Opinion: Time to turn words into action
Branded the “loveless” election because of voter apathy, this year’s Holyrood campaign still showed something encouraging.
Across the parties, there was broad recognition of the Scottish salmon sector’s importance to our economy, exports and rural resilience.
As candidates hit the doorsteps and parties launched their policy platforms, there was a welcome focus on growth and on the role our sector plays.
Both the Scottish Conservatives and Scottish Labour set out pro-growth agendas, with a focus on planning reform and supporting business.
It was particularly heartening to see Labour explicitly cite Scottish salmon alongside whisky as a strategic economic asset and a prized product contributing to Scotland’s place as a premium food and drink destination.
The Scottish Liberal Democrats rightly recognised aquaculture as a crucial source of high-quality, well-paid jobs in fragile coastal communities.
The SNP continued its commitment to back aquaculture and processing as key to rural employment, while Reform UK pushed a strongly pro-growth tone.
Only the Scottish Greens remained a clear outlier, clinging to a restrictive approach that pushed for a moratorium on new farms and expansion, alongside proposals that could amount to an attempt to reintroduce the scrapped Highly Protected Marine Areas by the back door.
Pre-election, we made it clear that we need three core things from the new government. These are: efficient government; streamlined business regulation; and a commitment to thriving coastal communities.
Those priorities are not abstract. They reflect the day-to-day realities faced by businesses operating in remote and coastal areas where delays, uncertainty and rising costs are felt most acutely.
Encouraging language in manifestos is one thing. But as the campaign ends and newly elected MSPs take their seats, the focus must shift quickly from words to delivery.
Despite the broad manifesto support, there remains a concerning gap between general backing for our sector and the specific, practical reforms required to unlock its full potential.
Scotland still has four separate statutory consenting bodies for aquaculture, creating a protracted and complex process that places producers and supply chain businesses at an international competitive disadvantage.
Post-election, that must change with the creation of a one-stop shop for aquaculture consenting.
We also need a comprehensive review of Crown Estate Scotland charges. These regulatory costs only ever seem to go up, acting as a revenue tax by the back door.
Reducing unnecessary bureaucracy and delays will unlock private investment, protect existing jobs, create new employment opportunities, and help anchor strong populations and resilient economies in Scotland’s rural and coastal communities.
Streamlining our systems does not mean deregulation. As we have continually stressed, we support better regulation, not less. But we urgently need to see less government waste and far greater efficiency in how decisions are made.
Scotland must be seen to be open for business
There is also a wider point here about how Scotland positions itself economically. Governments across the world are exploring ways to reduce bureaucracy and improve competitiveness. New Zealand has a Ministry for Regulation, while the European Commission has pledged to cut corporate reporting requirements by 25%.
England and Wales have an independent Regulatory Policy Committee, which is a fact-checker and quality assurance body. Every government department must submit an assessment before a new regulation is allowed, 30% of which are knocked back. This committee saves more money than it costs and drives improvement and reform.
The new Scottish Government should be looking closely at these approaches and asking how it can deliver a more efficient, responsive system that supports investment rather than holding it back.
Scotland needs to be open for business, stimulating greater levels of private investment to lift economic growth and generate more jobs, wealth and tax revenues to support public services.
That ambition is made harder by an ever more complex tax system in Scotland compared with the rest of the UK. These costs make it increasingly difficult to compete with countries that have lower overheads and more business-friendly environments.
If we want to protect and grow this vital part of the economy, ministers must recognise these challenges and work to create a fairer, more competitive tax system.
With new free trade agreements, such as the UK-India trade deal, we have major market opportunities on the horizon.
But realising these opportunities depends on a domestic policy environment that supports competitiveness, growth and long-term investment.
The success of Scottish salmon must not be taken for granted. Other nations are moving quickly to expand aquaculture and capture market share. Scotland cannot assume its position at the top will endure without the right policy support.
The economic reality of what is at stake cannot be overstated. Scottish salmon is the UK’s biggest food export, with sales reaching £828m in 2025.
Our sector contributes almost £1bn annually to the Scottish economy. We support around 11,000 jobs, creating an economic footprint in every Scottish Parliament constituency.
In the past five years, the Scottish Parliament has done a lot of talking about the country’s salmon sector. What it needs to do now is take action to deliver what is urgently needed to allow the sector to build on its success.
Creating growth, securing more employment, delivering better wages, and anchoring rural and coastal population strength is what our businesses do. We asked those standing for the Scottish Parliament to enable us to do even more.
Now it is time for our newly elected parliamentarians to step up, strip away cumbersome red tape, and work with us to deliver on a simple, shared ambition of growing Scotland by growing salmon.
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