Letters
Write to: The Editor, The Field, Future Publishing PLC, 121-141 Westbourne Terrace, London, W2 6JR
Email: field.secretary@futurenet.com
LETTERS MAY BE EDITED FOR CLARITY OR SPACE
SALMON CONTAINED
Dr Martin Jaffa makes a point when he says that the numbers of returning grilse are on the increase [see Letters, March issue]. In a complex biological system, it is difficult to understand this, but there are several methods as to how this could be teased out.
The simplest, which would allow salmon farms to continue operating, would be to follow the established practice of other nations and move salmon farms to contained systems, on land, so that the returning flow of ‘used seawater’ could be sterilised of sea lice larvae. I believe there are methods of doing this.
At present, open systems allow the dumping of faeces into coastal waters, often shallow, only to lie on the sea floor. If cattle farmers did this, I suspect there would be a public outcry. Sea lice accompany this sewage through the open nets, imprisoning the salmon and infecting the ocean.
Such containment would also have other effects, such as relieving the sea lice damage
