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The Herald Scotland

New images show depth of marine life in Loch Hourn

They were commissioned by Mowi Scotland to look at the impact its fish farming presence may have had on marine life. The Loch has had a fish farming presence for more than 30 years and the images show the amount of species in it remains strongs. As well as feather stars and lion's main jellyfish, the images also show peacock worms, kelp, sponges, squirts, hydrozoan, small-spotted catshark, symbiotic fish, wrasse and female cuckoo wrasse, anemones, starfish with tube feet, urchins and nudibranchs, brown crab, soft coral, scallops and more. Read More Speaking about the marine survey, Stephen MacIntyre, Head of Environment at Mowi Scotland, explains: 'At Mowi Scotland, protecting our marine environment is at the heart of everything we do. 'That's why we commissioned an independent environmental survey of the seabed and waters around our salmon farm at Loch Hourn, a waterbody that has been the subject of a recent environmental pollution report. 'There are a lot of misconceptions around the environmental effects of fish farming, with rush to judge and apportion cause and effect when reports such as these arise. 'In response, it's important we acknowledge such concerns but that we also investigate, monitor and transparently present observational field data to inform more reasoned opinions. The Lion's Mane Jellyfish (Image: Mowi Scotland) The images show the amount of marine life (Image: Mowi Scotland) 'There has been a fish farming presence in Loch Hourn for over 30 years with our own surveying of Loch Hourn in recent years showing thriving biodiversity around the farm, which this independent survey further confirms. 'The seabed and our mooring lines are teeming with the presence of sensitive and important marine life with species such as feather stars, sponges, scallops, squat lobsters, soft corals, and small-spotted catsharks within kelp habitats.' 'At Mowi, we are committed to responsible and sustainable operations that ensure we meet our environmental standards and thresholds. We take any concerns that we are not operating to those standards seriously. 'When claims were made that our farm was harming the loch, we investigated. The results are clear: salmon farming in Loch Hourn is not damaging the marine ecosystem. In fact, it's coexisting with it. (Image: Mowi Scotland) 'The photos definitely speak for themselves. This is what responsible fish farming looks like in a well-managed environment. 'In Scotland we operate to some of the most stringent regulatory controls for fish farming in the world. This is especially so in respect of environmental protections. We have a team of environmental professionals monitoring our farms and with the recent organisational commitment to fund a dedicated survey we are increasingly going beyond our regulatory requirements which will allow us to continue to share data and evidence on the healthy seas around our farms. 'We're proud to farm responsibly, growing healthy salmon for a global market, while preserving the pristine waters of Scotland for future generations.'