Green Around the Gills

RSPCA Suspend Salmon Farm Inspections

Fish Farming Expert reported (27 May 2020) that the RSPCA suspended in-person assessments of salmon farms on 23 March with contactless assessments available by mutual agreement on Monday (1 June):

So instead of on-farm inspections (for which the RSPCA rake in over £500,000 per year for certifying ca. 60% of salmon farming in Scotland as 'welfare friendly') RSPCA auditors who include former Mowi manager Ian Michie conduct inspections via WhatsApp, Google Meet and Google Hangout.

SEPA relax environmental controls during Coronavirus crisis

Irony of Virus-Laden Scottish Salmon Exploiting Coronavirus Crisis

Scottish Salmon Watch reported earlier this week (27 May 2020) on an inspection carried out by the Scottish Government's Fish Health Inspectorate at RSPCA Assured Mowi in Loch Greshornish on 10 March before the Coronavirus crisis prompted a more relaxed regime:

Mmmmm, any takers for yummy RSPCA Assured salmon infected with Enteric Redmouth (ERM) Disease, Salmon Gill Poxvirus, Amoebic Gill Disease and treated with antibiotics (Mowi salmon is sold via Sainsbury's, Lidl and Aldi and is farmed according to the RSPCA Assured salmon welfare standard)?

Photos of Mowi's Loch Greshornish farmed salmon (published online by the Scottish Government's Fish Health Inspectorate) certainly do not ooze a picture of health or high welfare standards.

Another Mowi salmon farm 'inspected' by the Scottish Government's Fish Health Inspectorate in late March 2020 was conducted via "Passive Surveillance Inspection" (i.e. over the telephone without any visit) due to the COVID-19.

Data published on 4 May 2020 by the Scottish Government's Fish Health Inspectorate reveals that Mowi's RSPCA Assured Loch Seaforth salmon farm has reported 10 'Mortality Event Reports' since October 2018 involving 134,415 dead farmed salmon due to Anaemia, Pancreas Disease, "treated related mortality", "mechanical treatment", "compromised gill health", "piscireckettsia", "Amoebic Gill Disease" and "peroxide treatment":

Readers might be surprised to discover that Mowi (Scotland's largest salmon farming company - called Marine Harvest until 1 January 2019 when they changed their name despite objections from the Mowinckel family) is certified as 'welfare-friendly' by RSPCA Assured.

The welfare nightmare of Mowi's salmon farms should have consumers reaching for the sick bag not their shopping bag.

Last month (23 April 2020), Scottish Salmon Watch reported:

Download letter from APHA to Mowi in full online here

The Sunday Times reported (9 February 2020):

Read more via:

Here's shocking images taken by the Scottish Government's Fish Health Inspectorate when they have visited RSPCA Assured Mowi salmon farms:

In February 2020, Scottish Salmon Watch published a dossier of photos of diseased and deformed Scottish salmon - including many farmed by Mowi and certified via RSPCA Assured:

Read more via:

Posted at 09:32 AM | Permalink

Petition: "Stop Toxic Salmon Farm Chemicals Polluting Scottish Lochs"

Here's a petition calling on the Scottish Government to ban the use of Formaldehyde on salmon farms.

Please sign and share online here

Read more via:

Sunday National: "Revealed: The 10 Scottish lochs polluted by fish farm chemicals"

Posted at 06:50 PM | Permalink

RSPCA Assured Mowi Plagued by Mass Mortalities & Infectious Diseases on Skye

The latest 'Case Information' on diseases at salmon farms published earlier this month by the Scottish Government's Fish Health Inspectorate makes for grim reading for Norwegian giant Mowi (formerly called Marine Harvest - they changed their name in 2019 due to "negative consumer perception").

Mmmmm, any takers for yummy RSPCA Assured salmon infected with Enteric Redmouth (ERM) Disease, Salmon Gill Poxvirus, Amoebic Gill Disease and treated with antibiotics (Mowi salmon is sold via Sainsbury's, Lidl and Aldi and is farmed according to the RSPCA Assured salmon welfare standard)?

Photos of Mowi's Loch Greshornish farmed salmon (published online by the Scottish Government's Fish Health Inspectorate) certainly do not ooze a picture of health or high welfare standards.

