Scottish Government

In the event of a marine emergency, the Marine Scotland Duty Officer can be contacted by email at MS.SpillResponse@gov.scot or spillresponse@marlab.ac.uk. Alternatively, contact the main Scottish Government switchboard on 0300 244 4000 and ask for the Marine Scotland Duty Officer.

For this purpose, a marine emergency includes oil and or chemical pollution incidents from shipping and offshore installations (and the application of chemical dispersants and deployment of containment equipment) and marine mammal strandings. The Marine Scotland Duty Officer is not a replacement for contacting the usual Emergency Services (Fire, Police, Ambulance and Coastguard) where these are required

Reporting Suspicious Activity

To report any kind of fisheries-related activity you think might be suspicious:

Call 0131 271 9700 (24 hours a day) or email: UKFMC@gov.scot

Reporting a stranded marine animal

If you find a dead or stranded marine animal, call 01463 243030 or email: stranding@sac.co.uk. Rescue for live stranded marine animals is available 24 hours a day by calling:

• Scottish SPCA Animal Helpline (03000 999 999)
• British Divers Marine Life Rescue (01825 765546)

More information...

Fish Health Inspectorate

A Fish Health Inspector acts as Duty Inspector during office hours every day from Monday to Friday to deal with queries relating to:

• fish escapes from marine aquaculture facilities
• applications for permission to move live fish subject to movement restrictions, including live fish for harvest
• applications for a licence to import live aquaculture animals and their products
• preparation of export certificates
• notifications of suspicion of a notifiable disease of fish or shellfish
• notifications of escapes of fish from fish farms
• registration of new fish or shellfish farming businesses or sites, or changes to the details of existing businesses
• sampling of fish and shellfish forwarded to Marine Scotland Marine Laboratory for disease diagnosis

More information....

Reporting Invasive Species

Should you wish to report finding any of the invasive non-native species, call Scottish Environment and Rural Services (SEARS) on 08452 30 20 50.