Salmon farmers seek to speed up planning

A DRAFT report reviewing Scotland’s aquaculture consenting rules was due to land on the Environment Minister’s desk on March 4.

The Consenting Review has been put together by independent fisheries consultants Poseidon and Ironside Farrar, in consultation with a variety of stakeholders, including representatives of Scotland’s salmon farming industry.

Although details are not yet available, the salmon sector has put forward several suggestions it hopes will be taken on board.

These include a general de-cluttering of the system, which is currently too time consuming. It takes up to two years to process all of the different stages of the consents required in Scotland, compared to much less time in Norway.