An investigation is under way into a pollution incident at a West Highland loch which locals have described as an “ecological catastrophe”.
Fishermen who operate at Loch Hourn raised the alarm last month after finding their catch included dead prawns, worms and other creatures – all of which, they said, smelled strongly of bleach.
The full scale of the damage is not yet known but a local group told The Ferret “this is not some minor incident but in reality something closer to an oil spill”.
The Scottish Government is investigating the incident.
Loch Hourn, a dramatic, deep, fjord-like sea loch, surrounded by mountains, stretches approximately 14 miles between the Knoydart peninsula and Glenelg.
A community-run group called Friends of Loch Hourn said a “large area” of the seabed in Loch Hourn was “poisoned” during the night of 19 April, adding that it was “not clear exactly what happened”.
The group queried whether vessels used by a salmon farm run by the Norwegian multinational Mowi were involved, and accused the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) of being slow to respond to the incident.
Mowi Scotland strongly denied any involvement and said it conducted its own investigation and found “no evidence to suggest that there is any linkage to our Loch Hourn fish farm”.
Friends of Loch Hourn said that well boats (vessels designed for the transportation of live fish) had been servicing a fish farm at the mouth of the loch, around three miles west of the incident. At 10:30pm on 19 April, an “unidentifiable, large vessel with many deck lights” was seen near to the area where a prawn boat had creels, the community group added.
Make no mistake, this is not some minor incident but in reality something closer to an oil spill. Just because it is all on the seabed, maybe 100 metres down, with nothing to actually see from the surface does not alter the fact that this is an ecological catastrophe.
A spokesperson for Friends of Loch Hourn.
It also voiced concerns over “the seeming lack of urgency” in response to the incident by bodies responsible for protecting the environment. It said the incident was reported to Portree Fisheries Office on 22 April, and to Sepa on 24 April, but it took two weeks for a formal investigation to begin.
“In a situation like this, one would have thought that speed was of the essence: get on the ground, take sediment and water samples and determine the extent of the areas affected, before evidence becomes dispersed and pollutants get diluted,” said a Friends of Loch Hourn spokesperson. “This has not been our experience.”
The Scottish Government said it was aware of reports of a potential environmental incident at Loch Hourn. “This is an ongoing investigation and we are liaising with partners. Given this is still a live investigation, it would be inappropriate to comment,” a spokesperson added.
Mowi Scotland said reports of vessels in Loch Hourn allegedly discharging anything that could impact the marine environment were “false and misleading” and that it was “fully cooperating” with Sepa.
The company added: “All vessels in the area in the time period in question were carrying out normal, recognised activities in support of farming operations. No vessel undertook any cleaning or disinfection activities during their time at the Loch Hourn farm and even if they had, this process is also subject to stringent regulations which pose no risk to the marine environment.”
A spokesperson for Sepa said it was made aware by a member of the public of a potential pollution incident at Loch Hourn on Thursday 24th April.
“We responded quickly to the report, identified this was outwith Sepa’s remit and swiftly passed details to partners to investigate,” they added.
Sepa regulates well boat discharges from authorised sites. The Scottish Government’s Marine Directorate regulates discharges from elsewhere.
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Photo credit: iStock/Kenneth Sutherland
If the polluted water smells like ‘bleach’ then it is probably a concentration of chlorine that was released into the natural environment from the fish farm. I can go into details but it would be easier for one of your colleagues to search Google Scholar for referenced information. It’s all to do with ‘change the pH of an environment, change the biodiversity. I used to be a research scientist, I’m now retired but I still can’t help myself. With regards, Sue Nicholls
They want to go to loch fyne at furnace round at the quary it’s been leaking raw sewage round at the old pears inside the quary it’s disgusting have to stop fishing while it all goes away .
They want to go to loch fyne at furnace round at the quary it’s been leaking raw sewage round at the old pears inside the quary it’s disgusting have to stop fishing while it all goes away .