[Gavin Stevenson]

 heard this this morning, strong words from MSPs but why no progress or credible solutions   

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-43284781

[Rob Brownfield]

Sickens me!

Little progress.....environmental concerns...expansion unsustainable...irrecoverable damage...not being regulated....

....and concludes with "Precautionary approach to expansion"....so they will still allow expansion of fish farming!

So if I had a farm that leaked chemicals into the environment, where my livestock was constantly being "put down" because of disease and infestations and I asked to "expand"...would I get government backing and money to do it? Of course not.

[Derek Roxborough]

About time someone said it , but will there be any action? I doubt it,     Derek Roxborough

[Dave Medlyn]

Same here in Ireland, sea trout stocks crashed, pollution, but jobs. And that I fear is the main issue with most governments

[Derek Roxborough]

A lot of the sites here have cut back on staffing, Lochewe is down 30% on staffing, so Jobs aren't really an issue here, but a Smug rep from the salmon farmers was justifying the future of the industry and how ell they are doing in the environment, 40 years too late, Derek Roxborough

[Derek Roxborough]

a bit in the papers  said the expansion of  salmon out put puts the environment at risk from further pollution
Derek Roxborough

[James Laraway]

I dont wish to get political on this ( as this forum is good in that nobody really talks politics) however for years not it has been blatantly obvious to everyone that fish farming is not sustainable ( takes more fish in weight of fish as feed that kgs of salmon produced) and is very environmentally destructive. The current SG , dispite being under control of the 'Greens' has continually turned a blind eye to this and has also deliberately blocked the publication of key data ( fish mortality, sea lice etc) that would cause them and the fish farming industy enbarassement. It just shows what the Greens are willing to sacrifice for their dream on independance. 

[Bob Mitchell]

It was not the S.N.P. that started fish farming. When it started to take off a lot of fishers like myself thought this would save the wild salmon.
It is strange how S.E.P.A. will go after a farmer for spilling effluents in to a burn bit are scared to go after the big boys.
The only hope that I can see is that it is getting talked about a lot more often so perhaps something will be done.
As far as I know the Greens are against rod and line fishing.
Bob.

[Derek Roxborough]

A big bit in the Sunday times about the impact Salmon farming is having , not just on wild Salmon & seatrout but with harvesting of Wrasse, some protected areas in England are being affected by this, No such thing as a free lunch, The SNP may not have started salmon Farming, but they seem to have embraced it over the years, yes proposed as the saviour of the wild salmon , but the truth is out there, the industry was only concerned with money, and the wild fish could go hang,  the industry should be out in open water not in the sheltered sea lochs, just that it's more expensive to do it,  Derek Roxborough

[James Laraway]

It was not the S.N.P. that started fish farming. When it started to take off a lot of fishers like myself thought this would save the wild salmon.
It is strange how S.E.P.A. will go after a farmer for spilling effluents in to a burn bit are scared to go after the big boys.
The only hope that I can see is that it is getting talked about a lot more often so perhaps something will be done.
As far as I know the Greens are against rod and line fishing.
Bob.

You are of course correct that the SNP didnt start fish farming ....however dispite growning evidence of the damage that it was doing both to the marine environment and the wild fish populations they have continually 'blown the trumpet' for the industry, encouraged its expansion and have resisted releasing data showing that damage that is it doing. They have been 'in bed' with the industry for many years, protecting it so they needn't now pretend that they are now on the side of the wild fish / salmon fishermen. Way too little, way too late

[Derek Roxborough]

Received an E-mail today about a Book written By Martin Jaffa about why the Loch Maree sea trout Declined, it's for sale on Amazon, I have no intention of Buying it , This Guy is a legend in his own Lunchtime, Derek Roxborough 

[Rob Brownfield]

Here you go...pretty much says it all...we don't need to know the facts...

https://beta.gov.scot/publications/foi-17-02754/

What is also noticeable is that the rules around FOI requests are also broken in what little information they have released (Under another request). They are meant to provide "reasonable context and explanation" of any information.

This is also worth reading https://www.salmon-trout.org/2017/12/06/foi-number-five/

[Derek Roxborough]

interesting reading, it means that Sepa is any thing but a protection agency, and the FOI is a bloody Laugh, as far as the Scottish Gov. is concerned,  so it  continues to stand on the "Prejudicial to commercial practice" and to hell with public interest,, Derek Roxborough

[James Laraway]

Nice post Rob, very informative. Glad to see it is the SNP that decide what is in the public interest...and as as it would be an embarrasement to them its not in the public interest... ???

Here you go...pretty much says it all...we don't need to know the facts...

https://beta.gov.scot/publications/foi-17-02754/

What is also noticeable is that the rules around FOI requests are also broken in what little information they have released (Under another request). They are meant to provide "reasonable context and explanation" of any information.

This is also worth reading https://www.salmon-trout.org/2017/12/06/foi-number-five/

[Rob Brownfield]

Nice post Rob, very informative. Glad to see it is the SNP that decide what is in the public interest...and as as it would be an embarrasement to them its not in the public interest... ???

I don't actually know how FOI's are handled at Holyrood, whether it is a cross party organisation that looks after them or a single "grey" person tucked away in an office and directed from the top.

However, of the 1329 FOI requests since 2011, 429 were refused.  nearly 33%. Conversely, its about a 16% refusal rate elsewhere in the UK, mostly down to requests that could affect National security.