Proposed indoor salmon-breeding 'farm' continues to spark controversy

THE ecology officer at North East Lincolnshire Council has fired a warning shot across the bows of a firm that wants to build an indoor salmon-breeding farm on the edge of Cleethorpes.

The former railway sidings adjacent to the Humber Bank  wall are home to over-wintering pipits and finches and countless wildflowers, some of them quite rare, plus reptiles and amphibians.

n the past, the unusual scrubby industrial habitat has also attracted black redstart, snow bunting, red-backed shrike and bluethroat. 

The salmon farm project has already prompted objections from many nearby residents, from the Environment Agency, from the  Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust and from the Surrey-based organisation, Compassion in World Farming. 

Now Rachel Graham, the ecology officer at North East Lincolnshire Council, has joined in the fray, pointing our that the land is classed as a Local Wildlife Site and thus of environmental significance. 

In the event  of the project going ahead, Ms Graham is insistent that the would-be developers must find and fund another plot of land to provide adequate mitigation. However, she has not closed her mind on the proposal and says she would welcome discussions with interested parties. 

Since the start of this week, letters of support have been submitted by Seafood Grimsby and Humber, Humber and Marine Renewables, Grimsby Fish Market and two companies, Pelagia and Blackrow Engineering. 

Their authors  are taking the view that an indoor salmon farm would create jobs and boost the economy. 

A further observation is that most salmon is currently imported from Norway where there is pressure on supplies because of growing demand from countries in the Far East. A new UK source would therefore be beneficial.

The application, submitted by ASL New Clee Ltd, remains under consideration pending further representations both for and against the scheme.