I
Ian Cloke
Guest
ANIMAL activists have said they were not responsible for poisoning a loch near Newburgh which killed 1500 trout.
John Nicol (52), owner of Golden Loch which rears the fish for angling, suggested an animal rights group could have been behind the incident in light of attacks by activists on a fish farm in Oban last week.
"I know animal rights groups are against angling because they don't agree with killing fish for sport," he said.
"It could have been a poacher or it could have been an animal rights group, but why they would kill fish when they say they are liberating them I don't know."
However, a spokesperson for the Animal Liberation Front insisted the group wouldn't deliberately harm the fish.
"The ALF would not condone the incident at Golden Loch as there was no attempt to release the fish back into the wild," said ALF spokesperson Robin Webb.
Mr Nicol, who has had to spend over ?7000 replacing the stock, said he discovered a large number of fish floating on the surface of the water on Sunday morning.
"The fish were gasping for oxygen at the surface of the water," he said.
Mr Nicol said he initially thought the problems were being caused by algae, but that he changed his mind after carrying out tests on a sample of water from the loch which showed there was no oxygen at all.
He explained that the level of oxygen in the water had returned to normal by 5 p.m. the same day, which led him to believe that a substance had been used to remove the gas.
"The fact that the oxygen levels picked up as the day went on was not right so that's when I notified the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) and the police," said Mr Nicol.
A Fife Constabulary spokesperson said that they believed the incident at Golden Loch, which occurred sometime overnight on Saturday, September 16, had been carried out by poachers, but that no fish had been stolen.
A police spokesperson said: "We are pursuing all lines of inquiry, but do not believe the attack was linked to alleged attacks by animal rights groups in Scotland last week."
John Nicol (52), owner of Golden Loch which rears the fish for angling, suggested an animal rights group could have been behind the incident in light of attacks by activists on a fish farm in Oban last week.
"I know animal rights groups are against angling because they don't agree with killing fish for sport," he said.
"It could have been a poacher or it could have been an animal rights group, but why they would kill fish when they say they are liberating them I don't know."
However, a spokesperson for the Animal Liberation Front insisted the group wouldn't deliberately harm the fish.
"The ALF would not condone the incident at Golden Loch as there was no attempt to release the fish back into the wild," said ALF spokesperson Robin Webb.
Mr Nicol, who has had to spend over ?7000 replacing the stock, said he discovered a large number of fish floating on the surface of the water on Sunday morning.
"The fish were gasping for oxygen at the surface of the water," he said.
Mr Nicol said he initially thought the problems were being caused by algae, but that he changed his mind after carrying out tests on a sample of water from the loch which showed there was no oxygen at all.
He explained that the level of oxygen in the water had returned to normal by 5 p.m. the same day, which led him to believe that a substance had been used to remove the gas.
"The fact that the oxygen levels picked up as the day went on was not right so that's when I notified the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) and the police," said Mr Nicol.
A Fife Constabulary spokesperson said that they believed the incident at Golden Loch, which occurred sometime overnight on Saturday, September 16, had been carried out by poachers, but that no fish had been stolen.
A police spokesperson said: "We are pursuing all lines of inquiry, but do not believe the attack was linked to alleged attacks by animal rights groups in Scotland last week."
