Salmon farming and wild fisheries both important says MSP 3/3/13
Highlands Conservative MSP Jamie McGrigor says Scotland’s aquaculture and wild fisheries
sectors must cooperate and seek a sustainable co-
Speaking in a Scottish Parliament debate, Mr McGrigor said: “I am hugely aware that both farmed fish and wild fishery businesses are crucial elements of our economy, providing significant numbers of valuable jobs.
“Aquaculture is a very big part of Scotland’s growing food exports and wild salmon and sea trout fishing attract substantial tourism income into our communities with spin offs for hotels and shops.”
He added: “Both fishery sectors need to be profitable to help the Scottish economy and, as I have said before, a prosperous salmon farming industry is much better equipped to care for environmental issues than an industry which is hanging on by its fingertips.
“In that context we must remember that the salmon farming industry is afflicted not only by sea lice but more recently by amoebic gill disease: £10 million of treatment is being spent on this new salmon plague which is part of the £26 million spent annually on fish treatments within the industry.
“I am disturbed by news that slice is no longer working as well as a sea lice preventative
but encouraged by the use of wrasse as a non-