Full scale war! Scottish locals battle plans to transform picturesque Loch Linnhe into vast salmon mega-farm

• Loch Long Salmon is making a second attempt at an experimental fish farm
• But locals near the scenic Loch Linnhe in Argyll, Scotland, are fighting back

Millions of fish could be introduced into a picturesque Scottish loch to transform it into an industrial salmon farm – sparking fears it will kill wildlife and pollute the water.

The scheme to create Scotland’s first semi-closed salmon farm at Loch Linnhe, near Fort William in the west of Scotland, are being slammed by locals as ‘ludicrous’.

Fish farming company Loch Long Salmon is making its second attempt at an experimental fish farm after its first application was rejected at Loch Long in Argyll.

After the planning authority refused the plans for the farm – which is currently under appeal – the company is now trying to put it just three hours up the coast at Loch Linnhe instead – a beautiful stretch of water near Ben Nevis.

But the locals say it will cause ‘irreversible damage’ to the natural beauty of the area as the farm will require an industrial site set up on the shoreline, with an office, silos, car park and a mortality handling station.

Calling the farm an ‘act of vandalism’, nature-lovers are also concerned that urine from the 8,000 tonnes of fish – the equivalent weight of 11,000 live cows – will lead to the marine life dying, with one saying ‘all this life will die – they don’t stand a chance’.

An aerial image of Loch Linnhe in summer in the Argyll region of Scotland

Plans to create ‘Scotland’s largest fish farm’ at a popular scenic spot are being fought by outraged locals who have labelled it as ‘ludicrous’. Credit: Jane Hartnell-Beavis

Wild swimmers who love to visit the loch have also slammed the plans, saying the industrial farm will ruin the ‘tranquillity’ and put people off swimming. Credit: Long Live Loch Linnhe

But the locals are concerned about ‘irreversible damage’ to the natural beauty of the area and have called the venture an ‘enormous gamble’. Credit: Long Live Loch Linnhe

Loch Long Salmon is proposing eight ‘semi-closed’ 50-metre fish pens, which would each hold thousands of fish and would need a large shoreside installation running 24 hours a day.

The new farms differ from the standard open-net farms in that a bag separates the salmon from the sea. Water is pumped in from below the pen, and solid waste, which gathers at its base, is collected, brought ashore and treated.

It says this method of farming excludes sea-lice, catches organic waste and improves the ‘health and welfare of the farmed stock’.

Scottish salmon farming is suffering massive mortalities – with 17 million last year – and some hope this new method is the solution. 

In 2021, the company applied for permission for the farm to be at Loch Long, near Beinn Reithe. 

The Scottish Environmental Protection Agency granted them a permit for the farm, but the Board of Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park refused planning permission – stating that Loch Long Salmon ‘fails to recognise the value of this nationally important landscape’.

Now the company is applying for permission to put the farm a three-hour drive away at a different loch, enraging a new band of locals, fearful their own beauty spot will become a ‘test bed’.

It has run five community consultations regarding the proposal to submit a planning application for the salmon farm, but locals have banded together and say they are going to launch a petition with the Scottish Parliament to oppose it.

A diagram of the semi-closed technology by FiiZK which Long Loch Salmon wants to use in its fish farms. Credit: FiiZK

An artist’s impression of the proposed farm at Loch Long, which is at a smaller scale than the one proposed for Loch Linnhe. Credit: Loch Long Salmon

An illustration of the site plan for the proposed farm at Loch Long. Credit: Loch Long Salmon

According to plans submitted for a scoping request into the project, the site on the shore of Loch Linnhe would include:

• A building including an office, workshop, sleeping quarters and storage areas
• A car park for staff vehicles 
• A new access road and junction from the A828 
• Up to eight feed silos with a maximum height of 10m
• A water treatment plant including wastewater storage tank with a height of 13m
• Mortality handling station including ensilage and/or incineration
• Diesel driven electrical generators to provide independent back-up power and diesel storage tanks 

The initial plans say the construction phase would take place over 18 months. 

The scoping application also says the farm has the ‘potential to lead to disturbance, displacement, injury or mortality of otter’ and disturbance of protected mammal species.

Pictured: A sunset over Loch Linnhe with Shuna Island in the background

Pictured: Jane Hartnell-Beavis at Loch Linnhe

Jane Hartnell-Beavis, a who is part of a community group opposing the farm, said the farm will damage the marine life and be ‘incredibly visually intrusive’.

She told MailOnline: ‘The state of fish farming all over the world is terrible and it’s wrecking the environment and damaging the wild population of fish. But it’s important for the economy.

‘The Scottish government are trying to decide whether this technology is the solution to the problem. 

READ MORE – The wild salmon leaping to extinction: In just ten years, Britain’s premier fishing rivers have seen catches fall from thousands to hundreds 

‘But the farm proposed for Loch Long was half the size of the one they want to put at Loch Linnhe. 

‘Our loch is full of the most wonderful marine life, it’s full of otters and dolphins and other wildlife. It’s incredible.

‘But all the crustaceans will suffer from all the pollution from the farm. Even if it collects the solid waste from the fish, all the urine will go into the water.

‘Loch Linnhe is enjoyed by everyone who lives here. People go kayaking, canoeing, swimming, sailing, snorkelling… 

‘You can imagine that all underneath these cages, all this life, will die. They don’t stand a chance.

‘These farms are incredibly visually intrusive. In order for them to function they require containers of oxygen, waste extraction, transportation…huge lorries coming through the area.

‘It would have 24/7 lighting, 24/7 security. Concrete would be poured next to the shore. The normal fish farms just have a little hut but this is different.

