Campaign against industrial expansion of salmon farming 21/10/11
The Save the Bays of Harris campaign are calling on the SNP conference to address the impact of industrial scale salmon farming in Scotland.
A spokesman said: “It is a fact that Norwegian owned fish farm firms will bring very little benefit to Scotland yet have potential to harm the tourism economy of the Scotland, its islands, and its environment.”
Now the Western Isles MSP Alasdair Allan, MP Angus MacNeil, Regional MSPs, Jean Urquhart, Jamie McGrigor, John Finnie, Mary Scanlon, Mike MacKenzie, David Stewart, Rhoda Grant, and MEPs David Martin, Catherine Stihler, George Lyon, Struan Stevenson, Alyn Smith, and the Green MSP Patrick Harvie have all been asked to support a moratorium on industrial fish farming in the UK.
A campaign spokesman said: “Many consider there should be a moratorium on any further ad hoc expansion or extension of salmon farming on an industrial scale such as the example of expansion proposed by West Minch Salmon/Scottish Salmon Company at Plocropol, Isle of Harris, until after there has been a strategic review which identifies areas where expansion would or would not be acceptable in relation to wild fish interests, ecology, wildlife and the local economy, which relies heavily upon tourism and the reputation of its clean coastal waters and fresh seafood.
“Since salmon farming on this scale has toxic effects on our ecosystem, and will be more than the local wild salmonid population could bear during the spring, such expansion would present a significant risk to wild sea trout and salmon smolts migrating through the area.
“There are many salmon farms in our inshore waters. Sustainable marine fish farming requires that the levels of nutrient and chemical inputs are not allowed to exceed the environmental capacity of the surrounding aquatic environment.
“The environmental impact is dependent on the total production in a hydrographically distinct region which may be cumulative from many farms. Analysis of cumulative impact on the region needs to be established, prior to industrial scale fish farming consents.”
A website against industrial expansion of fish farming has been set up while an online petition against an industrial fish farm in a National Scenic Area at Plocropol in the Bays of Harris has also been launched.