A new fish farm on Loch Long looks set to be granted a licence by SEPA – but details of everyone making comments have been lost because of a cyber attack.
Dawnfresh wants to build four rainbow trout farms around the Firth of Clyde, one of them at Ardentinny in Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park.
The park authority will make the final decision, but before then SEPA was asked to grant a licence for the fish farm to discharge into Loch Long.
Now officials are proposing to grant the licence, subject to conditions, although Scottish Ministers may ‘call in’ the application because of objections.
But with contact details of everyone making comments having been lost, SEPA has asked everyone who made representations back in 2019 to contact them again before October 1.
The other planned farms are off Bute and Cumbrae, and Scottish Natural Heritage has said all four should be seen as ‘a single project for a large-scale expansion of fish farm activity in the Firth of Clyde area’.
All four have sparked objections, with an action group being formed in Ardentinny, where residents are overwhelmingly against the project.
The national park authority has decided that an Environmental Impact assessment will be needed, while residents and anglers have raised concerns about sea lice and the threat to wild migrating salmon.
With other trout farms also planned – two at Cumbrae and one off Bute – there is a risk that rainbow trout could prey on salmon, and three rivers off Loch Long – the Goil, the Mallan and the Eachaig – currently have wild salmon, as well as being used by sea trout.
In 2018 more than 100 rainbow trout escaped from a Dawnfresh farm on Loch Awe.
SEPA’s reasons for grating the licence are stated on pages three to seven of this PDF: car-l-1178003_ardentinny-21-day-notice
A spokesperson said this week: “As part of the Controlled Activities Regulations (CAR) licence application process, SEPA seeks representations from stakeholders and members of the public.
“In 2019, we consulted on a CAR licence application for a marine pen fish farm at Ardentinny, however at the request of the applicant the process was later put on hold.
“Following a complex and sophisticated cyber attack on SEPA in 2020, we lost access to many of our systems, and contact details of the representations we received during the original consultation process – of which there were 26 – were lost.
“We are now asking for those who previously submitted representations to submit those again in order that we can respond to those, and we encourage people to engage with us during this process.
“We take a clear and evidence-based approach to regulation and continue to work with and listen carefully to all those with who share an interest in Scotland’s water environment.”
The original representation and contact details should be emailed to registry@SEPA.org.uk
Leave a Reply