Readers might be surprised to discover that Mowi (Scotland's largest salmon farming company - called Marine Harvest until 1 January 2019 when they changed their name despite objections from the Mowinckel family) is certified as 'welfare-friendly' by RSPCA Assured.

The welfare nightmare of Mowi's salmon farms should have consumers reaching for the sick bag not their shopping bag.

Mowi is shamefully endorsed and supported by Scottish Ministers such as Fergus Ewing and Kate Forbes who gorge themselves on Mowi salmon.

Mowi is owned/controlled by Norway's richest man John Fredriksen (dubbed 'The Viking Raider' by Forbes) who recently featured at #20 on The Sunday Times 2020 'Rich List' worth £6.63 billion and is #141 on the Forbes billionaires list worth $10.1 billion (he lives as a tax exile in Cyprus but also lives in London in a £100 house in Chelsea):

Fredriksen's billions have been made on the back of shipping as well as salmon farming.

Will Mowi's owner (nicknamed 'Big Wolf' and 'McFreddy') be gorging himself on disease-ridden salmon from Loch Greshornish? Here's more information reported by the Scottish Government's Fish Health Inspectorate from their inspection in March 2020:

Mowi has a history of problems with Enteric Redmouth (ERM) Disease which is caused by Yersinia ruckeri. Yersiniaceae are a family of Gram-negative bacteria that includes some familiar pathogens. For example, the type genus Yersinia includes Yersinia pestis, the causative agent of the Bubonic 'Black Death' plague.

Read more about diseases on salmon farms via "Fish Farmageddon: The Infectious Salmon Aquacalypse"

The Scottish Government report:

According to the FHI 'Case Information', Mowi sourced their Loch Greshornish salmon from their hatchery in Lochailort (opened by the First Minister of Scotland, Alex Salmond, in 2013) which sourced salmon eggs imported from AquaGen in Norway and Mowi Norway. A scientific paper published in 2015 suggested that ERM (Yersinia ruckeri) "could be transmitted vertically" (i.e. via infected eggs as was reportedly the case with Infectious Salmon Anaemia via infected eggs from AquaGen in Norway).

The Scottish Government's Fish Health Inspectorate publishes information on diseases on salmon farms via 'Case Information' reported every month - online here

Information for April 2020 is expected to be published in June 2020 - the archive goes back to 2013 and is recommended reading on an empty stomach.

The Scottish Government's Fish Health Inspectorate also publishes sea lice information and mortality information. Mortality data published on 4 May 2020 up to the end of March 2020 included:

Here's the top 20 biggest mass mortalities reported by salmon farms in March 2020:

Since June 2018, Mowi has officially reported to the Scottish Government 225,868 mass mortalities in 24 'Mortality Event Reports' at Loch Greshornish alone - with explained reasons for mortality including Yersinia, bath treatment, mechanical lice treatment (Thermolicer), Amoebic Gill Disease and Anaemia:

In 2016, The Sunday Herald & The Ferret reported on a mass mortality of 95,400 farmed salmon at Mowi's Loch Greshornish salmon farm due to a failed Thermolicer treatment.

The Daily Telegraph reported in November 2016:

In March 2020, Advocates for Animals challenged the Scottish Government on the lawfulness of the Thermolicer:

Another Mowi salmon farm 'inspected' by the Scottish Government's Fish Health Inspectorate in late March 2020 was conducted via "Passive Surveillance Inspection" (i.e. over the telephone without any visit) due to the COVID-19.

Data published on 4 May 2020 by the Scottish Government's Fish Health Inspectorate reveals that Mowi's RSPCA Assured Loch Seaforth salmon farm has reported 10 'Mortality Event Reports' since October 2018 involving 134,415 dead farmed salmon due to Anaemia, Pancreas Disease, "treated related mortality", "mechanical treatment", "compromised gill health", "piscireckettsia", "Amoebic Gill Disease" and "peroxide treatment":

Here's shocking images taken by the Scottish Government's Fish Health Inspectorate when they have visited RSPCA Assured Mowi salmon farms:

In February 2020, Scottish Salmon Watch published a dossier of photos of diseased and deformed Scottish salmon - including many farmed by Mowi and certified via RSPCA Assured:

Last month Scottish Salmon Watch revealed that Mowi had failed to comply with welfare legislation at their 'Bay of the Dead Heads' salmon farm with mass mortalities of cleaner fish (lumpsuckers).

