A fish farming leader will tell ministers today that criticism by environmentalists over escaped salmon has distorted the real progress the industry has made in recent years.

It has been staging a recovery with fresh salmon meals rising from 314million in 2004 to 357million in 2006, an increase of 13.8% but the debate still rages over the environmental price it exacts. Last month there were calls for an overhaul of the industry after it was revealed nearly two million salmon escaped from fish farms in Scotland between 2001 and October 2006, including more than half of that total from 10 fish farm companies in 2005 alone.

Environmental groups said the escapes could lead to genetic pollution and threaten the long-term viability of wild salmon populations.

But Sid Patten, chief executive of the industry's representative body, the Scottish Salmon Producers' Organisation, will tell the ministerial working group on aquaculture, convened by Sarah Boyack, the new Depute Environment and Rural Development Minister, that the number of escaped farmed salmon has halved since statutory reporting began, falling from 310,000 in 2002 to 157,000 in 2006.

Yesterday Mr Patten outlined his case: "Effective containment is a priority. With the exception of the severe storms in January 2005 when a handful of the 278 active sites suffered badly, there has been a significant declining trend since reporting began.

"As some 95% of the tonnage of the salmon farming industry has signed-up to the Code of Good Practice for Finfish Aquaculture since it was launched in March 2006, we hope this trend will continue," he said.

He also questions critics' claims of escaped farmed fish outnumbering wild fish, noting that the Scottish salmon and sea trout catches statistics show that 2005 was the fifth-highest on record for rod catches, with more than 80,000 fish caught. Of this total, only 230 were recorded to be of farmed origin, he said.


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