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Toxic sunken fish farm relocated to Wester Ross sparking fury amongst local residents

The Bakkafrost feed barge, pictured here before it sank, has been relocated to a coastal beach near Kishorn. Image: Don Staniford
The Bakkafrost feed barge, pictured here before it sank, has been relocated to a coastal beach near Kishorn. Image: Don Staniford

Residents of a Wester Ross village have hit out after a “toxic” salmon farm barge was beached a short distance from their homes.

The barge, operated by Faroese company Bakkafrost, has been anchored at Reraig Bay, near Kishorn.

Previously the 400-tonne barge, which sank during Storm Arwen, was near Portree in Skye.

But in August, a 1,640ft exclusion zone was placed around the wreck after documents, published by anti-fish farm campaigner Don Staniford, revealed “significant levels” of hydrogen sulfide were being emitted.

Update on the 'toxic' feed barge salvaged off Portree. A Freedom of Information disclosure by Police Scotland earlier…

Posted by Don Staniford on Monday, 19 December 2022

Authorities including police and Highland Council also installed monitors to warn if levels became hazardous.

Although police said the exclusion zone did not reach land, a warning was issued to mariners with the parameters of the exclusion.

But now residents near Reraig Bay are questioning why the barge has now been left just 150 yards from their homes.

‘No communication with residents’

Speaking to the Press & Journal, one local resident said: “This enormous feed barge suddenly appeared with the crane in the bay at the weekend. My dad stays there but is away for Christmas.

“I stay in Kishorn. We assumed it was sheltering from the weather, but then a neighbour called to say that the crane had gone and it had just been left there.

“We were initially appalled just because of its size and we had no idea where it had come from or why it was there. Now we have found out about what it is and that it is potentially contaminating a quiet, unspoilt bay, not to mention the MPA (marine protected area), we are horrified.

“There has been absolutely no communication with the residents as to what it is, why it is there, nor for how long. I should say that this is a very private bay in a small community and people are very easily identified.

“I know many people who work for the fish farms and I am sympathetic to the fact that they are huge employers here and that is very important to the local economy.

“However, I am increasingly dismayed by some of the practices of these huge, foreign companies, especially their disregard for the fragile natural environment they inhabit.”

On social media, Lou-Lou Troup wrote: “So it has now been beached in Reraig Bay about 150 yards from our house on a part of the beach where people walk with their dogs and collect mussels, whelks, and cockles…  surely that must be one of the most environmentally wrong and dangerous places to beach her?”

Bakkafrost says safety is priority

New documents obtained through a freedom of information request to police have revealed Bakkafrost had originally planned to transport the vessel to an old site as a second load of contaminated water and feed was offloaded to the anaerobic digestion plant in Fraserburgh.

However, the plans were pulled following safety concerns.

The vessel is now expected to remain there until the Viking Saga returns and removes the remaining waste.

It will then be refloated during high tide and towed away.

In an e-mail sent by Bakkafrost to police, the firm said: “Our priority is the safety of the people and the environment.”

Fellow resident Annabel Scott said she is shocked by the decision.

Taking to Twitter, she wrote: “This has been dumped in a bay (not Kishorn) right on the edge of the Lochcarron MPA, with no warning or explanation to those who live there. It is bigger than the house on the shore and who knows what it is emitting. Shocking.”

Bakkafrost was contacted for comment but did not respond.

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