Download letter from APHA to Mowi in full online here

Here's photos of morts being disposed of in Mallaig from Mowi's Isle of Muck salmon farm in 2019:

Here's video footage of a fatty oil slick at Mowi's Isle of Muck salmon farm leaked by a whistleblower:

This is the ugly face of Mowi salmon.

So next time you're in the supermarket - whether it is Sainsbury's, Lidl or Aldi - please steer clear of RSPCA Assured Scottish salmon!

Take the pledge to boycott Scottish salmon!

"Mowi asks to trial new lice drug in Scotland"

Scottish Greens "Deeply Concerned" at Mowi's Field Trial of Neonicotinoid Imidacloprid in Loch Ailort

Secret Trials: 'Royal' Salmon Doused with Bee-Killing Insecticide Imidacloprid?

Complaint re. MOWI's reckless behaviour & subsequent fatality in Loch Alsh

Censored: Welfare Abuse on Salmon Farms

Be Sure to Boycott RSPCA Assured Scottish Salmon - Shocking New Photos Published of Mowi's North Shore Feedlot in Loch Erisort!

Photo Dossier of Diseased, Deformed & Abused Scottish Salmon

The Case Against Scottish Salmon Continued - new data for January 2020

2019 Salmon Farming Data Online Now!

Mort Update (Jan 2020): 239,333 dead salmon via 30 'Mortality Event Reports'

Deadly Mowi - the Horror Story Continues!

Private Eye on Salmon Farming's 'Killing Fields'

The Killing Farms - Scottish Salmon's Horror Story Continues!

'Moribund' Mowi: Salmon Gill Poxvirus, Amoebic Gill Disease & Anaemia at Ardintoul

Update: Mass Mortalities Piling Up at Scottish Salmon

The Case Against Scottish Salmon

Revealed: Mowi's Nightmare in Loch Linnhe - 55% Mortality & Infectious Diseases

All Sorts of Problems for Mowi in Loch Erisort (Yet Again)!

"Leave Our Farms Alone" Demand Mowi. Here's What They're Hiding & Why Mowi Want the Public to Keep Away!

Update: Mass Mortalities Piling Up at Scottish Salmon

Mowi's Mass Mortalities Pile Ever Higher

Mowi's Ghoul at Ardintoul

Fighting Mowi's Legal Action Over Filming at Salmon Farms

Caught on Camera - Mowi's Reckless Breaches of Health & Safety in Loch Alsh

Sunday National/Ferret: "Salmon company Mowi rapped over fish welfare after 700,000 deaths"

Mowi "care passionately for the health and welfare of our fish" (*cough* Bullshit! *cough*)

EXPOSED: Photo Disclosures Opens Floodgates to More Diseased & Deformed Scottish Salmon

Update: Mortalities & Disease Decimating Scottish Salmon

Mowi's Nightmare Before Xmas - The Unlucky 13

Revealed: Mowi's Nightmare in Loch Linnhe - 55% Mortality & Infectious Diseases

'Frankenfish' Halloween Protest (31 October) - Beware of the Nightmare of Scottish Salmon!

It's Like a Bad Mowi (Deja Vu After Marine Harvest Horror Show)!

Video Nasty: Thermolicer - the Heated Torture Chamber for Scottish Salmon

Sick Bucket Time for Mowi Salmon

Cardiac Disease Arrests Mowi in Kingairloch

Welfare Abuse at Scottish Salmon Farms - Why No Legal Enforcement Or Prosecutions?

Mowi's Welfare Nightmare on Rum - "blind", "physical damage", "anorexic" & over 40,000 dead fish!

The Fish Pharm Menace - Mowi is Like a Bad Movie (& Dick Dastardly)!