View across Loch Linnhe and Loch Eil in Lochaber from the Nevis Range near Fort William

So now the company is applying for permission to put the farm a three hour drive away at a different loch, but locals are outraged. Credit: Long Live Loch Linnhe

Local angler David Gunn, who has fished these waters for 61 years,is against the proposed fish farm. Credit: Long Live Loch Linnhe

Loch Long Salmon is proposing eight ‘semi-closed’ fish pens which would hold millions of fish and would need a large shoreside installation running 24 hours a day (stock image)

‘It’s money. It’s all about money and the fish but it’s being done under greenwashing. 

‘It’s not sustainable – that’s nonsense. They also say the semi-open pens will eliminate sea lice. That’s not true – it alleviates it.

‘These pens will have super density – they’ll be packed with fish. So if a disease gets in, it’ll be like covid for the fish. You’ve got a problem.’

Sea lice are flesh-eating lice which eat salmon alive. It’s an agonising experience for the fish whose heads and bodies are covered with pain receptors. 

James Standley, a retired professional diver with 25 years of experience, lives on the boundary of the proposed site, and has raised concerns about the project’s impact on the loch’s wildlife and surrounding community.

He said: ‘The damage this fish farm would have on the area would be irreversible. 

READ MORE -‘It’s like an X-rated horror film’: Welfare probe launched after ‘zombie’ salmon with huge chunks of flesh missing are filmed at UK fish farm 

‘We’ve only got one shot at protecting Scotland’s natural beauty, so to pave over it would be an act of vandalism.

‘Coming from a background of diving, it’s really worrying to think of the impact this could have on our wildlife. I’ve seen basking sharks in the loch – yet I could soon be swimming next to 50 metre fish pens. 

‘I’ve watched the volume of marine life diminish over the years and projects like this play a massive part in that.

‘My neighbours and I bought our homes to be close to the outdoors, so we could nip down to the loch for a dip and enjoy the view with our morning coffee. Just like that, we could lose all of it.’

Local angler David Gunn, has fished the waters for 61 years. He fears a fish farm could kill off the area’s wild Atlantic Salmon population

He said: ‘Without a doubt, fish farms have had a huge impact on the declining numbers of wild salmon in our waters, and it is a problem that has been exacerbated on the west coast of Scotland.

‘This has always been a good area for wild salmon, and there was even a surplus in Loch Linnhe – but since the advent of salmon farms, the wild salmon population has declined by 95 per cent and so many salmon in Loch Linnhe’s rivers are now extinct.

‘The level of excrement that will be dumped in the loch is frightening. 

‘Loch Long Salmon is effectively proposing eight massive fish farms – and while they say they can capture some of this waste – the majority of it will settle on the loch bed and will filter on the shellfish and make its way into the food chain, restaurants aren’t going to want to put that on their menus.

‘Everywhere this new technology has been tested so far has been at a much smaller scale and it hasn’t worked effectively. 

A diver in the waters of Loch Linnhe encounters a jellyfish. Credit: Long Live Loch Linnhe

The loch is known as a wild swimming spot. Charlotte Parkin has been swimming in the loch for five years. Credit: Long Live Loch Linnhe

Farming company Loch Long Salmon is making a second attempt at an experimental fish farm after their first application was rejected at Loch Long in Argyll, Scotland (stock image)

‘To go straight into something at such a huge scale is an enormous gamble in an area of outstanding natural beauty – we don’t want to be used as a test bed.’

The loch is popular with wild swimmers. Charlotte Parkin has been swimming there for five years and feels a new mega farm would ruin the area’s natural beauty.

She said: ‘It is incredibly peaceful and you get a real sense of euphoria while swimming in the loch. 

‘There is a huge number of people that use the loch and it is not uncommon to have 30 people by the beach on a summer’s night enjoying the water – it’s incredibly valuable to the community.

READ MORE – Flesh-eating SEA LICE are biting people in Britain’s seafront lakes as swimmers are warned to stay away 

‘Fish farms have a major impact on the tranquillity of the loch, I have swum close to nearby fish farms and it completely spoils the serene experience. 

‘Sometimes we’ve seen scum on the loch surface near these farms and it is enough to put anyone off swimming.’

Stocks of wild Atlantic salmon, a fish abundant within British rivers a generation ago, are in a state of collapse. Some now believe the entire future of the species is threatened.

Overall numbers are down by 70 per cent since the turn of the century, falling from around ten million to between two and three million.

In 2018, the last year for which records are available, 37,196 salmon were caught by Scotland’s anglers. That has fallen from over 100,000 a decade ago, and is the lowest number since records began in the 1950s.

CEO of Long Loch Salmon, Stewart Hawthorn, said: ‘I have been working in fish farming for over 35 years. Salmon is not only good for our health but it’s also one of the most low-carbon proteins you can get.

‘Some of the claims being made are inaccurate and wrong. There has been an eight year research project in Norway – so to say it is untested technology isn’t true.

‘It worked for the welfare, the health and performance of the farm. 

‘The sea lice might get in but they won’t reproduce because of how the farm is.

‘I take comfort from the eight year research project, from visiting these systems, speaking to the people behind them and seeing them with my own eyes.

‘That is why I think it is important to bring this technology to Scotland.

‘The claims over an industrial site are a gross exaggeration. It is a small patch of land. 

‘It’s inaccurate to say it will be a huge blight – it won’t be visible from the land.

‘It is important to the economy in Scotland. It’s not just about the tourist economy, but a mixture. This will be a good thing for Scotland.

‘I’m frustrated. This is an opportunity for Scotland to bring in something used in Canada, in Norway.

‘We have a climate crisis going on. And we are a small company looking to bring in in innovative technology to help.’

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