Marine / Meeting planned to allow folk to have a say on £4m salmon farm plan
A COMMUNITY event is taking place next week on proposals for a large £4 million-plus salmon farm to the west of South Whiteness.
Scottish Sea Farms (SSF) plans to consolidate some existing sites into the new development, which is called Billy Baa.
A spokesperson for the company said this week that it had not yet been decided on the exact number and type of sites – active or inactive – which will be relinquished.
A public meeting will be held at the Whiteness and Weisdale Public Hall between 4pm and 8pm on Tuesday (19 September), where SSF staff will be able to answer questions and take in feedback.
SSF’s vision for Billy Baa is to have nine 160m salmon pens and one 120m pen, secured by a 125m mooring grid and with a surface area of 19,480m2.
The development would create at least six new jobs, and it would be supported from the existing shore base at South Whiteness.
SSF says the development could cost “upwards of £4 million” and adds that consolidating existing licences into one location should make things more efficient.
It claims it will enable the company to increase the space between pens and “boost fish health, welfare and survival”.
SSF intends to apply for an indicative maximum biomass of around 4,000 tonnes.
The company has already gone through the scoping process with the planning service, with officers saying an environmental impact assessment will be required.
The planning service also noted that the salmon farm would be of a “significant size”.
There have previously been calls from campaigners for a moratorium on new salmon farms in Scotland over environmental and fish health concerns.
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