Call for cost/benefit analysis of salmon farming

09 December 2024

From fish farm campaigning organisation 'Wildfish'

More than 50 businesses, community groups, youth groups and charities from across Scotland are calling on the Scottish Government to justify its long-standing political and policy support for open-net salmon farming.

In an open letter, published on 13 November, the coalition of 54 organisations highlight that the cited economic benefits of salmon farming in Scotland have never been balanced against the possible detrimental impacts of the industry on a wide variety of other sectors in the country.

The group of organisations, which span the country, state in the letter: “We write to ask that you urgently re-evaluate your policy on the open-net salmon farming industry. The open-net salmon farming industry is regularly hailed as one of Scotland’s economic success stories.

"However, peer-reviewed research has found that the economic benefits of the industry have not been adequately weighed against its detrimental impacts on other sectors of Scotland’s economy (not to mention detrimental impacts on the marine environment, without which there can be no blue economic growth).”

The letter continues: “What is often forgotten is that this industry uses Scotland’s precious natural assets for ‘free’ disposal of its waste and inflicts widespread damage on the ecosystems that support other commercial activities. These are costs that are currently ignored in Scottish Government assessments of the ‘value’ of the industry to Scotland as a whole.”

This intervention came as Cabinet Secretary Mairi Gougeon was set to appear at the final evidence session for the Rural Affairs and Islands (RAI) committee’s current inquiry into salmon farming on Wednesday 13 November, closing what has been a fiery follow-up inquiry to the Scottish Parliament’s original 2018 inquiry, conducted by two committees, into salmon farming.

Read the letter      and   Wildfish article

More from 'Wildfish' on salmon farming

Troubled waters: communities at odds on fish farming
'The Ferret'    July 2021   Richard Baynes

A Proposal for Sustainable Salmon Farming
'Marinet'  February 2015   James Merryweather (leading fish farming activist).