From the Herald, Tuesday

Executive and farm owners in salmon row DAVID ROSS Friends of the Earth and the Salmon and Trout Association joined forces yesterday in an attempt to name and shame the Scottish Executive and fish farm owners after it emerged that escaping farmed fish now outnumber catches of wild salmon by four to one.
The two organizations said that in one escape in Orkney in January about 256,000 salmon won their freedom in the sea. They said the figures had
increased fourfold since 1998: from 95,000 to 395,000 for the first five months of this year alone.
The move came as the Executive announced a consultation exercise on plans for new legislative powers to enhance the conservation of wild salmon and sea trout stocks, which have been in decline for years.
Friends of the Earth and the association listed Aquascot, Hydro Seafood GSP, Kames, Marine Harvest McConnell, Wisco and Orkney Sea Farms as the worst offenders. They also criticized the Executive's working group, established in 1997, for producing a draft report on the subject which they claimed lacked substance and failed to identify the offenders because of commercial confidentiality. Submissions to the final report are due by Friday.
Mr Kevin Dunion, director of Friends of the Earth (Scotland), said: "The
situation is getting out of hand. The Executive is not showing the kind of urgency necessary to deal with the problem, and their report smacks of shutting the cage door after the fish have bolted.
"Determined actions such as re-locating sites away from high-risk areas or revoking licences in unsuitable locations need to be considered, as well as mandatory recording of escapes, a public register and compulsory tagging."
Mr Patrick Fothringham, director of the Salmon and Trout Association
(Scotland), said: "It is a damning indictment of the Government's fisheries policy that this whitewash of a report has taken so long to see the light of day."
He added: "In pursuing a policy that promotes salmon farming expansion at the expense of wild fisheries, the Government have sold wild salmon down the
river."
A spokesman for the Scottish Executive rebutted claims of its not taking the problem seriously. "We will not hesitate to take tough action against any fish farms which breach any rules."
Regulations prevented the Executive naming farms. "But we do not rule out the possibility of an amendment to the legislation in future to make it possible to name and shame cases of bad practice."



Money talks-----
Bobby
Bobby Rogerson
E-Mail:
ICQ: 10595631

Translate this page automatically.