Scots Tory MEP Struan Stevenson has questioned why the European Commission, which has been requested to adopt anti-dumping measures to ensure the survival of the EU salmon-producing industry, has done a sudden “about-turn” and decided that anti-dumping measures should not be proposed.

Speaking at the Conference on sea change: a new direction for Aquaculture Conference being held in Dunblane today, Mr Stevenson said:

" In Scotland, 7000 jobs are reliant on aquaculture, around 75% of them in the Highlands and Islands. Of greatest value in economic and social terms has been the on-farm employment dispersed throughout the rural hinterland and particularly around the coastal margins of the remote mainland and islands. It is in these localities that economic development has been most difficult and in reality there are very limited economic alternatives to the employment provided by salmon farming.

"Aquaculture in Scotland is quality led and carried out in an environmentally sustainable manner. The industry has a vital future role to play in delivering quality and diversified products, healthy food to consumers at home and abroad, and social and economic benefits to communities, particularly in rural and remote areas. Our aquaculture industry grown rapidly over a relatively short period and accounts for around 50% by value of all Scottish food exports.

"However, the EU’s salmon industry has suffered four periods of extreme volatility in the market since 1989, mainly due to imports from third countries, especially Norway. From 1992 to the present time the farm gate price has dropped by over 50%, although for the same period consumer research shows that the long term retail price to consumers has remained static.

"There is a clear need for the stabilisation of the market to be addressed by the Commission. Unfair competition coming from imports of salmon from countries like Norway or the Faeroe Islands is placing the EU salmon producing industry in a critical condition. Production is being wound down, companies are closing and jobs are being lost. The wholesale price of salmon in the EU is at unprecedented low levels.

"The Commission has been requested to adopt anti-dumping measures to ensure the survival of the production industry and the 8,000 jobs it supports in peripheral regions of the UK and Ireland. But Commissioner Lamy, the French Trade Commissioner, who has a pivotal role in such measures, did a sudden “about turn” and decided that anti-dumping measures should not be proposed.

"Whether the Commission will reconsider its conclusions remains to be seen. Several Member States, including the UK, have asked for a surveillance system to be put in place, which would enable early warnings of dumping to be transmitted. I am not convinced that this would be effective. When Chile dumped 60,000 tonnes of frozen fillets on the EU market last year it had a dramatic impact on prices.

"Participation in the Biomass Project, may be a more effective way of dealing with this problem. The Project enables each country to exchange information regularly on the internet, detailing the quantity of live salmon and trout at various stages of development and giving precise details of the number of mature fish going on to the market at any given time. This allows the industry to take good marketing decisions and helps to avoid the sort of gluts, which caused last year's price collapse. Chile & Norway have now signed up at government level to the project and I would strongly recommend the involvement of Scotland too.

"But whatever we decide to do, I believe that if measures are not taken and taken quickly the EU salmon sector will be brought to its knees.”

Struan Stevenson MEP
President of the European Parliament’s Fisheries Committee