Salmon Farms: Close them UP, (not down)!

Salmon farming in Scotland has been totally divisive. Some people, especially in Government, see aquaculture as vital for the economy, while others, especially environmentalists, and anglers, point to the damage to the environment and wild fish.  Responsible people care about BOTH the economy AND the environment (and wild fish), so we call on you to unite behind this campaign...Salmon Farms: close them up, not down.

It would be irresponsible and unrealistic to aim to close down all salmon farms. And its irresponsible to go on damaging the wild environment. The technology is now available to enclose them (it's called "closed containment") so that nothing escapes that could damage the environment or wild fish.

Why now? There has been talk about, and attempts at, closed containment for many years. The attempts have been mainly at farms out at sea and have been very costly. The technology to treat inflows and outflows has however developed in the last few years. Its improving all the time. Meanwhile the environmental damage increases as the industry gets larger and larger. It is time to change.

Further, in 2024 the salmon aquaculture industry is making a significant new and dangerous step... moving inland into salmon rivers.  For the first time, a “trial” has been proposed to hold (experimentally) adult salmon (broodstock for the aquaculture industry) in a fish farm near the top of a salmon river - the River Annan, in South Scotland. Any escapes and diseases from that farm would be fatal to that river. Escapes of fish would mix with the river's population of salmon and alter the genetics for ever. Escapes of virus, bacteria or parasites would have the potential to devastate the river's salmon, and as they migrate, devastation could spread to other rivers. There will inevitably be other  problems, caused by intensive aquaculture that we can not forsee yet. The West Coast of Scotland teaches us that.

Amazingly, being an existing fish farm, the owners and their partners – Aquagen Ltd – didn't need planning permission, all they needed, to follow the rules exactly, was a variation in the licence from the Scottish Government (Marine Directorate) to farm salmon, instead of trout. They did not need to consult with anyone; and they did not need an Environmental Impact Assessment. In this "trial" they will discharge straight back into the Annan, without treatment and they are refusing to commit to purification (closed containment) of the effluent/water that would be discharged if the "trial" develops into a full scale salmon farm holding thousands of salmon..

This is disgraceful, and this sets a dangerous precedent. We must lobby hard to change these rules. If this "trial" is successful it opens the possibility of similar farms on all salmon rivers in Scotland. If we lose, then salmon farms will appear on all Scottish rivers. If we fail to get them closed contained then .......   If however we win, we can turn the tide towards all farms becoming closed contained. If ever closed containment was vital, this is it - the first time an adult farm has been proposed on a salmon river and because this is high value broodstock, if ever a farm could afford to adopt closed containment, this is the one.

What you are signing up to:  You are agreeing with a strong response to the Annan fish farm situation:

"We are extremely disappointed that the Marine Directorate of Scotland have granted a licence to Aquagen/ Selcoth fisheries to keep adult broodstock salmon for the aquaculture industry, on the healthy river Annan:

•     without an Environmental Impact Assessment   
•     without a closed containment, treatment plant for discharge into the river
•     without any meaningful consultation with other interested parties in the area  

It shows a total disregard of wild salmon, of the environment, and of local people.

Sadly it is also a massive lost opportunity, because if the Scottish Government had insisted on true closed containment, they could have demonstrated responsibility towards the environment and wild fish. Aquagen could have demonstrated that closed containment was viable and the wild fish/angling/environmental community would have had nothing to complain about, so long as the site was 100% closed contained (and verified by 3rd parties).

It's an absolute disgrace to allow this project to discharge (untreated) into a Scottish salmon river. We call upon the parties to instal a foolproof treatment plant to prevent ANY virus, bacteria, parasites, pollution or fish being discharged or escaping into the river or the environment."

How you can help: By pledging/contributing a small (or large) amount you are showing you care, not just signing a petition, but you want to share in the objective above. You can also:

• Spread the word
• Offer rewards to make this appeal more attractive
• Fund raise for this cause
• Persuade other groups, fishing or environmental, to back this campaign

How can we achieve this? Anything donated to this crowd fund will go towards this overall plan, which will inevitably change as the situation develops. Just give a small amount now, we may/will need more later. Our "target" of £5k  is just the first target and if we get enough support we will need FAR more work and funds to achieve this ambitious goal. 

How we will spend the money raised?  The plan must be flexible but:

First: Closed containment means different things to different people/bodies; so we need a (Nationally agreed) definition of what exactly is "closed contained". This should be tasked to recognised bodies such as ...AST, RSPCA, FMS, NASF, WildFish and would benefit from some input from responsible fish farmers. It should be completed as soon as possible. Fish farmers themselves want closed containment to prevent harmful matter from getting into their farms, while we need closed containment to prevent anything harmful from getting out.

Our aim: "Nothing must escape into the environment" – No escapes of genetically altered fish. No sea lice nor other parasites (such as Gyrodactylus) getting out. No bacteria affecting fish, and no viruses (such as ISA), no chemicals nor pesticides (like ivomectin) being discharged. No untreated sewage nor effluent. Out at sea this is achieved  by keeping fish in tanks, not cages, and treating the inflows and outflows. If land based, any water or matter discharged must be treated using the best technology available. Currently examples of the best technology involve using ozone and/or UtraViolet, and/or paracetic acid and/or high temperatures. i.e. the discharge must be purified. As technology improves, so must the definition.

Meanwhile: 

We need to win over the public.  Not just anglers and those who care deeply about the environment,  but those who feel mildly supportive too. They must be able to buy “clean” salmon. We must spread awareness, we must push this slogan. We should devise a logo, write articles, lobby MSPs, MPs and anyone of influence.  We need to continue the good work that AST, FMS, WildFish and many more, have already achieved.

We won't get all farms contained in a year! First, we must work on those moving adult fish into rivers, rather than at sea.  Especially those moving into a salmon river. The Annan is the first experiment then there are juvenile salmon (smolt) farms in other river systems..  We will work on the in-land farms first. Eventually the marine farms.

Importantly:

We need to encourage the public to buy "clean" salmon from closed contained farms. This will be critical and it will show we are positive, not negative. So far the campaigns have just said “Don't buy farmed fish”, which was fair enough at the time, but we must now find, and promote with a clear identification mark, closed contained farms and closed contained fish. These fish are far better to eat. We have to accept that not everyone is as passionate about fishing or the environment as we are, so when most people are out shopping, we can't expect them “not to buy farmed salmon” without having an alternative.

Long term possibility:

We must lobby the (Scottish) Government to introduce a "caged salmon levy". This idea is similar to “climate change levy” within the electricity industry.  The Government should put a 10p levy on each salmon produced in a sea cage (ie not closed contained) in Scotland. This may raise around £10million pa. Then use all of this to subsidise closed contained salmon. At first, when only few of these “clean” salmon are being produced, let's say 1m (or 1% of all farmed salmon in Scotland) the closed contained salmon would benefit from a subsidy of around £10 each. That's a significant sum and makes production totally viable. As more come on stream, technology would develop and production would get cheaper. The subsidy would gradually fall as more are produced in closed containment, and fewer are produced from open cages. 

The levy could be increased or decreased as the Government sees fit. This scheme would cost the Government nothing  and the Government isn't "banning" anything. It is just levelling out the playing field.

Overall

Plans will change, tactically. So whatever you offer to donate must and will go to the overall aim:  “let's make all Scottish salmon farms closed contained”. It will be a long campaign.