STRONG opposition to a proposed new fish farm in the Sound of Jura cannot have come as a great surprise to the industry. It is not, as it were, flavour of the month. Massive problems with sea lice, in particular, and the use of chemicals to control them, have led to caution among coastal communities, never mind from environmentalists who find fish farming essentially unnatural.

Still, the industry remains an important part of Scotland’s hinterland economy, creating jobs, meeting demand for healthy food and contributing significantly to our exports. For all the problems, fish farms keep coming forward, seeing profits to be made in a product still cherished by our food sector.

Thus, Kames Fish Farming (KFF) Ltd is hoping to start a 12-cage operation at Dounie, in the new Loch Sunart to the Sound of Jura Marine Protected Area.

A small, experienced Scottish family business seeking to expand, KFF says it will create six jobs, has no plans to pollute the Sound (indeed needs a clean marine environment for its product) and has strict containment protocols to stop farmed fish escaping. In addition, it will farm rainbow trout which, it points out, are less susceptible than salmon to sea lice.

This has not prevented a loud chorus of opposition from echoing across the Sound. Objectors fear the farm could pollute the water with uneaten food, faeces and chemical residues, affecting a habitat of endangered skate in a deep trench nearby, not to mention wild salmon and sea trout that breed in the River Add.

Humans, too, might suffer: a local wild swimmers’ club says its members would no longer feel comfortable while other objectors adduce the visual impact on a site of natural beauty.

This is an application in its earliest stages, with many hurdles to jump. No one wants to throw the baby out with the seawater but the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (KFF’s first port of call) will clearly have to consider the sheer weight of opposition, though – as ever – dispassionate, scientific evidence should also inform any decisions.