That is the claim made this week by animal welfare charity Animal Concern, reports The Buteman. The charity has become the latest organisation to protest against the proposed development ahead of a public local inquiry in February.
The charity's objection states that the fish farm, if granted permission, will "undoubtedly cause serious disturbance to and displacement of" a seal colony, as it says the site of the farm is within around five hundred metres of a known seal haul-out site.
John Robins, the charity's campaigns consultant, says in his submission to the inquiry that seals will be "drawn to the farm like bees to a honey pot" - and that between 30 and 60 seals were shot in three days at a salmon farm near Lismore sited within a similar distance of another known haul-out site, leading to the installation of permanent acoustic 'seal scaring' devices.
Fish Farm Plan 'Could Hit Seals'
UK - Seals could become extinct off the Isle of Bute's west coast within a year if a fish farm is established off Inchmarnock.
