BREEKS VIEWS ON FARMED SALMON.

Fish farming seems to me the archetypal British business in Scotland; capitalising on Scotland’s hard won reputation for having a high quality salmon, but utterly trashing that reputation on the way to short term profits, followed by ever diminishing returns, as people realise the salmon on their menu is the equivalent of a battery hen which spent it’s entire rotten life in a cage, suffering interminable misery and distress.

These industries don’t care for Scotland’s long term prosperity, or the opportunity to set an example to the world (like our farmers say), for diligence and commitment to the highest, and most ethical standard possible. Instead, they’ll sell any old shit with a tartan box and a genial photo of our Scottish landscape.

Fish farming actually seems to have the same reckless, get-rich-quick mentality, and the “make hay while the sun shines” attitude which saw the Cattle industry south of the border wrecked after shooting itself in the foot with BSE mad cow disease. When you’re feeding cattle on their own flesh, you’ve already gone several steps too far. 

When your crop is riddled with flesh eating parasites, you’re just not doing it right. It’s the usual story, Scotland the short term cash cow… 

It says it all I think, that salmon farming is the one Scottish industry I’d be relaxed about seeing a Union Jack on the packaging. 

These companies line up to exploit Scotland the Brand, because that is all that Scotland means to them.

In fairness, maybe I’m jumping to conclusions, and these unpalatable practices are indeed a blight on Scotland, but I don’t believe a home grown business plan for a sustainable Scottish industry would be so casual about the suffering of the fish, nor indeed the disgust and revulsion of it’s customers. Such values are Dickensian, 19th Century attitudes, and I refuse to believe they’re indigenous to Scotland. 

As for the salmon, just Google for photos of Scottish Salmon caught in the 1920’s and look at the size of the unfortunate critters, (unfortunate to be caught I mean), compared to the fish you see now. Scotland’s exploitation of the Salmon was barely ethical in the first place, by my god, look at where we are now.

But I fear nothing will change until land ownership changes, power is unseated, and Scotland’s land is owned by people who actually have a stake in Scotland, and ache to see our people thriving in prosperity and happiness… and an appropriate wee drawp happiness and prospering spared for the fish themselves.

MY COMMENTS

Breeks as always spot on with his analysis. Once again Scotland natural assets are being used at little or no benefit for the owners, the people of Scotland, while enriching a foreign owned corporation whose farming practices inflict serious lasting adverse environmental damage on our country. Let’s hope the people of Oban make their feelings clear at the hearing in their Sheriff Court on the 1st June.

I am, as always

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