A survey carried out by Gigha Community Council showed that 61 per cent of residents on the island do not want a new salmon farm to be built off the west coast of the island.
The application has been made by Faroese operator Bakkafrost (formerly called the Scottish Salmon Company).
A total of 83 responses were gathered from a questionnaire which was sent to every inhabited property on Gigha.
The results of the survey have now been reported by Gigha Community Council and by Councillor Douglas McFadzean in their objections to the new development which would incorporate eight 160m circumference cages and the siting of a feed barge.
Highlands and Islands MSP Ariane Burgess has also objected to the planning application.
The Green MSP questioned whether the application complies with the Sustainable Development Policy in the Local Development Plan, and pointed out the waste caused by Bakkafrost’s poor track record in the area.
Ms Burgess said: “When Highly Protected Marine Areas were in the spotlight, the First Minister promised that they would not be imposed on communities that do not want them.
“So when communities do not want salmon farms, why are they being forced upon them?”
Concerns on the island grew following an incident at one of the operators other two fish farms in the area suffered a major loss of life after a sudden and unforeseeable bloom of micro-jellyfish in 2021.
“It is not surprising that the majority of Gigha residents are opposed to this new farm from Bakkafrost, when they have had to endure incidents like the whole village of Tayinloan stinking of rotting fish, after thousands of dead salmon were driven through the village in leaking lorries after a mass mortality event at another one of Bakkafrost’s two farms off Gigha, in 2021,” added Ms Burgess.
“The same company has also seen over 80 per cent of their farmed fish die without being sold as food in production cycles at those other two farms in recent years.
“In 2018 a Scottish Parliament report said that no expansion should be permitted at fish farm sites with high levels of mortality, until these are addressed to the satisfaction of regulators.
“The onus is on Bakkafrost to prove beyond doubt that they will be able to keep fish deaths to a minimum and that this will not be just another failing fish farm forced upon the local community.”