Scottish salmon farmer Loch Duart has agreed to a program for the monitoring and auditing of its weekly sea lice count activities and the resulting data with the West Sutherland Fisheries Trust (WSFT).
Currently, sea lice levels on Scottish salmon farms, including those operated by Loch Duart, have been published on a voluntary basis through the Scottish Salmon Producers Organisation (SSPO) This has been the case since 2013, with details on a site-by-site basis being available since 2018. At the end of March 2021, when the Fish Farming Business (Reporting)(Scotland) Order 2020 came into effect, it became a statutory requirement for farmers to report lice counts to Marine Scotland on a weekly basis.
But according to Loch Duart, and despite the “ever-increasing level of transparency on data and long-established industry routines,” there have been criticisms that the counting of sea lice by farmers themselves lacks independence. Some critics claim that the reported data is not wholly reliable, Loch Duart said.
“The new auditing provided by WSFT is a further commitment from Loch Duart, which underlines their belief in the transparency of health-check monitoring and the importance of the reliability of sea lice data submitted to Marine Scotland,” it said.
Sutherland, Scotland-based Loch Duart said while the trust will receive funding for its work, it is independent of those for whom it provides services.
“This independent audit fits Loch Duart’s policy on stewardship of the environment and transparency to local stakeholders,” Loch Duart Managing Director Mark Warrington said. “The initiative is a continuation of our support for all bodies involved in caring for the local environment.”
WSFT Senior Biologist Shona Marshall said that being able to observe routine sea-lice counting on a regular basis on farm sites will allow the trust to comment objectively on the quality of the lice data that is being submitted.
“It will also help us to better understand what is happening in our sea lochs and what the level of potential lice impacts on wild fish might be,” she said.
Through the program, trust biologists will visit four different Loch Duart farm sites each month to observe the routine of weekly sea lice counts. They will also monitor the procedures being followed and the recording of the results, and review the data from all sites to establish consistency with the findings.
Loch Duart will be provided with a monthly report on these site visits and findings, which will be published on both the Loch Duart and the WSFT websites.
WSFT was established in 1996 to monitor and protect wild fish stocks in the area. Loch Duart also partnered with WSFT on a sea trout tracking project in Loch Laxford in 2018.
Photo courtes of Loch Duart
