Could I take this opportunity to request that you urge your membership to refrain from using or considering using processing wastes derived from farmed Atlantic salmon (such as heads, frames, offals) as bait for creels, in the interests of bio-security with respect to minimising the risks of spreading diseases of this species to other farmed and wild stocks.
Salmon farmers employ rigorous protocols in this regard to make every effort to protect their, and local wild fishery stocks, from infection by pathogens, through controls on movements of live fish between biologically defined areas, disinfection regimes for equipment and personnel moving between such areas, and the proper disposal of waste material derived from both farming and processing activities. The disposal of fish waste by any processor, through providing such waste as creel bait, is highly irresponsible, and very likely to be an offence under the Animal By-Products (Scotland) Regulations 2003.
This activity has particularly serious implications if the waste material has originated from outside the UK, as many secondary processors do import farmed salmon from Norway, where diseases such as ISA are present. The implications for a Scottish salmon farmer having the ISA virus detected in his stocks, whether the actual clinical disease is apparent or not, is that the entire stock would have to be culled out without any compensation.
Your assistance and the co-operation of your membership in this matter would be much appreciated.
With kind regards.
Yours faithfully,
Alex Adrian
Technical Manager