Seòmar agus comataidhean

I have a great interest in the welfare of wild Scottish salmon. Although you have no locus in relation to the health of wild salmon, as you said to my colleague Ariane Burgess, you have responsibility for ensuring compliance with the reporting requirements for fish farm escapes. I accept that there is a complex picture in relation to why wild salmon populations are decreasing. Is the number of fish farm escapes being recorded accurately? Is there a need to strengthen the current fines and sanctions, or are they appropriate? I suppose that that was too many questions to ask at once.

Thank you, convener—I will answer to anything, really. Good morning, Charles.

Last week, the committee heard from Professor Sam Martin that mortality normally starts to drop off in the winter time, when we have colder waters and colder weather. However, more recently we have seen warmer winters, which has caused more significant issues in relation to gill health, causing a higher level of mortality. The REC Committee had already recognised the serious challenges presented by poor gill health and disease, particularly in the context of rising sea temperatures. On the basis of on your surveillance work, are you able to say whether the prevalence of diseases has increased or decreased in recent years with the warmer weather?

The thrust of my question is about the sanctions regime that you are responsible for in relation to the number of escapees and how escapes are reported. Is the regime strong enough?

Do you feel that the data is being collected in the way it needs to be collected so that the industry can start to address the issues, obviously with input from the Scottish Government? Do you think that we have the data that we need to see how climate change is affecting the sea temperatures and impacting the aquaculture sector?

Good morning. I am interested in the interaction between farmed salmon and wild salmon populations, and the potential risks around that.

The Rural Economy and Connectivity Committee recommended that a proportionate approach should be taken to minimise that risk. The panel members have already spoken a little bit this morning about the risk from sea lice, and I am thinking about introgression of genetic material as well. John Aitchison, has a precautionary approach been applied?

The committee is aware that WildFish and the Coastal Communities Network have submitted a complaint to Environmental Standards Scotland about SEPA’s sea lice regulatory framework, which has already been touched on. Would you like to add anything about why you have submitted that complaint and what your key concerns are?

I have another question. [Interruption.] Sorry—the dog walker has just brought my dog home. You can see it walking on the back of the couch.

Does anybody want to comment on the issue of escaped farmed salmon’s interaction with the wild salmon population? It is a multifaceted situation.

I understand the distinction that needs to be made, but following on from my colleague Emma Roddick’s point, we are taking evidence in this place on breeders who have 40 dogs in kennels in Scotland and are racing them in tracks in England. The welfare of those dogs is of paramount concern to this committee and indeed the petitioners. It comes back to the 2006 act and the balancing out of what is the acceptable level of harm that may come to those dogs and what are the welfare concerns. I do not know whether you have any points to come back on.

Some of the things that I was going to ask about have already been picked up on. Could the 2021 statutory animal licensing framework be extended to include greyhound racing and could there be a licensing approach that might address some of our concerns? With my former local authority hat on, I wonder what the implications would be for local government if that were to be extended. My plea, I guess, is that Government actively looks at that matter and at ensuring that any regulations that come forward are considered by the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities and licensing officers and that their concerns are taken into account. Is this one of the only ways in which we can have more regulation in this area, given the crossover impact of people in Scotland racing their dogs in England?

Good morning, minister. The Scottish Animal Welfare Commission concluded that

“a dog bred for racing in Scotland currently has poorer welfare than the average of other dogs in the population.”

I want to focus on that for a little while. The report refers to how they are bred, how they are reared, trained and raced, and indeed how they are retired if they get to that point, or how they might end their lives by being put down. It also talks about the issue of wastage within the industry. Does the Scottish Government agree with the overall conclusion that dogs that are bred for greyhound racing have a poorer standard of welfare throughout their lives?