Freedom of Information Request - Wild wrasse fishery
Date: 20 June 2025
Our ref: SIR180367/A5217097
Information Request – Wild wrasse fishery
Your Request
‘Please could you supply us, as an EIR request, with all the advice and correspondence that NatureScot has exchanged with the Marine Directorate on the subject of the wild wrasse fishery.’
Our Response
Following a search of the information we hold our response is below.
The Scottish Government wrasse assessment, which includes the advice provided by NatureScot, is now published on the Scottish Parliament’s Rural Affairs and Islands Committee’s website.
All relevant correspondence not included in the above publication is attached separately. Please note, only correspondence from 20/05/2024 is included, as anything before this has already been released following a previous FOI request to the Scottish Government. Another FOI response is also referenced in one piece of correspondence.
We have marked out (redacted) personal data in the documents provided. Releasing the personal data into the public domain in response to an access to information request would breach the Data Protection Act 2018. We are therefore withholding the information under EIRs Regulation 11(2) (Personal data). We have also withheld a video which contains personal information.
We have also redacted a small amount of information in our correspondence with the Marine Directorate. There is a need, on occasion, for public bodies to have space to exchange views and information on developing areas of work. We are therefore withholding the information under EIRs Regulation 10(4)(e) (Internal Communications
We have also withheld some unpublished PHD work. We are withholding this under EIR exemption Regulation 10(4)(d) - Material in the course of completion, unfinished documents, and incomplete data (Environmental Information Regulations). Information contained in the attached correspondence which is not relevant to your request has also been redacted.
How We Handled Your Request
We believe you have asked for environmental information as defined in the Environmental Information (Scotland Regulations 2004 (‘the EIRs’), so we are dealing with your request under those regulations. To be able to use the EIRs, we must apply an exemption under section 39(2) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (‘FOISA’). The Scottish Information Commissioner’s guidance recommends that public authorities apply this exemption to environmental information and handle request under the EIRs.
If you would like to find out more about the access to information legislation, there is a guidance booklet available on the Scottish Information Commissioner’s website.
Review and Appeal
I hope this information meets your requirements, but if you are dissatisfied with how we have responded to your information request, please write to us within 40 working days explaining your concerns. You can contact us at Battleby, Redgorton, Perth, PH1 3EW or email us at [email protected]. We will carry out a review of our response and contact you with our findings within 20 working days.
If you are not satisfied following this, you can make an appeal to the Scottish Information Commissioner within 6 months. The Scottish Information Commissioner can be contacted at:
Scottish Information Commissioner
Kinburn Castle
Doubledykes Road
St Andrews
Fife
KY16 9DS
Telephone: 01334 464610
Yours sincerely
FOI Officer,
NatureScot
Document downloads
Due to accessibility issues the attached information, referenced above, is available on request by contacting the FOI team at [email protected]. Please reference the case number (starting with SIR).
