1,000 signatures reached
To: Argyll and Bute Council
NO to Dunstaffnage Fish Farm Expansion
Reject the planning application by Scottish Sea Farms to enlarge the salmon farm at Dunstaffnage, near Oban.
The objection procedure through the planning portal is much too difficult, you must take other representations into account.
Why is this important?
Scottish Sea Farms is a huge aquaculture company who have 42 fish farms around the West of Scotland. They are anything but Scottish, being 50% owned by Salmar and 50% by Lerøy seafoods, both Norwegian companies. One of Scottish Sea Farms' nearest locations in Loch Creran had major problems in 2020, being plagued by sea-lice and disease and losing many tens of thousands of fish.
The proposed expansion at their Dunstaffnage fish farm, near Oban, will increase the number of cages from 9 to 14 and the size of each cage from the present 80 metres to 100 metres. Biomass (the quantity of fish) is to increase to 2350 tonnes. This is a huge increase in a beautiful, unspoilt area of the Scottish coastline. Fish farms are increasingly being automated and this proposal will see no direct additional jobs created. It will inevitably lead to more use of toxic chemicals in the open waters and destruction of the local marine environment, which has been shown to happen near salmon farms. It will also be a hazard to the increasingly popular pastime of wild swimming, especially from the nearby beach at Ganavan. We believe that the onus is on Scottish Sea Farms to demonstrate that they can raise fish sustainably, free from cruelty and without damaging the environment. At present they are nowhere near being able to do this and we urge that this proposed expansion should not be allowed. This petition is needed because of the unwieldy and difficult process of submitting objections via the planning portal. Letters of support are invariably from local employees and subcontractors and we believe that this matter affects the wider population and environment. Please sign this petition and also, if possible, make a comment at the Argyll and Bute Council planning portal.
It is quite a difficult process, involving registering, the link is here.
https://publicaccess.argyll-bute.gov.uk/online-applications/registrationWizard.do?action=start
We believe that it is now, more than ever, necessary to stop the creeping industrialisation and pollution of our precious shoreline around the West of Scotland.
Thank you.
