this aspect of the FOI may be already subject to a FOI).
Please deal with this FOI via the relevant FOI and Environmental Information Regulations.
Please provide a receipt.
Please provide the information electronically.
Thanks,
Don Staniford
Director, Scottish Salmon Watch
From: Don Staniford <salmonfarmingkills@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, Dec 9, 2020 at 11:01 AM
Subject: Fwd: Your recent correspondence with Scottish Government and partner agencies - 202000109111
To: <Neil.Purvis@gov.scot>
Neil,
Your letter dated 8 December 2020 includes:
Could you please provide details of "fish farm site and record inspections undertaken at Loch Tralaig"?
Presumably, the Scottish Government has other information which Scottish Salmon Watch requests access to.
Please consider this a formal FOI request or deal with informally.
Thanks,
Don
From: <Neil.Purvis@gov.scot>
Date: Mon, Dec 14, 2020 at 4:17 PM
Subject: RE: Your recent correspondence with Scottish Government and partner agencies - 202000109111
To: <salmonfarmingkills@gmail.com>
Dear Don
In response to your query, I am replying in general terms and not specifically just in relation to Kames, please note the following:
FHI communications with the aquaculture industry, particularly in relation to the registration and authorisation of fish and shellfish businesses, emphasise the industry’s legal requirements related to record keeping. We have an expectation that all aquaculture production businesses will follow these requirements. During a site inspection, stock numbers are confirmed through communication with site staff, mortality records are inspected to the date of the previous inspection or the date of stock input, and consideration is given to the records of stock movements on and off site (inclusive of those for both live and dead animals). Where necessary, information can be compared and considered in relation to previous FHI cases. This approach gives an overall impression of the accuracy in terms of present stock levels, with consideration to the factors which may affect this, mortality, movements, harvests, escapes etc. Record checks help provide the evidence to support this. Where any anomaly or query results, further discussions are undertaken with site staff to resolve this. If questions still remain then other information sources can be considered such as reported mortality levels to the SSPO (where undertaken) or information within Scotland’s Aquaculture website as well as stock movement records relating to supply and destination sites. Where there is any indication of inaccurate reporting or recording of information this will be investigated further and enforcement action can be taken in accordance with the appropriate aquatic animal health regulations.
Regards,
Neil
Neil Purvis
Marine Scotland – Science
Scottish Government | Marine Laboratory, PO Box 101| 375, Victoria Road | Aberdeen AB11 9DB
Tel: +44 (0)131 244 3287
S/B: +44 (0)131 244 2500
Mob:+44 (0)777 5818 281
Fax: +44 (0)1224 295620
e: neil.purvis@gov.scot
w: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/marinescotland