A salmon sequel to George Orwell's 'Animal Farm' is now being written in Scotland via a beastly new Government-funded project. The Orwellian 'Managing Interactions Aquaculture Project' (MIAP) is re-writing Scottish natural history and ranking rivers on the West coast of Scotland in order of priority.
Some Scottish rivers will be ranked more important than others in a mapping exercise due for completion in March 2013. Those rivers deemed expendable will be sacrificed to the expansion of sea lice-infested salmon farms which the Scottish Government has ordered to increase production by 50% by 2020.
The writing is on the wall for rivers which fail to make the grade and will find themselves in the way of salmon farming expansion.
Thankfully, Scottish river owners are revolting against the ham-fisted tactics employed by the Rivers & Trusts of Scotland (RAFTS) who are spearheading MIAP. Lochaber Fisheries Trust announced their withdrawal earlier this month via The Sunday Times.
“The Lochaber Fisheries Trust (LFT), which covers one of the most dense fish farming regions in Scotland, said it had refused to co-operate with RAFTS amid fears its research is flawed,” reported The Sunday Times (13 January 2013). “Others have accused RAFTS of ‘selling-out’ to the Scottish government, which wants to increase farmed salmon production after striking a trade deal with the Chinese government. They claim the map will effectively rank Scotland’s salmon rivers in order of commercial importance and lead to smaller rivers being sacrificed for aquaculture expansion."
“Wild fish interests are coming increasing pressure from the Scottish Government to assess the risk of fish farms without proper data,” said Diane Baum, Lochaber Fisheries Trust’s senior biologist, in an interview with The Sunday Times (13 January 2013). “In our view, bad data are worse than no data. We have made a decision not to be part of it.”
“Last week, senior members of RAFTS were contacted by The Sunday Times but refused to answer questions about the locational guidance, part of its publicly funded Managing Interactions Aquaculture Project (MIAP),” reported The Sunday Times (13 January 2013). “However, in a letter to be published in Trout & Salmon magazine, the body will state: “The assertion that the project is intended to support aquaculture development is offensive and wrong....Political support for aquaculture expansion is significant. The best option for wild fisheries is to prevent development in important and sensitive locations.....The locational guidance part of MIAP will help with this.”
The MIAP masterplan is endorsed not only by RAFTS but also by the Association of Salmon Fishery Boards (ASFB), the Salmon & Trout Association, the Atlantic Salmon Trust, Fish Legal & the Angling Trust. In a 'Ministerial Briefing' in July 2011 these aquaculture apologists nailed their colours to salmon farming promotion:
"The wild fish sector recognises the permanence and economic importance of the aquaculture industry to Scotland and the West Coast of Scotland in particular. We recognise the desire of Government and the industry to increase Scottish production."
Despite growing criticism, RAFTS is displaying an Orwellian pig-headedness and is ploughing ahead with ranking rivers in order of priority. According to RAFTS, a briefing on MIAP is taking place today (24 January) in Inverness. Today's briefing is one of a series of meetings where RAFTS, in the role of a snake oil salesman, is desperately attempting to sell MIAP to fishery Trusts and Boards across Scotland.
In an embarrassing climbdown, RAFTS was forced over the weekend to erase from their web-site the names of two of the ten "partners" supporting MIAP (following the withdrawal of Lochaber Fisheries Trust and concerns raised by Wester Ross Area Salmon Fishery Board).
The "partners" in MIAP now read only eight - including the Outer Hebrides Fisheries Trust which receives money from Marine Harvest and the Scottish Salmon Company; the West Sutherland Fisheries Trust which receives money from the salmon farming company Loch Duart and includes Loch Duart’s CEO Nick Joy on the board of trustees; the Wester Ross Fisheries Trust which includes Ben Hadfield of Marine Harvest and Henry Dalgety of the Scottish Salmon Company on the board:
Earlier this month, river owners in Lochaber and Wester Ross wrote to HRH The Prince of Wales asking him (as patron of the Salmon & Trout Association and the Atlantic Salmon Trust) to withdraw support for MIAP.
Read more via "Prince Charles Challenged to Stand Up for King of Fish"
West coast rivers are still reeling from the Orwellian decision made over two decades ago - rumoured to be in 1984 - to ban salmon farms on the East coast (home to the more important rivers such as the Tweed, Tay & Spey) but to allow salmon farms on the West coast of Scotland. Details of the shady deal leaked out on a BBC Scotland radio show in 2002 (read more via "Secret Pact Exposed").
The support from RAFTS and other groups for salmon farming expansion is all the more shocking given damning research published by RAFTS itself in 2011 revealing a marked decline in catches of wild salmon in the salmon farming areas of the West Highlands and Islands compared to the East coast of Scotland where there are no salmon farms.
Not to mention the “highly significant” scientific study published by the Royal Society in November 2012 detailing sea lice mortality from salmon farms.
Read more via the new report "Scotland's Salmon Sell-Outs" due out next month!