The upcoming Scottish Parliament election on 7 May could mark a turning point for the country’s salmon farming sector, according to a former senior regulator who has called for a fundamental overhaul of the current system.
Anne Anderson, former Chief Officer of the Regulatory portfolio at the Scottish Environment Protection Agency and a long-standing sustainability specialist in aquaculture, said a new government would have a “must-seize opportunity” to address structural issues that have persisted for nearly a decade.
Her comments come after years of political scrutiny of the sector, including a landmark parliamentary inquiry in 2018, which identified concerns around fish welfare, environmental impact and regulatory effectiveness. Despite subsequent reviews and incremental reforms, Anderson said the core challenges remain unresolved.
“Politicians from all parties recognise how important the sector is to Scotland, particularly its rural communities,” she said. “However, these same reviews also highlight that the original areas of concern remain, namely fish welfare, environmental impact, prolonged consultation processes, regulatory delay and unclear accountability.”
The May election will determine the composition of the next government responsible for key areas including the economy, rural affairs and environmental policy. Anderson said this presents an opportunity to translate accumulated policy insight into practical reform.
“What better legacy to the time and focus invested in salmon farming by previous and current governments than for the new administration to pick up the mantle and translate the insights amassed into practical solutions,” she said.
However, she cautioned that a change in government alone would not be sufficient to deliver the scale of reform required. Progress would depend on greater collaboration across industry stakeholders, regulators and critics of the sector.
“As wider world events show, digging deeper into entrenched views only exacerbates matters. It’s time to move forward in a manner that is inclusive and informed by robust science,” she said.
Anderson recently left her role as Head of Sustainability and Development at salmon producer Scottish Sea Farms to establish consultancy TirMara Advisory, aimed at supporting both public and private sector actors in navigating regulatory and sustainability challenges.
She said incremental changes to the existing framework would be insufficient, pointing to recent extensions of Scotland’s marine planning zones from three to 12 nautical miles as an example of reform that expands capacity without addressing underlying structural issues.
“What’s needed is a fit-for-purpose, integrated approach to regulating high-intensity food production, with clear accountability and governance,” Anderson said, adding that this could include the introduction of a dedicated aquaculture bill.
With a new parliamentary term offering a five-year policy window, she said the conditions are in place for more substantive reform if political will and stakeholder alignment can be achieved.
“The issues facing the sector may be long-standing, but they are inherently resolvable,” she said. “It’s genuinely exciting to think of the progress that could be made by 2031.”