By Charlene Sweeney
(The Time).- The supermarket giant Tesco has been accused of attempting to cover up the escape of thousands of farmed trout into a Scottish salmon river.

Up to 4,000 rainbow trout, each weighing at least 2.5kg (5.5lbs), escaped from a farm operated by Scot Trout at Ardchatten, on Loch Etive, and swam into the River Awe three months ago.

Conservation groups said that this was the latest in a long line of such incidents at the Scot Trout farm and that they secured an agreement from Tesco, the company's biggest customer, to carry out an inquiry. However, officials from the Argyll District Salmon Fishery Board claim that the supermarket has blocked its attempts to gather details about the inquiry and meet their investigators.

Roger Brook, chairman of the group, said: “How sad it is that Tesco, an organisation that claims to care about the environment, will not even engage with the body that it is responsible for conserving wild salmon in Argyll, which are being put into jeopardy by the activities of Tesco's supplier.”

Andrew Wallace, managing director of the Association of Salmon Fishery Boards, which represents all 42 of the country's salmon protection groups, said the supermarket's secrecy suggested that it had something to hide.

“Unless we see Tesco taking meaningful action against Scot Trout, then we have to draw the conclusion that the codes of conduct on fish farming that Tesco have with their suppliers amount to no more than lip-service.”

Escaped rainbow trout harm the natural ecology of lochs and rivers by preying on juvenile salmon and trout as well as by competing with indigenous fish for food and habitat. They can also spread disease.

Scot Trout has blamed the escape in February on mechanical failure during a storm in which gusts of up to 87mph (140km/h) were recorded.

A spokesman for Tesco said that it had completed its inquiry and that the company followed procedures and had not breached its aquaculture code of practice.

Source: http://www.timesonline.co.uk