Posts Tagged ‘Rural Economy and Connectivity (REC) Committee’
Angling activists to boycott farmed salmon
A LOBBY group representing sports fishermen and river owners said it will boycott Scottish farmed salmon in protest over industry growth. Farmed salmon, which is the UK’s biggest food export and supports around 12,000 jobs in Scotland, was the subject of two parliamentary inquiries in 2018. These were prompted by a petition drawn up by…
Read MoreSalmon farming finds favour in Holyrood
A POLL of Scottish MSPs has found that attitudes towards the Scottish salmon farming sector have improved in the past year. Some 73 per cent of the Rural Economy and Connectivity (REC) committee – which carried out an investigation into salmon farming in 2018 – now view the salmon farming sector favourably. And the number…
Read MoreClash expected over salmon farms’ future
THE Scottish Greens are still calling for a moratorium on new fish farms despite a lengthy parliamentary inquiry concluding that there was no evidence to support a ban on expansion. Ahead of a debate today in Holyrood, where MSPs will discuss the findings of the Rural Economy and Connectivity (REC) committee, Green MSP John Finnie…
Read MoreDawnfresh plans four new farms, 36 jobs
SCOTTISH trout farmer Dawnfresh is to expand its operations, with plans for four new offshore farm sites, creating an extra 36 jobs in the west of Scotland. The company, which is the UK’s largest producer of farmed trout and already employs more than 500 people, is to invest £16 million in growing its farming business.…
Read MoreMarine Harvest welcomes ‘guide to growth’
SCOTLAND’S biggest salmon farmer said recommendations by MSPs on the future of the sector will help guide responsible growth to satisfy demand for its products. The Scottish parliament’s Rural Economy and Connectivity (REC) committee report on salmon farming released 65 recommendations in its report, published today, covering regulation, environmental impacts, fish health and expansion. Marine…
Read MoreREC report: a charter for growth?
URGENT action is needed to improve the regulation of the Scottish salmon farming industry and to address fish health and environmental challenges, the long awaited Scottish parliamentary report into the sector has found. But the Rural Economy and Connectivity (REC) committee, which launched its inquiry into salmon farming in March, steps back from demanding a…
Read MoreSEPA plans tighter controls but bigger farms
SCOTTISH fish farms will be able to expand, with larger farms in ‘sustainable locations’, but will be subject to tighter environmental controls, under proposals for a revised regulatory regime published today by SEPA. The Scottish Environment Protection Agency’s 16-month investigation into salmon farms concludes that medicines, particularly emamectin benzoate used in the control of sea…
Read MoreAll change on climate committee
THE convener of a Holyrood committee that produced a critical report on the salmon farming sector earlier this year has been replaced. Graeme Dey (SNP), who oversaw proceedings by the Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform (ECCLR) committee during the first salmon inquiry of the year, has handed over to Gillian Martin, also a Scottish…
Read MoreMSPs ‘to demand tougher salmon farm rules’
THE Holyrood inquiry into the future of salmon farming in Scotland will demand extensive changes to how the industry is regulated, according to a report in the Sunday Post yesterday. Quoting \’a source close to the [Rural Economy and Connectivity] committee\’, which conducted the probe, the Post reported that MSPs are concerned about the industry’s…
Read MoreSalmon sector in dark over Holyrood probe
THE salmon farming industry in Scotland continues to await the outcome of a parliamentary report into its future, following three sessions of a Holyrood committee that have been conducted in private. The Rural Economy and Connectivity (REC) committee, which began its inquiry into the salmon sector in March this year, has met every Wednesday morning…
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