Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent steps his Department has taken to (a) improve the welfare of farmed salmon and (b) reduce the environmental impact of salmon farms.

a) Defra and the devolved governments commissioned the Animal Welfare Committee to update its 2014 opinion on the welfare of farmed fish at the time of killing and this was published in September 2023. We are studying their recommendations carefully to determine next steps.

b) We take all matters relating to the marine environment seriously and are seeking to ensure that the ocean is managed sustainably. Through our membership of North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organization (NASCO), the UK has committed to minimising the impact of salmon farming on wild salmon populations. Within the UK, all marine salmon farming currently takes place in Scotland and Northern Ireland. As aquaculture and marine management are devolved competencies, managing the environmental impact of current salmon farming activity is the responsibility of their devolved administrations.