That's the claim made this week by animal welfare charity Animal Concern, which has become the latest organisation to protest against the proposed development ahead of a public local inquiry in February.
The charity's objection states that the fi
sh farm, if granted permission, will "undoubtedly cause serious disturbance to and displacement of" a seal colony, as it says the site of the farm is within around five hundred metres of a known seal haul-out site.
John Robins, the charity's campaigns consultant, says in his submission to the inquiry that seals will be "drawn to the farm like bees to a honey pot" - and that between 30 and 60 seals were shot in three days at a salmon farm near Lismore sited within a similar distance of another known haul-out site, leading to the installation of permanent acoustic 'seal scaring' devices.
"If the Inchmarnock farm is permitted," Mr Robins said, "I predict local extinction of seals within a year.
"Our concern is for the welfare of individual seals, but the conservation of the species is also a factor here. In some parts of Scotland common seal populations have fallen by more than 50 per cent in the last three years.
"Places like Inchmarnock, one of the few areas of our west coast not populated and polluted by salmon farms, are a valuable haven for wildlife such as seals.
"Although wildlife should not need a financial value to merit protection it must also be recognised that seal watching is an important part of our tourist industry. Kill or scare away the seals from an area and that area is less attractive to visitors."
The Animal Concern objection also highlighted the risks to wild birds of getting caught in the 'top nets' which often cover fish farm pens, and the location of the proposed development on migratory routes for salmon and sea trout.
Christine McArthur, of the Stop The Inchmarnock Fish Farm (STIFF) campaign group, said: "I was not aware of this objection, although the seal haul-out on the north end of Inchmarnock has been well documented and the seals from here are the ones that people can view at the seal viewpoint at Scalpsie.
"There is no doubt that viewing the seals is a very popular pastime for visitors to the island and is often the highlight of many people's trip to Bute.
"It seems a shame that money is being spent to enhance the seal viewing area by the Discover Bute Landscape Partnership when the very presence of the seals is threatened by the fish farm."
