Salmon farming is destroying wild fish stocks, according to protesters.
Members of Protect Wild Scotland were in Perth to appeal to members of the Rivers and Fisheries Trusts of Scotland (RAFTS) to withdraw support for a Scottish Government initiative to identify suitable fish farm locations.
After leafleting the annual meeting of RAFTS at Perth Racecourse, the protesters targeted the Scottish Salmon Producers’ Organisation’s head office on Isla Road before taking their campaign to local supermarkets.
“The RAFTS leadership have shamefully agreed to the Scottish Government’s plan to increase polluting salmon farms on the west coast of Scotland to the detriment of wild fish,” Protect Wild Scotland Jenny Scobie claimed.
She has filed a complaint against RAFTS with the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator.
“By underhandedly working with the Scottish Government, RAFTS members are being deceived,” she added.
The protesters claim RAFTS back the expansion of salmon farming on the west coast of Scotland due to the importance of salmon farming to the economy.
“RAFTS have waved the white flag of surrender without even putting up a fight for the protection of wild salmon and sea trout on the West coast of Scotland,” Protect Wild Scotland director Don Staniford said.
“Scotland’s rivers deserve an organisation which has the political will to fight to protect wild salmon.”
The Perth protest is part of a nationwide campaign to highlight the threat to wild salmon. Protect Wild Scotland is organising protests outside the Atlantic Salmon Trust gala dinner in London on November 20 and the First Minister’s residence in Bute House in Edinburgh on December 5.