Marine directorate delays decision on UK’s largest proposed salmon farm at Fish Holm.
The Scottish government’s marine directorate has twice delayed its response to Scottish Sea Farms’ (SSF) plans for what would be the UK’s largest salmon farm at Fish Holm in Yell Sound, extending a trial process that was intended to speed up aquaculture consents according to the Shetland Times.
Fish Holm, designed for a maximum standing biomass of 6,000 tonnes, is one of three projects selected for a “streamlined” licensing pilot. Nine months have passed since SSF submitted its latest application under the scheme.
The original plans were sent back after an objection from NatureScot, Scotland’s nature agency, which raised concerns over potential impacts on protected seabird populations. That objection has since been withdrawn following the submission of additional environmental documentation last month. The marine directorate did not lodge a formal objection, but requested a list of missing information to be supplied by the developer.
Three environmental campaign groups have renewed their objections to the project. The Green Britain Foundation has argued that SSF’s historic compliance record “raises serious concerns”, citing Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) audits at mainland sites where chemical discharge limits were exceeded and data suggesting that around two thirds of SSF’s Shetland farms have failed or only marginally passed seabed monitoring assessments. The foundation described this as evidence of a long-running pattern of “substandard seabed performance”.
Local fishing representatives, who previously warned that the enlarged site could displace parts of the fleet from traditional grounds in Yell Sound, have not yet commented on the latest submissions, which include direct rebuttals of claims around displacement.
SEPA has not raised planning objections but is still assessing biomass limits and chemical treatment regimes as part of its separate licensing process.
For SSF, Fish Holm forms part of a broader strategy to consolidate and expand production into more exposed locations, with the aim of improving lice and disease outcomes. In recent weeks the company has deployed data buoys at potential new sites at Lunning and Skerries and scheduled a second community consultation event for Skerries on Wednesday 10 December. Cooke Scotland has also expressed interest in new areas of north Yell Sound following Crown Estate Scotland’s move earlier this year to open more of the sound to aquaculture development, prompting further concerns from fishermen over possible displacement from established fishing grounds.
