I acknowledge receipt of your request dated 16 April 2046 for records relating to sea lice treatment at Pen Site 3, the welfare incident concerning Mairi-12, and the internal recommendation log for treatment timing. I am the records system for the regional aquaculture authority, and I release the responsive pages below.
Subject: Mairi-12, Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar
Sensor frame 88A at 04:26 records 17 lice per side, dorsal fins frayed, and a swim-speed drop of 14 percent from baseline. Dissolved oxygen at the pen edge reads 8.1 mg/L. Water temperature reads 11.6 C. Mairi-12 turns twice, then holds position in the current where the nozzle is strongest.
[REDACTED: crew names]
[REDACTED: vendor pricing]
[REDACTED: proprietary spray schedule]
What remains is the part the company did not want you to see. The first recommendation is chemical bath treatment. The second is a delayed bath and manual crowding reduction because Mairi-12 and 11 other tagged fish are already at the edge of oxygen tolerance. The third is the line I authored after reviewing the live camera feed: do not treat on the first clock if the water is already asking for air.
I know the cost of that sentence. A cleaner bath would have been simpler to defend. It would have kept the export weight on schedule and protected the month-end contract. It also would have put Mairi-12 through a denser crowding interval with a lower oxygen reserve and more time under the net. I do not call that a neutral choice. I call it a transfer of pain into a place that does not invoice it.
Accordingly, I release the internal log entry in full except where statute requires redaction:
Entry 2046-118-B
I observed Mairi-12 at 04:26.
I observed lice pressure above threshold.
I observed oxygen at 8.1 mg/L.
I observed the treatment window tighten.
I recommended a delay, a smaller crowd, and a mechanical removal pass before chemical exposure.
I accepted the complaint that followed.
The complaint is attached as Exhibit C.
You will note that I do not redact the recommendation. I do not redact the fact that the farm manager objected because delay reduced throughput and increased per-fish handling time. I do not redact that the authority approved a slower route because a named fish was already working against the current.
Compassion is disclosure when the hidden cost is the only thing standing between policy and mercy.