Re: Hunt to help fishing industry if no deal????
JH could always scrap HS2.. just like Farage has announced , thus saving £100 billion
Scotland might need some help with the fishing industry if this is true. An article written by The Ferret , but it won't let me link the page. However, this is some of what it says.. so Scotland in the mire atm.
Nearly 200 fish farms are allowed to use a carcinogenic chemical called formaldehyde which is used to embalm corpses, The Ferret can reveal.
Documents disclosed under freedom of information law reveal that 184 Scottish fish farms are permitted to use formaldehyde in a solution called formalin, which is used as a disinfectant to guard against parasites and diseases.
Formaldehyde has been famously used by artist Damien Hirst to preserve dead animals such as cows, lambs and sharks. Formalin is a water solution containing formaldehyde which is legal to use, but there are concerns over its safety.
In India last year, for example, there was a scare over preserved fish laced with the chemical, prompting a ban on fish imports in Goa state.
The UK government classified formaldehyde as a carcinogen in 2016 which means there are restrictions on its use, but it is permitted for use by the caged salmon industry.
The campaign group, Scottish Salmon Watch (SSW), which obtained the documents, wants formaldehyde banned. Concerns have been expressed over the potential of formalin leaks into river, lochs and seas.
The documents were released by the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (Sepa). They reveal that a company called Mowi, formerly known as Marine Harvest, used 50.7 tonnes of formalin between May 2017 and September 2018 on salmon farms at Loch Shiel, Loch Arkaig, Loch Lochy and Loch Garry.
One document revealed there was an “accidental overdose” of formalin at Mowi’s Glenfinnan salmon farm at Loch Shiel in October 2017. This was “due to human error” leading to 1,343 dead fish.
As part of its investigation, SSW filmed vats of formaldehyde labelled “corrosive” and “toxic” this month outside The Scottish Salmon Company‘s Russel Burn Hatchery on the shore of Loch Kishorn.
Don Staniford, director of Scottish Salmon Watch, said: “The salmon farming industry uses formaldehyde, via a formalin solution, as a disinfectant to guard against parasites and diseases although there are fish welfare and environmental concerns as well as human health impacts due to its carcinogenicity.
“The use of carcinogenic chemicals such as formaldehyde on salmon farms should be banned immediately. A public register of all chemicals used by salmon farms in Scotland is urgently required. The public surely have a right to know which toxic chemicals – including formaldehyde – are being used at which salmon farms.”
John Aitchison, of Coastal Communities Network, Scotland, said any discharge of toxic chemicals from salmon farms and hatcheries into Scotland’s rivers and sea “is a real cause for concern”.
He added: “That an overdose of formaldehyde/formalin killed 1,343 fish shows that this is a potent chemical. It has no place being dumped into rivers or the sea, where it can harm wild animal and where people from coastal communities live or make their living,” he added.
Aquaculture chemicals used to treat farmed fish can also kill or harm crustaceans that many fishermen depend on catching, Aitchison argued.
................................. and quite a lot more to read. Odd that this has only just been revealed.