Salmon farms with “persistently” high death rates should face the threat of closure to prevent them harming wild fish in Scotland’s rivers, a Holyrood inquiry has recommended.

The Scottish Parliament’s rural affairs committee said powers should be given to health inspectors “to limit or halt production at sites which record persistently high mortality rates”.

A report published on Friday said SNP ministers should work with the industry and regulators to agree “thresholds” for the use of these powers.

The committee also called for an “immediate end” to the siting of fish farms in “close vicinity” to known migratory routes for wild salmon.

But a majority of its MSPs rejected calls for a moratorium or pause on production given the impact on the industry’s workers and their local communities.