Scotland’s Information Commissioner has ordered for the figures of seals shot under licence to be made public, following two appeals by the Global Alliance Against Industrial Aquaculture (GAAIA).
While the GAAIA proposes that information about seal killings should be disclosed, Ministers argued it would pose a threat to the public and particularly threaten the safety of fish farm staff workers and their families.
Ministers provided evidence and submissions about elevated levels of threat to salmon fisheries staff and their families they claimed would be the result of disclosing the information, but the Commissioner concluded there was insufficient evidence and ordered the information to be disclosed.
In relation to ‘Correspondence about the provision of seal killing statistics’, the Commissioner accepted that Ministers do not hold correspondence between the Scottish Salmon Producers’ Organisation, Marine Harvest and any other salmon farming companies about threats to refuse to provide information about the number of seals killed in 2013 and 2014.
Under a second decision, the Commissioner considered a request for seal killing return forms from salmon farms for 2013 and 2014. Again, the Ministers provided evidence and submissions to the Commissioner. The Commissioner notes, in particular, that one seal campaign organisation intends to launch a seal defence campaign in 2015 and this is already public. The Commissioner is, again, not satisfied that Ministers have demonstrated that the disclosure of the information would, or would be likely to prejudice substantially public safety.
