The November 2022 issue of Fish Farmer is out now online

The November issue of Fish Farmer magazine is out now online and you can read it here – you can now also download the issue as a PDF to read even when you are offline.

This month, we take a look at the planning application process in Scotland, and in particular the stage of the process that has seen a number of applications fail over the past few years – getting consent from the local authority.

World demand for farmed salmon is strong, and the farmers want to produce more. The key obstacle is getting consent for new or expanded marine fish farms.

Does this represent democracy in action, or a barrier to progress? And could the long, expensive process be reformed without jeopardising the right of local people to have their say?

The November issue also focuses on Fish Health and Welfare, including a report from Nofima on a study that shows salmon are very sensitive to the potentially dangerous gas hydrogen sulphide (H2S), even in small doses.

Legislators in different jurisdictions are increasingly recognising what scientists have been arguing for some time – that fish are sentient beings. This has implications for our obligation to safeguard fish welfare and, particularly, for how fish are slaughtered.

In the UK, terrestrial animals have a number of legal protections where slaughter is concerned – could this be extended to farmed fish? Sandy Neil considers the issues.

We also feature an ice age survivor, the bleke or dwarf salmon, which has adapted to a life entirely in fresh water – because its access to the sea was cut off thousands of years ago. The bleke came close to extinction before a restocking programme saved it. Now there are proposals to use the knowledge from that initiative to farm bleke commercially.

In this issue you can also read about the impact that Norway’s plan for a “resource tax” on fish farmers is already having on the industry; and Rabobank’s analysts give their view on the global market in seafood.

Meanwhile, Scotland’s shellfish producers held their annual conference in Oban last month. On page 30, Nicki Holmyard reports on the proceedings and on the awards for best shellfish.

Finally, Vince McDonagh explains the ramifications of Norway’s proposed “ground rent tax” on marine fish farms, while Nick Joy ponders what the chaos in Westminster over the past few months tells us about our elected representatives’ ability to solve today’s very real problems.