Environmental campaign group Scottish Salmon Watch is organizing a nationwide protest which will use citizen science, in the form of testing the public waters around salmon farms, in order to hold farms accountable for disease and animal welfare, reports The Herald.
Activists have been calling for an emergency inspection.
Salmon farms around Oban are the first to be targeted, particularly sites owned by Mowi and Scottish Sea Farms in the Firth of Lorn, Sound of Jura and Loch Linnhe.
“Over 50 percent of farmed salmon tested by the Scottish government have got a virus and will have all kinds of toxic waste," said Don Staniford, director of Scottish Salmon Watch.
Representatives from the salmon farms have cautioned that this protest is dangerous for both citizens and the fish, reported The Press and Journal.
“Unauthorised visits to fish farms place employees and the animals they care for at risk," Hamish Macdonell from Scottish Salmon Producers Organisation said. “Salmon farmers ask that people remain a safe distance away from farms and other facilities, for the safety of all involved and to protect the health and welfare of the livestock.”
