Smaller pens now proposed for new salmon farm
SCOTTISH Sea Farms (SSF) has reduced the size of the pens at a proposed salmon farm in Yell Sound to take into account concerns of local fishermen.
The company has now submitted a formal planning application for its proposed Fish Holm salmon farm.
When the proposal first emerged last year, SSF was planning 12 pens with a circumference of 200 metres, which would have been the largest the company had ever used.
However SSF is instead now planning a total of 12 pens with a circumference of 160 metres, reducing the overall size of the farm.
A spokesperson said this reflects and takes into account the concerns of local fishermen.
SSF said the change “still allows for optimal stocking density in terms of both fish welfare and deposition per unit area on the seabed” but results in a reduced mooring size of around one quarter.
There would also be a 35 per cent reduction in the scale of the surface equipment, the company said.
The plan is to redevelop and expand an existing consented salmon farm site in Yell Sound and relinquish one other consented one.
It would be located in the waters between Mossbank and Lunna Ness.
The currently consented biomass at Fish Holm (1,910t) and Collafirth 3 (1,200t) will be consolidated into one larger farm at Fish Holm, with a proposed biomass of 6,000t, SSF said.
The development is also part of a trial of a new licensing and consenting process for salmon farms in Scotland.
When news of the Fish Holm development, and its now-axed 200m pens, emerged last year it sparked something of a war of words between SSF and Green MSP Ariane Burgess.
The Highlands and Islands MSP expressed concern about the plans to stock 6,000 tonnes of fish at the site – but SSF said the MSP was spreading “misconceptions”.
Scottish Sea Farms meanwhile is also proposing the Billy Baa development farm near Weisdale Voe, which would have pens up to 160m in size.
This project, which already has planning consent, would also consolidate existing licences in that area.
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