Planning secured for Mowi’s new Isle of Lewis fish farm

The farm will comprise eight pens of 160m circumference in a two x four grid configuration, with a maximum biomass of 2,075 tonnes.

The licensing of Tabhaigh East forms part of a wider site rationalisation plan for Loch Erisort that Mowi has developed in partnership with local stakeholders. This will involve the transfer of existing biomass from current inner Loch Erisort farms including, as an initial step, the closure and relinquishing of farming permissions for Mowi’s North Shore West site.

Mowi explains: “The overall objective of the rationalisation plan is to relocate biomass from the inner, less flushed area of the loch to the outer area of the complex. The more open sea location and the improved dispersive characteristics of the new farming environment provides a more suitable location for the rearing of healthy farm reared salmon and will result in a net reduction in our environmental footprint.

“A key aim of the plan and relocation of biomass from within Loch Erisort to the mouth of the loch was to reduce potential interactions with wild salmonids transiting through the Erisort complex from the River Laxay system.”

 The application as set out and approved involves no net increase in permitted biomass for Mowi in the area.