Last week we learned, via a press release from MOWI, the largest industrial fish farmer in Scotland, that it has started court action against the well known environmental campaigner Don Staniford, aimed at putting an exclusion zone of fifteen metres around all of their fish farms on our West coast. If they are successful in persuading a court to do this there’s no doubt that other companies will follow suit and that anyone who sails or paddles near a fish farm is likely to be threatened with a writ.
As matters are in court I’ll not be commenting further at this stage, apart from to say that it seems unwise for the Scottish boss of MOWI, Ben Hadfield, to declare:
“This person’s behaviours and actions that we have borne witness to over the past two years gives cause for great concern, and is not something that our staff should have to endure whilst going about their daily work. Everyone should be able to go to work and expect their workplace to be free of harassment and intimidation.”
Without clear evidence to back it up this statement would appear on the face of it to be highly defamatory. From what I’ve seen of the images posted online by Don Staniford he, understandably, seems to work at times when workers are not present. The covert gathering of evidence of abuse is light years away from the openly and deliberately disruptive activities that are features of mass protest. Indeed when workboats and employees have turned up it’s not been obvious that they have been the victims.
