At last some good news on the emerging scandal surrounding the fish farm pesticide, emamectin, blamed for killing wildlife in sea lochs. Two weeks ago we called for MSPs to launch an investigation. Now Holyrood’s Rural Affairs and Connectivity Committee has announced that it is planning an inquiry early next year into the fish farming industry.
It has commissioned some research, and promised to work with the Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform Committee. This is to be warmly welcomed. There is much for MSPs to examine, including the Sunday Herald’s recent revelations about the extent of the pollution, the pressures brought to bear behind the scenes by the industry and the Scottish Government, and the questions around the role of emamectin’s manufacturer, the US drug company, Merck.
The way the fish farming industry operates can be seen from its latest intervention, which we report today. The Scottish Salmon Producers’ Organisation (SSPO) has publically lambasted the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) for proposing new controls on emamectin.
It looks like SSPO is again attempting to browbeat the government watchdog and Scottish ministers - even though Sepa’s interim controls have been weakened and don’t actually affect many fish farms. It’s almost as if the industry’s knee-jerk response to any new controls is to oppose them.
One critic accused SSPO of thinking it had a “divine right” to pollute. For all our sakes, we hope that isn’t so – and that MSPs will get to the bottom of the whole murky business.
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