An ending, an operation and a new beginning

Now at the ripe old age of 67, I have given up my last regular role. It has been a pleasure to work in this industry, even without anyone knowing I was for a while.

It is time to move on though I still hope to keep a toe wet every now and then. I retain a huge soft spot for the entrepreneurs in this industry. I enjoy seeing people strive, and am so glad that there are still people mad enough to want to, in such an awful climate for aquaculture and business.

Last week, I also had an operation on my face, which many people would say was long overdue. I am sorry to say that it has not made it any the prettier, in fact just now I look like Frankenstein after he has been beaten up by a couple of night club bouncers. Some of my kinder friends have said “not much change there!”

All of this reminds me that our industry is going through another review by politicians, initiated by the same people, with no evidence, calling for the industry to be stopped or a moratorium placed on new sites. We seem to have a plethora of people either calling for industries to be stopped or not given planning consent, and they always play their game as the victim.

I am at total loss still how the river owners can ever be played as the victim. They are almost always wealthy landowners who have many other strings to their bow, including walking in the corridors of power. Let us forget their power and wealth for a moment and look at whether they really care about salmon or sea trout. Where is the actual evidence that they do? Where is the evidence that they are spending money on improving their fisheries?

Would it be unreasonable of us to ask for them to show us their spending on measures to improve spawning and fish survival over the last 20 years or so? I have seen considerable investment on more comfort for anglers and easier casting, even on making the banks prettier in order to make the views nicer. Maybe if they do not have the money to spend, they could close their fisheries for a while in order to take the pressure off the poor beleaguered wild fish.

So maybe it is time, rather like me facing up to the need for an operation, for our industry to face this challenge head on. When I was a young manager in the industry, the SSGA (as it was then, now Salmon Scotland) was headed by William Crowe and he was known for his combative style, not letting anyone get away with anything.

In the end, those in power decided he was too confrontational. However, because he was so willing to confront, he stopped the “antis” from being able to suggest that their arguments were reasonable.

Perhaps it is time to adopt some of his measures. When dealing with unreasonable people proposing unreasonable things, it is sensible to counter with strength or you will be perceived as weak. Look at what happened on the west coast of Canada – if that isn’t a warning then nothing is.

On this side of the pond we are facing more and more draconian regulation. I know that the industry is currently making money, but it’s going to get harder and harder if we get more regulations based on bad statistics.

At what point does industry say: “We will not comply with anything you are proposing until such time that you produce the evidence upon which it is based.”?

Whilst it is reasonable to argue for the precautionary principle whilst evidence is being gathered, it is not when over 30 years has been spent researching and no such evidence has been found.

Certainly there has been absolutely no evidence to support the current statistical theory of sea lice distribution.

If I am wrong, it would utterly delight me for some regulator to write in to Fish Farmer and argue with what I am saying. However just as they will never meet with Dr Jaffa, I doubt they will have the gall. Meanwhile I will sit by the fire, hoping that my face will one day return to its former lack of glory.