What Could Go Wrong? Scottish Gov Preparing To Allow Neonicotinoid Pesticides In Salmon Farms
The Scottish government appears ready to approve a banned insecticide blamed for destroying bee populations for use in Scottish salmon farms, according to internal documents seen by the Guardian, as MEPs warn of its potentially “devastating” impact on aquatic life.
The insecticide is one of three nicotine-based, or neonicotinoid, chemicals banned by the European Union in 2018 for agricultural use on crops, a decision upheld this month by the EU’s top court, the European court of justice, which rejected an appeal by the Bayer chemical multinational. The ban does not apply to rivers or the sea. US government scientists have described the insecticide imidacloprid as an “environmental hazard” that can be “very toxic to aquatic life with long-lasting effects”.
An investigative news site, The Ferret, first revealed in March 2020 that the Scottish fish farming industry was planning to use imidacloprid to kill the sea lice that can infest caged salmon.
A series of emails, released under the Freedom of Information Act, reveal the Scottish government appears to be smoothing the path for CleanTreat – a system that uses the insecticide to rid farmed salmon of sea lice, to be accepted for regulatory approval in Scottish fish farms.
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https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/may/27/novichok-for-insects-may-be-approved-for-scottish-fish-farms