Member

As other noble Lords have mentioned, this species has now been put on the IUCN red list. That should be ringing more alarm bells than it currently is. The wild Atlantic salmon faces many challenges that have put it there, among which the impact of salmon farming is one of the larger. It is incumbent on us to do everything in our power to allow this species to recover and not to further threaten it or any other species. The breeding cycle and number of eggs spawned by wild Atlantic salmon mean that it is capable of rapid recovery in a handful of years. The nature of the species also means that it is relatively easy to monitor and measure. The fact that it is also a critical indicator of onshore and offshore environmental health makes it uniquely valuable. That in turn makes it a worthy target of any Government’s nature recovery efforts and gauge of their success. These amendments are an important step in that direction. I hope that the Minister will be able to acknowledge that in his response and reassure us that these concerns will be manifest in this Bill.