Pre-election manifesto published by Salmon Scotland

Salmon Scotland – the trade body for Scottish salmon – has today published a manifesto, ahead of the looming general election. Salmon Scotland’s detailed asks of the next government have been shared with all the main political parties in advance of their own manifesto publications.

“With the election campaign well underway, we want all parties to get behind the country’s top food export – Scottish salmon – and deliver the policies to help us grow responsibly. The policy recommendations we outline in our manifesto do just that,” said Salmon Scotland chief executive Tavish Scott, in a press release.

Regardless of the outcome of the election, the manifesto states that salmon farmers want to see a more enlightened approach to the movement of labour into the UK, which recognises the unique challenges that coastal and rural farming communities face. They hope that this would include a change to key worker definitions and a broader public signal that the UK is open to people coming here to work. The trade body also wants to see an improvement in the UK’s relationship with the EU, with a clear focus on the nation’s export businesses and less red tape for the supply chains on both sides of the English Channel.

In the manifesto, Salmon Scotland strongly urges the next UK government to implement electronic export health certificates to remove the paperwork associated with exporting salmon to Europe which has costed salmon farmers an estimated £3 million every year since Brexit.

The trade body also wants the Scottish and UK governments to work together to address Scotland’s housing emergency, to ensure that people can live close to where they work – particularly in rural and coastal communities where there is a shortage of available, affordable accommodation.

“We need the next UK government to work more closely with the Edinburgh administration so that we can deliver the true potential of the blue economy, and help us to farm-raise more low carbon protein and keep Scotland and our world-renowned Scottish salmon on the global map,” concluded Scott.