“Sustainable” salmon farms under fire – Fisheries Management Scotland

AN ANGLING organisation has revealed today that levels of seabed pollution at almost two thirds of Scottish marine salmon farms are either “unsatisfactory” or “borderline” and that the two main culprits were two companies most lauded for their environmental stewardship.

The information was obtained from SEPA by the Salmon and Trout Association (S&TA), who reviewed 311 reports of seabed self-monitoring by farms between 2009 and March 2012. Of these 137 (44%) were deemed by SEPA to be “unsatisfactory” (“beyond the assimilative capacity of the local environment”), 64 (21%) were “borderline” (“close to having an unsustainable impact”) and only 106 (34%) were “satisfactory”.

The two companies with the highest percentage of “unsatisfactory” reports are Wester Ross Fisheries Ltd (70% “unsatisfactory”, 30% “borderline” and 0% “satisfactory”) and Loch Duart Ltd (68% “unsatisfactory”, 26% “borderline” and 6% “satisfactory”), both based in the north-west Highlands.