In a bid to protect erosion of the £150 million Scottish salmon farming industry, the UK government is calling on Brussels to erect new trade measures, UK trade minister Mike O'Brien announced yesterday.
'Farmed salmon from Norway, Chile and the Faroes continues to enter the British market undercutting Scottish producers and causingeconomic hardship to local communities heavily dependent on fish farming,' said the minister in a statement on Monday.
Adding that there is 'particular concern that Norway has breached the1997' agreement on fishing by allowing unfair overproduction of salmon.
The Scottish salmon farming industry - that produced 127,000 tonnes in 1999 and contributed £150 million to Scottish food exports in 1999 - represents nearly 40 per cent of total Scottish food exports.
According to figures from FAO Fisheries Department Review, consumer demand for salmon in the UK alone has nearly trebled between 1992 and 1999 with consumption rising by around 185 per cent - from 31,000 to 88,500 tonnes. Worldwide demand for fish is estimated to increase by at least an extra 30 million tonnes by 2010.
"The Scottish salmon industry is important to us. We would normally strongly resist protectionism, but thesalmon industry presents unique and serious problems which can only be dealt with by considering this exceptional action,' said Mike O'Brien.
According to the minister, Norway has amended its rules to allow over production of its salmon which is 'undercutting the market for Scottish salmon'.
But can the UK go it alone ? For O'Brien, support from Ireland - where salmon farmers are also pressed by cheap imports - will be key to moving the trade measures forward. 'We need the help of the Irish government in order to initiate the inquiry procedure which can in due course allow safeguards to be applied. We cannot get the EU to impose this measure without their help," added O'Brien.
The Scottish salmon industry is still reeling from the publication of a US study last week in the journal Science that claimed salmon farmed in Europe is heavily contaminated by cancer-causing chemicals such as polychlorinated biphenols (PCBs) and dioxins.
"In the worst cases, characteristic of farmed salmon obtained from Scotland and the Faroe Islands and salmon fillets purchased in Frankfurt, the consumption advice is that no more than one meal every four months should be consumed in order to avoid an increased risk of cancer," the university at Albany in New York State that conducted the worldwide survey said.
Britain's government food agency was quick to respond, stressing that consumers should continue eating salmon in order to obtain a healthy diet.
Food Standards Agency chairman Sir John Krebs said: "This study shows that the levels of dioxins and PCBs in salmon are within internationally recognised safety limits and confirms previous studies by the FSA.'
More so than ever, Scottish salmon farmers will be in need of amendments to trade measures.