#AFFtheClyde has continued its activities to raise awareness about the Dawnfresh Farming Ltd. proposals regarding the Loch Long Fish Farm project and to campaign against them. The following is an update on our recent progress.
– Contact has now been made with the various Community Councils along Loch Long, all of whom will be affected by the proposed fish farm developments. As a result of their discussions they have all taken the stance that they are against the Dawnfresh fish farm proposals. #AFFtheClyde will keep them updated regarding our work.
– #AFFtheClyde has continued to campaign and raise awareness in the local media. This has included several letters printed in local papers. We were also interviewed by local radio about the potential for harm to Loch Long regarding the potential developments. We are shortly due to have an article published in the local magazine ‘Loch and Glens’.
– #AFFtheClyde has continued to develop close links with Buteiful Coast (buteifulcoast.com), the Bute group who are actively involved in campaigning against the Dawnfresh proposals to develop a sister fish farm off the Island of Bute. This has included attending the information session the group ran for residents of Bute and sharing experiences of the Dawnfresh public meeting about the fish farm held in Ardentinny. It is worth noting the Dawnfresh chose not to hold a public meeting to inform the residents of Bute and instead ran a drop-in session to meet people individually.
– #AFFtheClyde had a stall at the Harvest Festival and Garden Party open days at Glenfinart Walled Garden, Ardentinny so as to keep local residents updated about the work we are doing. We also held the window at Dunoon bookshop, Bookpoint for a week with a display about AFFtheClyde’s opposition to Dawnfresh and the damage to the loch should the fish farm go ahead.
– #AFFtheClyde has received a one-off donation which has enabled us to purchase a range of publicity materials. This has included banners and leaflets (in dispensers) which have been displayed at various locations in the area, including at the site of the proposed development, at the outskirts of the village and at the traffic lights in Dunoon. Unfortunately a number of these have been vandalised or removed.
– It is likely that our workload is going to increase in the run up to the point at which Dawnfresh puts in a planning application to Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park and subsequent to this. At present #AFFtheClyde comprises of a small number of volunteers and we are keen to attract additional volunteers who have time to spare to become involved in the campaign against the fish farm development.
– AFF continues to develop its digital presence and platform, including our Facebook pages, Twitter and 38 degrees online petition against the proposed development.
– Links have been forged with the local Green Party who are – at both a national and local level – strongly opposed to industrial fish farm complexes such as that which is proposed by Dawnfresh. They have offered support, particularly around access to their own resources and networks.
– We understand that a decision by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) re the Dawnfresh Controlled Activities Regulations (CAR) application to discharge fish farm effluent will be made in the coming weeks. #AFFtheClyde will provide an update at that time.
AFFtheClyde would welcome additional volunteers (both local to Argyll and remotely) who have an interest in opposing the development of open cage fish farming. We would particularly welcome those with expertise related to aquaculture, legal, communications and government lobbying. Please get in touch via email afftheclyde@gmail.com or via our social media accounts listed below.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/AffTheClyde/
https://www.facebook.com/AFFtheClyde/
https://twitter.com/AFFtheClyde @AFFtheClyde
https://www.instagram.com/afftheclyde/ @AFFtheClyde
Please continue to help spread the word by forwarding the link below to your friends:
https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/against-fish-farming-aff-the-firth-of-clyde
Thank you.