To supporters of Animal Concern, Animal Concern Advice Line and Scottish Anti-Vivisection Society.
Dear Friends,
I hope I find you well and with an hour or so to spare. Due to pressure of work this email is a bit last minute and asks you to do some things as a matter of urgency
Tonight I will mainly be talking about those often foreign-owned, filthy floating factory fish pharms, beloved by the Scottish Government despite the fact they pollute our coastal waters, injure and kill native wildlife, are partially responsible for denuding the seas of wild fish and probably cause more animals to die of disease, parasites and accidental injury than any other form of livestock farming.
Highland Council is considering a Planning Application for a large salmon farm to be sited off Flodigarry on Skye. Objections can be sent by email but must arrive by September 1st at the latest.
The email address you need is: eplanning@highland.gov.uk
Put this in the subject line: OBJECTION TO PLANNING APPLICATION 19/03093/FUL
Address your email to: ePlanning Centre, Highland Council, Glenurquhart Road, Inverness IV3 5NX. Remember to put in your own name and address.
Head your email with: OBJECTION TO PLANNING APPLICATION 19/03093/FUL from Organic Sea Harvest for a new 12 x 120m circumference circular cage marine fish farm for Atlantic Salmon to be sited north east Of Bridgend Cottage, Flodigarry, Portree, Isle of Skye.
I don't want to dictate what to say as duplicate submissions may be dismissed. However the main reasons for objecting include: Disturbance of wildlife including local seal colonies. Pollution of the water and seabed by faeces from the salmon and any food pellets which fall through the cages. The possibility of sealice from the farm contaminating and killing young salmon and seatrout as they migrate out to sea from their home rivers. The loss of yet another area of our coastal waters to these obtrusive and obstructive cage complexes. If you are a sailor, canoeist, kayaker or just a tourist who likes to watch wildlife, make it clear that you prefer not to visit areas marred by salmon farms.
Although not strictly part of the planning procedure considerations there's no harm in mentioning the fact that recent undercover investigations have shown great suffering caused to farmed salmon and huge numbers of mortalities resulting in convoys of dead salmon being trucked hundreds of miles to be destroyed in toxic waste handling facilities.
Please try and submit an objection, even if it is only a few lines, by Sunday night.
You can read our official objection (but please don't just copy it!) in the News section of our website: www.animalconcern.org/news.htm While you are there you will find links to some newspaper articles about protests against salmon farming in the seas off Oban this weekend and in Leith and Edinburgh next Monday and Tuesday.
For more details of the Oban area events please use this link: https://donstaniford.typepad.com/my-blog/2019/08/press-release-swim-protest-against-salmon-farming-pollution-on-scotlands-west-coast-.html
These events are being organised by Scottish Salmon Watch. If you can attend the Edinburgh events the details are:
Monday 2 September: 11am at Victoria Quay, Leith outside the Marine Scotland office.
Tuesday 3 September: 11am at the water fountain outside the Scottish Parliament.
If you've not already done so please sign the Petition which will be handed in to the Scottish Government:
I know that, like myself, many of you will not be able to get to Oban or Edinburgh for these events. Perhaps you could send a protest email to coincide with the demos? Best politicians to lobby are: First Minister Nicola Sturgeon MSP; Fergus Ewing MSP, Cabinet Secretary for the Rural Economy; Roseanna Cunningham MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform and Mairi Gougeon MSP, Minister for Rural Affairs and the Natural Environment. Just write the one email and send a copy to each of them at: scottish.ministers@gov.scot
Mark each of them “For the Personal Attention of”. If you live in Scotland please copy the email to your MSPs.
Write something along the lines of;
“Dear Minister,
This weekend there have been protests in the Oban area to show opposition to salmon farming. On Monday and Tuesday there will be protests in Edinburgh too. I cannot attend those protests but I want you to know that I support them.
I want the Scottish Government to take action against these floating factory farms which kill and displace wildlife, pollute our marine environment and cause the suffering and death of millions of salmon every year. Salmon farming is also unsustainable as it takes two or three tonnes of wild fish to make the food pellets needed to raise just one tonne of edible salmon.
At the very least I urge the Scottish Government to call an immediate moratorium on the planned massive expansion of salmon farming in this country. If the industry is to survive action must be taken to eliminate the cruelty, pollution, wildlife persecution and lack of sustainability which are all part of salmon farming today.”
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While on our website please check out some of the other news items. On June 20th we made a submission to the consultation about overhauling Freedom of Information Legislation. That has been published now and I read the submissions on the Government website. As far as I can see we were the only animal pressure group to do so which is a great shame.
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There are some other important things to do as well.
Could those of you in the UK please email your MP with this or similar:
“I urge you to attend two events in the next fortnight.
The first is a reception hosted by Humane Society International - and forty other animal protection organisations - in the Churchill Room on 3rd September from 4pm. The second is a Westminster Hall debate on 9th September at 4.30pm.
I urge you to speak in support of sentience legislation during the debate on the 9th, and also to support Humane Society International' calls for the creation of an Animal Welfare Commission to provide government with robust and independent advice on how animals' welfare needs should best be met in policy making.
The session will also allow MPs to debate the EndTheCageAge petition, which called for a ban on the use of intensive confinement methods in farming - like cages for hens and crates for pigs.
I hope you will fully support the elimination of such cruel, outdated and unnecessary practices.”
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There's a consultation/survey on proposals by Green MSP Alison Johnstone for a new Protection and Conservation of Wild Mammals (Scotland) Bill. It closes on 15th September and you can find it here: https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/WildMammals/
If you want to support the whole Bill then you simply need to answer “fully supportive” to the first 10 questions. You can skip any questions you don't want to answer, but make sure you click on “submit” on the final page so that your response is submitted.
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There's a Petition calling on the UK Government to ban driven grouse shooting. If it gets to 100,000 signatures Parliament must debate it. Currently it is 19,000 short.
Please sign it and encourage others to do so too:
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/266770
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There's also a petition to sign to oppose a salmon farm off the island of Canna:
https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/no-fish-farms-off-the-coast-of-canna?bucket=memblast
And some farms doon the watter in the Clyde Estuary:
https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/against-fish-farming-aff-the-firth-of-clyde
Here's another fish farm related petition: https://www.change.org/p/roseanna-cunninham-scottish-government-cabinet-secretary-for-the-environment-save-dolphins-porpoises-and-seals-from-scottish-salmon-farms
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I've got a too smart for me phone and I think apps are mountains for people like me who cannot spell. However if you are smarter than your phone and you live or holiday in Scotland you might want to download an app which lets you report beach strandings of mammals and the location of plastics and other dangerous materials washed ashore. You can get the app from the lead below and the very best of luck with it: https://www.beachtrack.org/about
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The RSPCA are campaigning to end sentient slaughter and ensure all animals are rendered unconscious before being killed. Please sign the petition: https://www.rspca.org.uk/getinvolved/campaign/slaughter/england/thankyou
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I think that's enough to be getting on with. I'll get back to you soon re the crucial Consultation about the scandalous Scottish Government General Licence Scheme responsible for the mass slaughter of unknown thousands of wild birds every year.
Sorry this has been such a long message. Please do your best to get through everything. Remember it is NOT compulsory to leave a donation every time you visit petitions, on the various websites.
Please feel free to forward this email to anyone who might be interested.
Cheers4now,
John