Author: Noel Carr

http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/news/article1361989.ece

12th Jan 2014

Scotland ??????used as back door?????? to ship salmon to China

Sales to China hit ?????37m

SCOTLAND is being used as a ??????back door?????? by Norway to ship thousands of tons of farmed salmon to China, environmentalists have claimed.

Since 2010, when the Chinese authorities imposed trade restrictions on Norway after a Chinese dissident was awarded the Nobel peace prize, exports of Scottish farmed salmon ?????? about 66% of which is controlled by Norwegian-owned companies ?????? have rocketed by more than 6,000%, from 111 tons to more than 7,000 tons.

The disclosure, by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, shows the value of farmed salmon exports reached ?????37m last year.

It has prompted environmentalists to accuse Alex Salmond of pandering to China??????s demands for farmed salmon at the expense of wild fish on the west coast of Scotland. On Wednesday, Salmond will open the salmon fishing season on the River Tay at Dunkeld in Perthshire.

Campaigners will urge the first minister to call a moratorium on Scotland ??????used as back door?????? to ship salmon to China.

Well done to young Mc Manus who sent our message to the minister and government on catching the first salmon of 2014. See him giving the two fingers to sealice and fish farms on the photo. Eoin comes from banks of Cathleen’s Falls in the banks of the Erne where the wild Atlantic salmon ruled that river until the state sacrificed it for one of five hydro electric plants in early 1950’s. The same place (now Assaroe Lake) they flattened an ancient castle to make way for the dam. Then they realised – someone got their sums wrong and the castle could have been left alone. So, openly question everything state decision, especially BIM to protect our heritage.

THERE WILL BE NO REPLY FROM BIM OR THE MINISTER BE WHEN THE STORM BLOWS. In our questions to the EIS we get the answer that “Best practice will be applied”.
While the salmon pharm cages may be built stronger than a few years ago, they are still no match for the wild Atlantic storm as they lose their moorings frequently. Remember the headlines as a number of cages went AWOL. Some were found without the fish, some may be still be adrift. One bad storm and We will be showered with lice infested escapees that locals have to clean up. It already happened in Donegal – Inver bay. Fish rotting on shore. Fish farmers said the decaying smell was “fertilizer”. Well, with grants from Bim, they are still talking fertilizer.