Developments
All-new farm or planned expansion or relocation of an existing farm or facility, you'll find details of our current planning applications here.
Now, as part of our wider farming strategy, we’re exploring the potential of expanding the existing layout and infrastructure in order to:
- Maximise water flow in and around the farm
- Enhance fish health and welfare even further
- Increase operational efficiencies
- Grow harvest volumes.
Community drop-in events
With this in mind, we hosted two community consultation events where our Fiunary neighbours were able to learn more about the proposals and ask any questions they might have, and where our team could listen to local opinion in order to help shape our final proposals.
3pm to 7pm, Wednesday 26 July 2023
Lochaline Village Hall
11am to 3pm, Saturday 29 July 2023
Community Business Hub
Pre-application
Missed our drop-in events but still interested in learning more? You can read more about the proposed changes in the sub-sections below.
Have a question not answered here? Simply email development@scottishseafarms.com and one of the team will be in touch.
Post-submission
Once an application for Planning Permission, a Marine Licence or SEPA CAR licence has been submitted and advertised, there’s still the opportunity to review it and comment to the relevant regulator.
(Please note that any comments made to Scottish Sea Farms at pre-application stage do not replace the statutory application process, at which point comments should be made directly to the relevant regulator.)
Currently, our Fiunary farm consists of 8 x 120m circumference salmon pens. These are equipped with predator defence netting systems to help keep seals and salmon safely separate, paired with pole-mounted top nets to deter sea birds, and are contained within a 65m mooring grid.
There’s also a 80-tonne capacity feed barge which stores fish feed, feeding equipment and an incinerator, along with office and welfare facilities for the farm team.
Proposed changes
Detailed modelling has shown that the local marine environment has the capacity – based on water depth, current speed and shelter, amongst other key factors – to sustainably support the growth of more fish and, in turn, enable us to produce more nutritious meals.
To achieve it, we would first need to reconfigure and expand the farm infrastructure to 9 x 160m salmon pens. Again, these would be equipped with predator deterrent netting systems and pole-mounted top nets system, but would require a larger mooring grid of 130m, supported by a new 300-tonne capacity feed barge.
This equates to an increase in surface area of 7,090m2, enabling our Fiunary farm team to:
- Allow more space between salmon pens
- Maximise water flow in and around pens
- Enhance growing conditions even further
- Rear more salmon, at the same low stocking densities, up to a maximum biomass of 4,000 tonnes
- Increase operational efficiencies.
We’re proposing to replace the existing pens and top nets with ones of a similar design but larger scale (from 8 x 120m circumference pens to 9 x 160m circumference pens).
We’re also considering replacing the existing feed barge that supports our Fiunary farm with a more modern, boat-like design so that it blends in even further with the landscape.
This would be positioned within the middle of the pens, further ensuring a neat, orderly layout.
Shore base
The farm would continue to be serviced from our existing shore base at Fishnish, with no anticipated changes to the route or frequency of workboat journeys as a result of the proposed changes.
Our first step, in understanding any potential visual impacts of the proposed development, has been to carry out what’s known as a Zone of Theoretical Visibility (or ZTV for short).
This is a computer-generated image that identifies the theoretical extent of the visibility of a development and can be compared with a 3D terrain model.
In the case of our Fiunary proposal, the following key viewpoints were included:
- Salen Bay campsite (157784, 743793)
- Aros Castle scheduled monument (156293, 744965)
- Public road at Kentallen at the crest of the hill (155615, 747211)
- Calmac ferry route (160433, 745841)
- Caisteal nan Con scheduled monument (158384, 748659)
Careful analysis
Preliminary analysis of the visual impact of the existing farm layout versus the proposed farm layout found no significant degree of change.
Next steps
Our next step will be to generate computer-aided visualisations of the proposed development to help inform an assessment of any potential impact on the surrounding seascape and landscape.
This assessment will then be shared within any planning application.
Part of our wider company drive to consolidate farms into fewer but larger pens and, in doing so, boost fish health, welfare and survival, the proposed changes will bring benefits locally, regionally and further afield.
Local benefits
Salmon farming is a key employer in the local area, with our Fiunary farm alone supporting six livelihoods directly and contributing to many more across the supply chain. Everything from from engineering, haulage, and diver and vessel hire to the manufacture of equipment and feed, and local travel and accommodation.
Not only will the proposed development of Fiunary help safeguard these jobs, and the onward spend they generate locally, by helping future-proofing the farm for years to come, but it will also generate additional spend in terms of farm infrastructure and feed.
Regional benefits
At regional level, these benefits are multiplied.
National benefits and beyond
Scottish farmed salmon is consistently one of the most valuable food exports, both in Scotland and in the UK.
Proposed farm developments such as this, aimed at enhancing fish health, welfare and survival, will further add to the volumes available for sale, helping to better meet the needs of a growing population.
If you have a question related to our development proposals that’s not addressed here, you can use the ‘Find out more’ page.
Alternatively, you can email Scottish Sea Farms’ Developments team directly at development@scottishseafarms.com
