Comment
BY DR MARTIN JAFFA
Unfair game Wild salmon numbers have declined, but is fish farming to blame?
E
Earlier this month, I came across a headline in the Mail on Sunday that declared: “Listen to country folk – we know our land best”. This was a piece wri�en by Alex Hogg MBE, chairman of the Sco�sh Gamekeepers Associa�on and it is interes�ng because he does not seem to follow his own advice. His ar�cle was inspired by plans for rural workers to protest online because they feel that many, including poli�cians, are so detached from rural life that they have li�le understanding of the issues. Mr Hogg is concerned about deer management, fish farming, species reintroduc�on and fox control amongst other things. He writes: “Our voices are not listened to.” This is all very confusing, because the fish farming sector is also part of rural life, and it is clear that Mr Hogg and his colleagues in the hun�ng, fishing, shoo�ng sector are not in the slightest bit interested in listening to people from the fish farming industry – even if they, too, know their sector best. Mr Hogg makes two points about salmon farming. First he says that three years ago, cross-party Parliamentary commi�ees indicated major changes were needed to be�er regulate fish farming. He then con�nues that, whilst the Sco�sh Gamekeepers Associa�on is not opposed to good fish farming opera�ons, the Government has not kept its part of the bargain. He says that fish farms are endangering already declining salmon popula�ons, and this is threatening ghillie jobs. Although there has been an a�empt to reach out to Mr Hogg, he has not replied. Like much of the wild fish sector. he does not seem that
26
Martin Jaffa.indd 26
keen about listening to others. They have a narra�ve that they have fixed in stone, and are not interested in anything that might undermine it. Mr Hogg refers to the Parliamentary Commi�ee inquiries of 2018. He does not men�on that the REC Commi�ee reconvened to discuss salmon farming in November last year. These commi�ees are not Government and Mr Hogg men�ons a “bargain” that might be more perceived than real. The REC Commi�ee heard last November that SEPA (the Sco�sh Environment Protec�on Agency), one of the regulators, does not believe that the decline of wild fish is related to salmon farming. So far, the wild fish sector has ignored this statement, clearly in the hope it will be soon forgo�en. Those in the wild fish sector, including Mr Hogg, associate the current crisis in wild salmon with salmon farming. Yet, even before the arrival of salmon farming to the west coast, catches from rivers in what is now called the Aquaculture Zone averaged only about 10% of the total Sco�sh catch. This means that 90% of salmon caught by anglers are
www.fishfarmermagazine.com
12/04/2021 16:07:23
