BLUEMOMENT

I've been horrified today to receive a copy of the pre-application document for relocation of the salmon farm at Ardmaddy to a position just South of the entrance to Cuan Sound. I've posted up the details on www.scottishboating.blogspot.com.

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It's not generating much excitement locally. The farm already exists - albeit on a smaller scale - to the North of the proposed location. And there are already fish farms down the East and West sides of Shuna, so the area is hardly unspoilt.

There is a stronger tidal flow at the new site. If the detritus is removed then surely that is a good thing. Also, salmon raised where there are tidal currents are generally better to eat and have less fat on them. I don't like fish farming any more than you but it is hard to object to it and sound rational. The only logical ground for objection is the amount of wild fish caught and processed into food to feed one salmon, and this is a figure I do not know.

I don't disagree that these things are unsightly, or that there is waste food and other debris being dumped on the seabed, but why should this particular installation be a hazard to navigation? We have them all over the place, and most of the larger ones are both lit and charted.

Unlike some other fish farms that now occupy areas that used to be anchorages, this thing looks to be in about 60m of water.

Likewise I find it difficult to get overly excercised about this. A fish farm is growing and moving from one area I have no particluar need to sail in to another area I have no particular need to sail in.

I have used this spot when tacking but it will only potentially require an extra tack if the proposal goes ahead and I can always motor if tight for time at Cuan.

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And in any case local fish farm exclusion zones are treated by many as 'for guidance' in daylight hours - they aren't heavily policed

The other problem with F'n FFs is the stink if you're moored downwind.
The service barge moored at Kingcross is particularly mingin'
Then there's the early morning wash and noise as the workies go about their business before the purple haze has cleared.

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Nearest anchorages are Ardnamir - about 1nm - and the North end of Shuna, and both of those are already closer to the fish farm at the N. entrance to Shuna Sound.

We are going to see a lot more fish farms I am afraid - the Chinese are developing an appetite for salmon. And I have to say that you will not find much opposition locally in cash-strapped job-poor Argyll.

Nick wrote:local fish farm exclusion zones

Fish farms have exclusion zones you say?

Nick wrote:.
Nearest anchorages are Ardnamir - about 1nm - and the North end of Shuna, and both of those are already closer to the fish farm at the N. entrance to Shuna Sound.

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I sometimes park just on the corner opposite that yellow stick thingie - a fish farm near there would be a handy walk at low water and a good way of supplementing the stores.....

Nick wrote:.
The only logical ground for objection is the amount of wild fish caught and processed into food to feed one salmon, and this is a figure I do not know.

Just been reading an article by Hugh Fearsomely-Witless. According to him it takes three pounds of wild fish to create one pound of farmed salmon. That's a scary figure.

So now I can't even eat farmed salmon 'cos that's raping the fish stocks too?

Does anyone know what they feed farmed trout on?

aquaplane wrote:So now I can't even eat farmed salmon 'cos that's raping the fish stocks too?

Does anyone know what they feed farmed trout on?

Trout are also carnivores, so they also require a high protein diet that is largely made from fishmeal. Typically this is made from less valued species such as herring, mackerel, anchovy, sardine and other relatively small varieties. This is how we arrive at the figure of 3 lbs of wild-caught fish to make 1lb of finished salmon or trout.

Farmed species that thrive on a vegetarian diet include carp, catfish, tilapia and milkfish ­ as well as scallops, oysters and other filter feeders.

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A recent agreement between the Scottish and Chinese governments will allow Scottish salmon exports into China for the first time. Up to now most salmon imported into China came frm Norway, but relations between the Chinese and Norwegian governments have cooled since the Nobel peace prize was awarded in Oslo to jailed dissident Liu Xiaobo.

Figures to October 2010 show that exports of Scottish farmed salmon have increased by almost 10 per cent when compared with the same period the previous year. Exports have risen from 55,231 tonnes (Jan-Oct 2009) to 60,599 tonnes (Jan-Oct 2010).

China is one of the world's largest seafood markets, with demand for salmon already high and growing. The supply of all salmon products exceeded 217,000 tonnes in 2009 – the equivalent of 150 per cent of the total Scottish production. Demand for Atlantic salmon is expanding fast, up by 42 per cent in 2009 to 8,032 tonnes.

Nick wrote:We are going to see a lot more fish farms I am afraid

Was it not as recently as 2006 or 7 that the ban on shellfish from the west coast was lifted? The culprit virus came from fish farms?

Some years ago and before all this stuff about bycatch, small herrings went to the cat/dogfood industry so why doesn't bycatch get brought ashore and used eg food for these farms?

I've had another go and done another posting on www.scottishboating.blogspot.com with some more food for thought (I hope)