SALMON WARS
Fury at plan to build one of UK’s biggest fish farms – size of 135 football pitches – yards off Arran coast
ITS natural beauty and rugged coastline attract hundreds of thousands of tourists every year.
But plans to site one of the UK’s largest salmon farms off the Isle of Arran have sparked anger that the iconic holiday destination could be spoiled by the ‘eyesore’.
The Scottish Salmon Company has lodged plans to build the farm on the northern tip of Arran, off the North Ayrshire coast – but objectors feel it could affect the island’s annual £61million tourism lifeline.
The farm, at Millstone Point, near the picturesque village of Lochranza, would spread over 240 acres – equivalent to 135 football pitches – 200 yards off the coast.
It would be more than twice the size of most salmon farms currently in operation, consisting of 20 cages capable of producing 5,000 tons of salmon a year, and would create ten full-time jobs.
Planning documents submitted to North Ayrshire Council also reveal that the company has applied to install 32 acoustic deterrent devices, which send out highpitched sound waves to scare off seals that try to break into the salmon cages.
Island residents argue that the farm will damage the environment, and that it could also harm the area’s popularity with the 400,000 people visiting every year.
They fear that the farm could put substantial amounts of waste into the sea and that the use of acoustic deterrents to ward
‘Noise impact, visual impact and pollution’
off seals would scare porpoises and dolphins – a popular tourist attraction.
Residents demonstrated in September at the Millstone Point site, and put up protest banners around the island over the Christmas holidays. More than 243 objections to the controversial plans have been received, including a formal objection from Scottish Natural Heritage, the government conservation agency.
Paul Chandler, executive director at Community of Arran Seabed Trust, a local marine conservation charity, said: ‘It’s in a national scenic area, it’s the wrong kind of development in the wrong area. There will be noise impact, visual impact and pollution.’
Objectors also said Millstone Point was in north Arran’s national scenic area and visible from the north Arran coastal walk. They stressed that the plans breached the local development plan.
Mr Chandler said the acoustic devices could harm legally protected dolphins and porpoises, species that are essential to Arran’s eco-tourism industries.
A petition set up by residents has already garnered more than 7,000 signatures. One islander summed up local concerns in planning documents: ‘The proposed salmon farm is totally at odds with the main reason visitors flock to Arran each year. People come here to enjoy nature at its best: stunning scenery, clean waters and local wildlife.’
They added that of even greater concern than the ‘eyesore’ was ‘the disastrous environmental impact it will undoubtedly have’.
Scottish Natural Heritage said the site would threaten the migration route of spawning wild Atlantic salmon because it would attract sea lice parasites.
The Scottish Salmon Company said the site had been ‘carefully designed... to ensure environmental effects have been minimised through the use of innovative technology and enhanced best practice management measures’, adding: ‘As such, no significant effects on the natural heritage environment have been identified.’
The company said the site would generate £1million for the local economy, and many concerns had been answered in its application.