The site is near the village of Crinan. Image: www.geograph.org.uk

Kames aims for 2,500 tonne expansion

An application for a new fish farm in the Sound of Jura has been lodged by Kames Fish Farming Limited. 

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The firm is seeking permission to establish a site at Dounie, just south of Crinan, which would be capable of producing 3026 tonnes of trout or 5214 tonnes of salmon per 24-month cycle (16 months of production, followed by eight months of fallowing) – equivalent to roughly 1500 or 2500 tonnes a year respectively.

The application is for 12 x 100m circular cages, serviced by a feed barge, and the application outlines a plan to start stocking the site in April 2018.

The latest application by the Argyll-based company follows hot on the heels of being granted permission to establish a 12-cage site off Skye in November, after the government’s Directorate for Planning and Environmental Appeals (DPEA) overturned a unanimous rejection from a Highland Council planning committee the year before.

Should both sites become operational, Kames could leapfrog Loch Duart and Wester Ross to become the 6th largest salmon producer in Scotland within a few years.