Application Reference 13/02060/PP

[Bonnie Lass]

received an email from a friend about this today, it makes you think

Erection of building to accommodate closed containment recirculation aquaculture production facility, installation of waste water treatment plants, access, parking and ancillary development including demolition of existing structures. Tayinloan Fish Farm Tayinloan Tarbert Argyll and Bute PA29 6XG

Information on an application for a factory building 6 times the size of the Aqualibrium building. It will have a huge visual impact over 6 miles of it - between Ronachan Point and Rhunahaorine Point. An industrial development on this scale (165 mtrs x 82.5 mtrs x 10.4 mtrs high) is completely unacceptable in a coastal area designated as Sensitive Countryside.

If salmon farms come out of the sea and onto the land our coastlines will be devastated. With wind farms ruining our hills and these things threatening to ruin our coastline, our wonderful natural assets, that attract so many tourists to Kintyre really will be endangered.

You have until Friday the 11th of October to object. Objections should be emailed to richard.kerr@argyll-bute.gov.uk Family members should each lodge an objection as group objections only count as one.

[lochend]

Well Bonnie Lass,I understand where you are coming from,but land based fish farming, although some of the buildings may offend the eye ,will greatly reduce the foul pollution of our seas that offshore salmon farms produce.Migratory fish stocks have been drastically reduced on the west coast of Scotland because of this pollution ,sea trout in particular are an endangered species! It is difficult to explain why the Scottish government turn a deaf ear to all the scientific evidence that PROVES the damage these offshore installations do.Some say it is because of the many jobs that they create,some more cynical pundits suggest the Norwegian owners are bunging someone but I would not suggest that! It's odd that the politicians cannot see the greater benefits to tourism the visiting angling fraternity tourism brings by way of many more jobs than in aquaculture . To be fair,I suppose trying to convince someone that is having to endure looking at an ugly industrial complex that it is for the greater good when the benefits aren't obviously on display.

[Sensible Man]

Lochend

As a fellow salmon and trout fisherman I too would like to sea the salmon farming industry resolve the environmental problems that their sea cage farms cause, especially the sea lice problem that spreads disease to wild salmon.
However, there is an awful lot more sea around Scotland than we have coastal land. If salmon farming was to relocate out of the sea into giant factories on our coastlines then we would all be finding it difficult to access the shore and to see past them to get a look at the sea and islands.
The closed containment, land based method of adult salmon farming will not be accommodated in small sheds, the concrete tanks with a capacity to raise 3000 tons of salmon will be housed in factory buildings 6 times the size of the Aqualibrium building in Campbelltown.
The CO2 footprint of these factory fish farms will be massive compared to the traditional sea cage method of salmon farming and the additional capital expenditure and running costs will add greatly to the cost of salmon. That is why they will have to keep these salmon at stocking densities more than twice that of sea cage farms.
On balance, researchers have suggested that it would be more environmentally friendly and resources friendly to keep salmon farming in the sea but to site them away from the migratory routes of wild salmon. The Norwegians have now legislated for this and that is why their companies come to Scotland to build their salmon farms here. Some farms are including wrasse in their cages which eat the sea lice.
So I don't think that your argument that we should ruin our beautiful coastlines and tourist industry by building giant factories the size of "Amazon distribution centres" so that we salmon fisherman can catch more salmon is very strong. I believe the way ahead is to come up with solutions like the wrasse one in order to clean up the traditional sea cage method of salmon farming.

Tight lines.