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02/09/2022

Letter to Scottish Ministers: Please Close the Border to Imports of Salmon Ova, Parr & Smolts!

 

 

 

 

Read a letter to Scottish Ministers sent today (9 February 2022) by Scamon Scotland - in full online here

 

Letter to Scottish Ministers ova ban & FOI re ISA in Iceland 9 Feb 2022

 

 

Scamon Scotland reported earlier today (9 February 2022):

 

 

 

Information disclosed by the Scottish Government via Freedom of Information (FOI-2022-00273889) on 7 February 2022 provides further documentary evidence of imports of salmon eggs (ova) from Iceland to Scotland for on-growing on salmon farms.  This health certificate details an import shipment of 650,000 ova in November 2021 from Benchmark Genetics Iceland (formerly called Stofnfiskur) to Landcatch's Ormsary Hatchery on behalf of Loch Duart in Sutherland: 

 

Iceland blog Feb 2022 #1 Iceland blog Feb 2022 #2

 

 

 

Scottish Salmon Watch revealed last month (10 January 2020) that ISA was reported at Landcatch's Ormsary Hatchery in Argyll during an inspection by the Scottish Government's Fish Health Inspectorate in November 2021:

 

ISA in Scottish Salmon PR & Backgrounder 10 January 2022 #1

ISA in Scottish Salmon PR & Backgrounder 10 January 2022 #2

ISA in Scottish Salmon PR & Backgrounder 10 January 2022 #3

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Argyllshire Advertiser reported (14 January 2022):

 

Argyll Advertiser ISA at Landcatch Jan 2022 #1

 

Argyll Advertiser ISA at Landcatch Jan 2022 #3

 

 

 

 

 

Read more via:

 

 

 

 

 

Appendix:

 

From: Don Staniford <[email protected]>
Date: Wed, Feb 9, 2022 at 6:12 PM
Subject: Letter to Scottish Ministers & FOI request re. imports, diseases & biosecurity
To: <[email protected]>, <[email protected]>
 

Please find attached a letter to Scottish Ministers - including a FOI request - by Scamon Scotland (available as a PDF online here). 

 

The letter includes:

 

Further to our letter dated 2 December 2021, Scamon Scotland (formerly called Scottish Salmon Watch) reiterates the call to ban imports of ova (salmon eggs), parr and smolts from Iceland, Norway, Ireland and any other countries due to unacceptable disease and genetic risks. 

 

The health and genetic integrity of ‘Scottish’ salmon is clearly being threatened by imports of ova, parr and smolts flooding into Scotland.  The Scottish Government’s failure to screen imports is the antithesis of the precautionary principle. 

 

 

Scamon Scotland asks the Scottish Government (please consider this a formal FOI request) to provide information since 1 January 2020 on:

 

- notifications by importers or consignees of ova, parr, smolts and any other salmon products to the Fish Health Inspectorate under the Trade in Animals and Related Products (Scotland) regulations 2012

 

-  refusals and any other correspondence in relation to cases where “the consignment fails to meet the health standards”

 

- authorizations to farm (under the 2009 Regulations, Aquaculture Production Businesses) “where it is considered that the operation of the business will not lead to an unacceptable risk of spreading disease” including the “specific conditions of operation” and “the requirement for the business to follow good bio-security practice”

 

- Biosecurity Measures Plans for salmon farms and hatcheries which may detail “disinfection of ova to reduce the risks from horizontal transmission of pathogens and disease” and “the initial isolation of new stocks brought on site as a precautionary disease control measure”

 

 

Secondly, as cited in the FOI reply from the Scottish Government dated 10 January 2022 could you please provide information since 1 January 2020 on “internal discussions” concerning disease risks in Iceland, Norway, Ireland and any other countries in relation to salmon farming. 

 

This would include emails, letters and any other correspondence with officials in Iceland, Norway, Ireland and any other countries in relation to information and assurances “over any risk posed to Scotland from this trade”. 

 

Please include any information confirming the location of the outbreak in Iceland, the actions taken in Iceland, the epidemiological separation of the positive site to those sites exporting aquatic animals, as well as confirmation of the disease free status of exporting sites.

 

Please include correspondence with Icelandic officials, EFTA and any other parties that “resulted in the conclusion that trade with appropriate certification could continue as it would not pose a significant risk to the introduction of ISAv into Scotland”. 

 

Please include any Cabinet Briefings on ISA in Iceland and any disease risks posed to Scotland. 

 

Please deal with request for information under the relevant FOI and Environmental Information regulations.

 

Please provide the information electronically.

 

Please provide a receipt for this FOI request.   

 

 

 

The attached letter is also available online via Letter to Scottish Ministers: Please Close the Border to Imports of Salmon Ova, Parr & Smolts!

 

 

Yours sincerely,

 

 

 

 

 

Don Staniford

 

Director, Scamon Scotland

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Posted at 01:08 PM |

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