Agenda for the CC meeting to be held at Dores Parish Hall 21st November 2022 7:30pm
Community Council
Our Future Highland Survey
Community Groups and Community Councils – we need your advice!
Dear Community Groups and Community Councils,
We would like communities to help shape ‘Our Future Highland’ by contributing their values, views, ideas, and dreams of how they think Highland could look and feel like by 2027.
Communities and their people are our biggest asset and play a vital role in change going forward, community groups and community councils are at the heart of the Highlands, and we must ensure that as part of ‘Our Future Highland’ development process that we work collaboratively to gather insight from people and place.
As the Council under its new Administration develops priorities and inspirational change over the next 5 years, we would like to include the shared values that are most important to all generations living across Highland.
Task – Please complete the survey here: https://forms.office.com/r/63qXsjp01t where people can add their ideas on how they envisage ‘Our Future Highland’ could look like by 2027.
E.g – I’d like Our Future Highland by 2027 to have more spaces/communal gardens/parks for intergenerational use, to enable people of all ages to interact in a casual and relaxed way, share ideas and knowledge and help support each other through life.
We really appreciate your support in collating this part of the engagement process and ask that you complete the survey by 11th November.
Please email [email protected] if you have any questions.
Yours sincerely
Donna Manson
Q&A’s With Dores Fish Farm
- How many cages are there, and how many fish are in the cages when at maximum?
There are 18 pens permitted however the pens are not always all stocked with fish – for instance there are currently only 11 pens stocked. We follow the RSPCA welfare standards which have been developed to follow good practice in the care and welfare of commercially farmed Atlantic salmon at all stages of their lives. The maximum stocking density set by the standard is 8kg per cubic metre of water. Dependent on production inputs fish numbers can vary but are generally around 90,000 – 100,000 per pen.
- How long is the cycle from arrival to departure? – i.e., until they are big enough to have to be moved on.
Commonly, the cycle lasts from June to December, on occasion we have been stocked to February depending on the overall production needs of Mowi so approx. 6 – 8 months a year.
- How long is the fallow period between the fish leaving and a new cycle starting?
4 – 6 months depending on production.
- Do all of the cages follow the same cycle at the same time?
Yes, all pens follow same cycle.
- What are the elements of the feedstuff?
We tailor our feed ingredients throughout a salmon’s lifecycle to ensure we are meeting the nutritional needs of our fish. Generally, fish feed includes about 20% fish meal and fish oil, 20% vegetable oil, 20% wheat, 15% soya, and the remainder a mix of beans, peas, corn and vitamin supplements that includes astaxanthin (a naturally produced antioxidant). For full information see – Mowi’s 2021 Annual Report page 68. Link – Mowi_Annual_Report_2021.pdf
- Which medicines are used and what is an average quantity per cycle per cage?
As per our SEPA licence the site is permitted to use veterinary approved medicines containing Bronopol, Chloramine-T and Formaldehyde-based solutions. The limits and controls on use of medicines are set by SEPA to ensure environmental standards are maintained thus protecting water quality and ecology, and all use is audited by SEPA. For an example, formaldehyde, which is a naturally occurring compound in many biological systems, breakdowns rapidly in freshwater to harmless by-products. We are presently undertaking a scientific monitoring study examining the environmental fate and behaviour of formaldehyde solutions which is confirming the rapid breakdown of the product and compliance with environmental standards. Medicinal treatments are only carried out if there is a fish health reason and under veterinary supervision and often growth cycles can complete without the need for treatments. During 2022 the site has carried out six site treatments with Bronopol (10 litres is used per pen) and with Formaldehyde solution (50 litres is used per pen) to treat infections such as saprolegnia, a naturally occurring fungal infection found in wild fish in freshwater loch environments. Quantities of medicines used at our Loch Ness site are reported to SEPA on a quarterly basis, as per the standard reporting requirements in place for all fish farms.
- What other chemicals are used and what is an average quantity per cycle per cage?
SEPA permits a range of licensed substances such as anaesthetics, disinfectants, and detergents to be used at fish farms. As these substances are low in use and have very low environmental risk there are no specific controls or limits set regarding their use. Substances are used only if needed and more commonly applied at a site level as opposed to pen level, e.g. disinfectant footbaths used for site biosecurity or anaesthetics used to safely immobilise fish so they can be handled more easily during health checks. Quantities used are generally very low, as an example disinfectant use <15 litres per year.
- What is the cage cleaning regime, and is this when they are empty and what chemicals are used for this cleaning?
The site has a defined cleaning schedule, and this is carried out during fallow periods following guidance from Marine Scotland. Products used for cleaning and disinfection – Fat Solve and AquaDes – are on SEPA’s approved list for use at fish farms.
Best regards
Stephen
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Stephen MacIntyre
Head of Environment
Mowi Scotland Limited
Community Council meeting Cancelled
The meeting due to be held tomorrow night at Dores Parish Hall has been cancelled. We hope to rearrange for the following Monday the 26th of September but will confirm through the week
Update 23/09/22
Due to members being on holiday , working and illness we won’t be having the CC meeting on Monday the 26th and it is proposed to have it at the beginning of October. I will confirm here and via email nearer the time.
Recent Road Closure at Scaniport
Dear Community Council,
Please pass on my thanks to local residents in Scaniport, Dores and the wider area for their cooperation and patience during the part-time road closures on Monday and Tuesday this week for the tree felling works.
Highland Tree Doctors, carried out a fantastic job with a lot of care and attention to the local surroundings, managing pedestrians and cyclists on the shared-use path in what was a constrained and difficult working environment and the area has been left in good condition.
Alba Traffic Management carried out the road closure to their usual high standards and managed buses and local access well. We tweaked the routing signing on the second day where required and although some motorists did arrive at the closure we did not encounter any problems. Overall this worked very well.
The support of Angus in allowing use of his field for access to the site and timber removal is very much appreciated by the contractors and Highland Council. This helped make the job much easier and safer which was great.
There was a couple of lower branches remaining which were removed this morning and visibility is now greatly improved with the Gateway area much more open and visible.
I will press on and organise the remaining works being the signs, lines and Gateway features. I will advise of dates for these works once the signs are manufactured and delivered and once I have a date from the road marking contractor. Hopefully I will manage to get this in place before the winter with the new 40 restriction coinciding with this.
If you have any queries please let me know.
Best regards,
Colin.
Colin Ross
Senior Engineer – Strategy & Testing
The Highland Council | Infrastructure, Environment and Economy
Chairpersons Report
This will be submitted by Ella at the Community Council meeting on Monday