According to the news report in a petition more than 9000 signatures have been raise din less than two weeks calling for the urgent relocation of salmon farms away from the estuaries of major salmon rivers in Scotland. The campaign has been launched to stop the spread of sea lice infestations, which are harming wild fish stocks. The Salmon and Trout Association, the UK’s leading game angling charity, is behind such campaign.
The association said that the campaign is a “dire warning of impending disaster” and a call to arms to the Scottish Government. Paul Knight, executive director of the S&TA, said that they are fully recognise that salmon farming makes a significant contribution to the Scottish economy. He further said that this industry is also threatening the very survival of our wild salmon and sea trout in the west highlands and islands.
Knight added that it is the source of huge sea lice infestations that are literally eating our wild fish alive. He also said that it was “fundamentally inequitable” that fish farm interests should take precedence over one of the country’s greatest natural assets. The S&TA, whose patron is Prince Charles, makes two demands in the petition: that all sea-based fish farms are moved away from the estuaries of major wild salmon rivers to reduce the impact of sea lice; and that salmon smolt farms are banned from operating within any wild salmon river system.
