To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when he will announce an alternative to the use of Aquaguard in the marine salmon farming industry.

A number of alternative methods for controlling sea lice infestations of farmed salmon are currently being investigated through Government and industry-sponsored research into chemical substitutes for dichlorvos; into vaccines; and into the use of biological controls for sea lice such as the predator species wrasse. These studies are not yet complete.