Plans for the U.K.’s first onshore Atlantic salmon grow-out farm have stalled.
Earlier this year, U.K.-based fish-farming firm AquaCultured Seafood received approval from the North East Lincolnshire council to move forward on a 5,000-metric-ton (MT) recirculating aquaculture system facility in the eastern England port town of Grimsby, which is anticipated to cost around GBP 120 million (USD 150 million, EUR 139 million) to complete.
Conservation and animal welfare groups, however, have challenged the farm since its early planning stages. Animal Equality UK is one such group and took its case to a high court in a bid to stop construction of the farm.
In response to the complaint, the high court has called for a judicial review of the local planning authority’s decision on the grounds that the council may have erred in its interpretation of the law when granting approval.
At the judicial review, Animal Equality’s legal team intends to argue that the planning committee’s decision to permit construction was unlawful, as committee members were advised they could not take animal welfare into account in the decision-making process.
“As a result, we believe that the highly likely catastrophic and irreversible animal welfare ramifications were not included within their decision-making process,” the organization said in a statement. “This [review] gives us a chance to fight harder than ever against this mega-farm and to do all we can to prevent it from ever operating. You can trust that we will do everything we can to show the courts, planning officials, and the world just how much suffering this fish factory would create!”
If the court finds the council’s decision to be unlawful, the planning committee for the project will need to reassess the planning application for the farm.
AquaCultured Seafood has emphasized through the planning process that animal welfare and quality has been paramount in its design and will continue to be in its planned operation of the farm. The company said the farm would create around 80 skilled jobs and provide extensive training for a new generation of aquaculturists.
AquaCultured declined to comment on the announcement of the review, saying it is “awaiting the result of due process.” The company is not directly involved in the judicial review.
The review, no matter how it concludes, could set a precedent for how animal welfare considerations are factored into planning decisions, as well as how the U.K. embraces aquaculture as a whole.
