Seals and salmon

Your article, “Scots salmon firms ‘dripping with blood of seals’” (31 August), contained a very interesting paragraph: “The disclosure of the shootings was made after the Scottish  Information Commissioner ordered the Scottish Government to release the data to campaigners under Freedom of Information legislation.”

This is not the first time and it will not be the last time that the Scottish Information Commissioner has ruled against the Scottish Government for withholding information about salmon farmers.

Even when information is released it is often so heavily redacted as to be useless.

I have seriously considered putting in a Freedom of Information request to find out where the Scottish Government buys its black felt tip pens and how much is spent on them – it would be worth buying some shares in the supplier.

Our government ministers seem to believe it is their job to shield salmon farmers from public scrutiny and to promote their products to foreign markets.

Do they not realise that 70 per cent of the farms are Norwegian- owned and the main reason they shoot seals is to avoid the expense of employing people to install and maintain predator exclusion nets?

It is time for the Scottish Government to protect our marine environment and the animals which live there instead of protecting the foreign owners of filthy floating factory fish farms.

John F Robins

Animal Concern

Dumbarton