Orkney planners say yes to Scottish Sea Farms’ expansions
Scottish Sea Farms has been granted planning permission to expand two salmon farms in Scapa Flow, Orkney.
Orkney Council’s planning committee gave the green light to changes for SSF’s Toyness site, located between Houton Bay and Swanbister Bay, and its Bring Head site off the coast of Hoy.
The sites are among five SSF bought in 2007 and have small maximum allowed biomass (MAB) limits by modern standards. Toyness is limited to 1,343 tonnes and Bring Head to just 968 tonnes.
2,689 tonnes more
SSF wants to increase MAB to 2,500 tonnes at each site, giving it an extra 2,689 tonnes. The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA), which determines MAB, told planners it didn’t object to either planning application but that the exact MAB for each site will be decided when it considers alterations to SSF’s existing licences for the farms.
The Norwegian-owned salmon farmer will replace 10 x 80m cages in a 50m mooring grid at Toyness with 12 x 120m cages in an 80m mooring grid, increasing the surface area of the site from 5,270m² to 14,065m². The existing 200-tonne capacity feed barge will be replaced by a new 420-tonne capacity barge.
At Bring Head, SSF will also replace 10 x 80m cages in a 50m mooring grid with 12 x 120m cages and swap the existing 50-tonne capacity barge for a 420-tonne capacity barge.
Sea lice concerns
Orkney Islands Council approved the applications despite objections to both from the Orkney Trout Fishing Association, which said sea lice numbers at the sites had been above the industry threshold over the last nine months, and this was a concern for the health of wild sea trout.
The Press & Journal reported that SSF’s regional production manager Richard Darbyshire said the current levels of lice in Scapa Flow were “very low”, and that SFF is confident lice are “a problem it can control”.
Planning approval for the Orkney site expansions follows last month’s decision by councillors in Argyll and Bute to approve SSF’s application to expand its farm at Dunstaffnage, near Oban, from 9 x 80m pens to 14 x 100m pens. The decision enables SSF to increase MAB from 1,300 tonnes to 2,350 tonnes, a move already approved by SEPA.
