@Jho
@feddit.ukFertilizer applied to crops still ends up in our waterways. See: Nutrient Pollution
When nitrogen and phosphorus [from fertilizer] are not fully utilized by the growing plants, they can be lost from the farm fields and negatively impact air and downstream water quality. These nutrients can eventually end up in aquatic ecosystems[.] When farmers spread their fertilizer, whether it is organic or synthetically made, some of it will leave as runoff and can collect downstream[.]
I'm having trouble uploading pictures in comments here but here's a Proton Drive link with my three entries: https://drive.proton.me/urls/KVHBN43AVG#upR9uV6kejZn
Personally I don't find the argument of "this is the way it's always been, therefore it should stay that way" to be a convincing one, at least for me.
There are other stronger arguments as to why salmon farms should not be built. The Ferret publishes a lot of articles which highlights issues with the salmon farming industry in Scotland.
The original linked article focuses mostly on high mortality rates in salmon farms, which is a shame because the issues are so much broader than that. I'd definitely recommend checking out some of The Ferret's articles. But from the linked article here are some choice quotes:
Clyde Fishermen’s Association says the site will impact local fishers, cause pollution and increase sea lice parasites.
NatureScot says it will probably have a “significant effect” on the harbour porpoise of the Inner Hebrides and the Minches special area of conservation.
The headline leads one to believe he’s an indiscriminate animal killing monster.
He is being indiscriminate. He literally said that "all wild animals have to be culled". There are tens of thousands of species in the UK. There are maybe only a handful of these species where you could possibly argue that culling is required (when ignoring viable alternative solutions).
Now I have zero idea what that looks like in the UK.
It concerns me greatly how easily you trust Drax and how confidently you speak regarding this topic despite knowing nothing about what healthy populations of wildlife in the UK look like.
Drax owns thousands of acres of farmland, he has a vested interest in protecting livestock over wildlife. That alone should make all of us skeptical about anything he says.
He’s calling for culling to create healthy populations.
The primary reason we're culling badgers is because of the issues they cause to the owners of livestock. It's nothing to do with creating a healthy population of badgers.
Drax says that deer need to be culled because otherwise the health of deer will deteriorate. That's nonesense. Deer are culled because they destroy vegetataion, especially young sapling trees, which is only a problem because we have systematically elimiated all large land predators in the UK over the course of hundreds of years (e.g. wolves, lynx, bears).
If it was about creating healthy populations of wildlife then it would be much more effective to reintroduce these large land predators back into the UK instead of culling. But it's never been about creating healthy populations of wildlife, it's about making as much money possible through farming. Therefore reintroducing large land predators is absolutely not an option for livestock owners because large land predators will also prey on livestock.