RIVER workers have voiced fears for the purity of wild salmon in Argyll and Bute after more than 11,000 farmed fish escaped into rivers.
The escape from a Scottish Salmon Company farm at Geasgill on Mull was reported to Marine Scotland after employees recorded low numbers during a routine grading exercise.
The Scottish Gamekeepers Association (SGA) Fishing Group said 11,040 farmed salmon entered rivers, including the River Ba, one of the few rivers in the west of Scotland given a class one rating for salmon conservation.
Ghillies in the area have ordered any farmed salmon caught to be killed and not returned to the river.
Gamekeepers also say there is “real concern” cross-breeding between farmed salmon and wild salmon will weaken the wild gene pool.
Greg Marsh, of the SGA Fishing Group, who looks after operations at River Coladoir and Loch Scridain said: “People here are up in arms.
“What effect is this going to have on the wild fish? What will fisheries be offering in three or four years’ time? Fish of unknown genetic purity."
Mr Marsh says all Scottish anglers need to now be able to identify farmed salmon in rivers to ensure the fish are not being re-released into the system.
One of the key differences in appearance between wild and farmed salmon is that vents on a wild salmon will be reddy/brown and slightly swollen at this time of year.
He added: “The likelihood of crossbreeding is a real concern so people need to know the difference if the impacts of these escapes are to be contained in any way.”
A spokeswoman for The Scottish Salmon Company said: “During a routine fish handling exercise at our site on Mull we identified a reduction in salmon numbers.
“This was reported to Marine Scotland and investigated in line with standard procedure.
“We take the health and well-being of our fish and the surrounding environment very seriously and have reviewed procedures and training.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel