Cooke Aquaculture Scotland has applied for planning mission for a second offshore organic salmon farm to be located off the coast of Orkney.
Known as “East Moclett,” the new farm would be located approximately two miles east of the southern tip of Papa Westray, and three miles from the closest landfall on Westray. It will comprise six 160-meter pens and be stocked with Soil Association-certified organic smolts.
The new site is slightly further offshore than Cooke’s first offshore farming site at East Skelwick, also in Orkney.
Cooke Aquaculture Scotland Environmental Development Manager Ben Johnson said the proposed development location was selected following extensive modeling, environmental surveys, and pre-application consultations with local stakeholders.
“The offshore location, significant water depth, and tidal flows at East Moclett will minimize effects on the local environment," Johnson said. "As well as fully assessing and modeling the site to confirm its suitability for organic salmon farming, the planning application also details how Cooke Aquaculture Scotland will minimize the environmental impact of the farm throughout its lifetime.”
If approved, the proposed development will create up to six full-time jobs, which Cooke said it hopes to fill from the local populations in Westray and Papa Westray.
“It is likely that we will need to expand our processing facilities in Orkney to accommodate the increase in volume, creating more jobs at our packing station in Hatston industrial estate in Kirkwall in the process,” Johnson said.
If all the necessary consents are in place, Cooke could begin stocking the site with smolts before the end of this year, he said. Fish farmed at the site will be sold to supermarket chains including Waitrose, Marks & Spencer, and Tesco, and locally to artisan smokehouses such as Jollys of Orkney and Humes.
Photo courtesy of Cooke Scotland
