Bakkafrost Scotland has failed to secure planning consent for a new salmon farm after local officials deemed that the proposed facility would adversely impact existing commercial fishing activity in the area.
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, the local authority governing the Isle of Lewis, said that Bakkafrost, "had failed to demonstrate that the proposed development would not result in an unacceptable exclusion of commercial fishing activity from a historically important and economically productive fishing ground."
Bakkafrost intends to establish the new salmon farm at North Gravir off the Isle of Lewis. The facility would consist of a cluster of five pens, each with a circumference of 200 metres, arranged in a row and connected to a feed barge.
According to the Western Isles Fishermen's Association, Bakkafrost's proposed facility at North Gravir would affect activity at a commercial fishing ground that, "has consistently provided large volumes of prawns, scallops, and brown crab that are all landed locally."