Angling groups yesterday condemned the continuing large-scale escapes of farmed rainbow trout into the Awe system, which includes Argyll's most important salmon river as well as its main wild trout fishery.
According to Argyll District Salmon Fishery Board, the most recent incident was reported to the Scottish Executive's Environment and Rural Affairs Department (Seerad) last week when more than 14,000 rainbow trout escaped, allegedly because of a "hole in a net" at the Braevallich Farm on Loch Awe. The board said this followed two escapes in the loch in April and June.
It claimed that Seerad was told of neither escape, despite the statutory requirement to do so.
There was also an escape of large rainbow trout in Loch Etive in July.
Roger Brook, chairman of the board, said: "Tens of thousands of non-native fish are loose in Loch Awe and the rivers connected to it."
He blamed farmers' "negligence or the use of inadequate equipment that cannot contain the fish during normal operations of the farms".
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