Lord Campbell of Croyasked Her Majesty's Government:
What steps they propose to take to prevent the introduction of the fish disease, infectious salmon anaemia.
§ The Minister of State, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Baroness Trumpington)Infectious salmon anaemia (or infectious laxanaemia) is a viral disease of salmon which causes high mortalities in farmed fish and for which there is no known effective treatment. It may be spread by the movement of live fish and can be carried in the viscera of salmon carcasses. It has been found only in Norway, where a number of farms are now infected.
We already prohibit imports into Great Britain of all live fish of the salmon family. The importation of dead, ungutted fish is also generally prohibited save, under an exemption licence, from the Irish Republic, Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man and Norway.
As a further safeguard, and in view of the serious nature of infectious salmon anaemia and its establishment in Norway, we have decided to modify the exemption licence such that ungutted salmon and trout may not be imported from Norway. This prohibition will take effect on 25th December and will be until further notice.
As an additional precautionary measure, we have decided that infectious salmon anaemia will be made a notifiable disease throughout Great Britain in accordance with the terms of the Diseases of Fish Act 1937.