Pro-fish farming commentator barred from WildFish director's talk at Edinburgh social enterprise

An Edinburgh social enterprise that runs talks intended to “provoke conversations that matter” has banned fish farming commentator Martin Jaffa from an event being presented by Rachel Mulrenan, Scotland director for angling pressure group WildFish which strongly opposes salmon farming.

Jaffa had applied for and initially received a ticket for the Tribe Talks: Sustainability with WildFish event that will take place at the Tribe Porty coworking premises in Portobello on Thursday. It was cancelled after he wrote to Mulrenan to confirm that she knew he would be attending, and that he wouldn’t be turned away at the door after travelling from London.

The event is one of a series of four “Tribe Talks” on the subject of sustainability. Tribe Talks are primarily intended for Tribe Porty’s tenants to get to know more about each other, although the public can also attend.

'An open dicussion'

A preview of Mulrenan’s talk published on the Tribe Porty website claims that open net salmon farming “is ravaging wild salmon and sea trout”.

It adds: “In this talk, Rachel will give an overview of the Scottish salmon farming industry – what it is, and how it impacts on the health of fish, people and planet. She will give a short introduction to WildFish’s Off the table campaign, which calls on chefs, restaurants and consumers to stop serving, buying or eating farmed salmon, and open a discussion about what a future in Scotland could look like without the salmon farming industry.”

The Tribe Talk includes a question-and-answer session that Jaffa wanted to take part in to challenge some of WildFish’s claims.

Access denied

However, in an email to Jaffa, Tribe Porty community manager Alice Hudson informed him that his ticket had been cancelled, and “access to the talk and our building will not be permitted”.

She added: “This decision was made to ensure the comfort of all attendees and to maintain the values of our community events.”

When Fish Farming Expert asked Tribe Porty for further explanation, a spokesperson said Jaffa’s “attitude” towards Mulrenan in the past meant that his presence would be appropriate in the Tribe Talk setting.

“It's our own event, we can cancel the ticket if it’s requested,” they added, pointing out that there are other events that Jaffa can register for with WildFish.

Closure of all salmon farms

WildFish, formerly known as Salmon and Trout Conservation, blames the decline of wild salmon and trout populations in Scotland and campaigns for the closure of all existing open-net farms – something that would result in the loss of thousands of jobs.

In June, Mulrenan claimed to the Scottish Parliament’s inquiry into salmon farming that the industry had created only 465 out of the 22,100 new jobs added across the Highlands and Islands over the last 30 years.

“We obviously recognise the need for high quality, future-proof jobs on the west coast of the Highlands and Islands, and that’s beyond dispute, but we do not think at WildFish that salmon farming has a place in this future,” Mulrenan told MSPs.

Refuses to debate

Jaffa has frequently offered to share a debating platform with WildFish but the organisation has never taken up the offer.

He said he had looked on the Tribe Talk as an opportunity to meet Mulrenan and speak with her.

“I wrote to her and said I was looking forward to having a chat with her and suddenly found out that I had been cancelled.

“The point was to take part in the discussion, but WildFish don’t want to hear the questions that I would have asked.

“Someone (Mulrenan) who was happy to express their view to the salmon inquiry does not want someone else to express their own view.”