Sir; I see even Private Eye in its latest issue is now having a go at Scottish farmed salmon, which is consistently presented by certain environmental campaigners as the greatest threat to mankind since Osama bin Laden. I am very fond of fish and recently bought some organic farmed salmon from Sainsbury ­ a little pricey but well worth it. It struck me as a high quality product, and it was delicious. Nevertheless I fell to wondering how genuine the environmental concerns about Scottish aquaculture are. And I do not mean people moaning about their nice view being spoiled by fish farm cages. Well, now we have a Food Standards Agency which can put our minds at rest and find the truth of the matter, which surely lies half way between lobbyist scaremongering and overly positive company PR. So I had a look at the web site. Precious little help there. The November statement on dioxins left me none the wiser. Sir Humphry Appleby would have been proud of it. Of course I know at a glance how many picograms of dioxin there are in any food on my plate. It seems a pity that the FSA is not speaking out more forcefully in defence of an industry which is enduring so much startlingly hostile media flak, such as Nicky Campbell on the BBC's Watchdog programme recently. Surely this was what the FSA was set up to do. And why is Scotland getting all the hassle? Should we not also be getting guidance about other sources of farmed salmon that enter the British diet, such as farmed Chilean salmon now going into cans? And how much does Norway provide us with? Or is the FSA happy to let Private Eye define the public conception of fish farming, and let Scottish jobs do down the drain? Peter Page Mannamead, Plymouth {{LETTERS }}

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