"Mowi are talking rubbish" says National Trust in the Financial Times

Ministers Gorge on Scottish Salmon à la John Gummer

Scottish Salmon's Mort Mountain Piles Ever Higher in 2019

BBC Countryfile on ADDs impacting on cetaceans

Video sparks HSE scrutiny of Mowi in Loch Linnhe

Proposed salmon farm raises environmental concerns in Hebrides

Memo to MOWI - You Got to Move it, You Got to Move it Mowi!

Mowi “holding communities to ransom” over relocation of fish farm sites says campaigner

Shocking Video Footage from Mowi's 'Bay of the Dead Heads' (Bagh Dail nan Ceann)

Mowi's Fungus Pollution of the River Polly

Fish farms urged to stop use of toxic chemical in Scottish waters

EXPOSED: Mowi's Cache of Carcinogenic Chemicals On Conservative MSP's Estate

Salmon farming giant Mowi probed over chemical use

Salmon Farming Exposed

Mowi's Greed of Feed

Mowi's Disease-Ridden Mortalities - 1.6 million+ in 101 incidents (2017-2018)

The Sorry State of Scottish Salmon Farming in 2018

Negative perception of Marine Harvest behind switch to Mowi

"We think it's completely wrong that the Mowi name will be associated with the kind of farming that Marine Harvest operates"

X-Rated Mowi: Preview of Marine Harvest's Horror Show

Media Backgrounder: MOWI - Unfit for Purpose

Scottish salmon farms in disease hell row after tons of rotting fish dumped in skips

Whistleblower photos of Marine Harvest

Sunday Mail: "Gutted - 300,000 salmon are killed as storm batters fish farm"

The welfare status of salmon farms in Scotland

Named: Supermarkets selling salmon from 'poor' welfare firms

EXPOSED: Gruesome Photos of Deformed & Diseased Scottish Salmon

Horror photos of farmed salmon spark legal threat

Media Backgrounder: "Marine Harmfest Scotland"

24,500 fish escape from Marine Harvest farm after storm damage

Scottish Salmon's Mort Mountain Leaps Over 10 Million - FOI reveals 2.3 million dead salmon at Marine Harvest farms in 2017

Mapped: the 45 lochs polluted by fish farm pesticides

RSPCA in firing line over Marine Harvest's seal-killing spree in Scotland

16,000 salmon escape Argyll fish farm after storms

Fish company investigated after salmon farm pollutes Scottish loch - Marine Harvest, one of the largest fish-farming companies, is under investigation after polluting loch with pesticide

Revealed: the dirty dozen salmon farms that contaminate lochs with pesticides

Marine Harvest fined £23,500 for pollution

Campaigners want polluted salmon farm endorsed by Oliver to be shut

Posted at 08:29 AM | Permalink

Sunday National: "Revealed: The 10 Scottish lochs polluted by fish farm chemicals"

The Sunday National reported (24 May 2020):

Read article in full online here

Here's the newspaper version:

ENDS Report reported (27 May 2020):

Read more via:

Posted at 11:45 AM | Permalink

The Ferret: "Toxic fish farm pesticide polluted ten lochs across Scotland"

The Ferret reported (24 May 2020):

Read more via:

Posted at 11:08 AM | Permalink

REVEALED: Carcinogenic Chemical Formaldehyde Flooding Scottish Lochs

Download press release in full with notes to editors online here

FOI letter to Scottish Ministers & VMD on Formaldehyde/Formalin use on salmon farms since 2013

Under the Cloak of Coronavirus: SEPA open the floodgates to lobster-killing chemicals!

The Ferret: "Fish farm companies ‘bidding to use bee-harming pesticide’"

Revealed: Toxic Neonicotinoid Insecticide Used to 'CleanTreat' Lousy Salmon

Media Backgrounder: Chemically Embalmed Scottish Farmed Salmon

Video Nasty: Chemically Embalmed Scottish Salmon at Kames in Loch Tralaig

Sunday Times: "Chemical fears at Scots fish farms"

Scottish fish farms using cancer-linked embalming fluid as disinfectant

EXPOSED: Mowi's Cache of Carcinogenic Chemicals On Conservative MSPs Estate

EXPOSED: Scottish Salmon's Cascading Use of Cancer-Causing Chemical

Pickled Scottish Salmon, Anyone?

Formalin: Scottish Salmon's Toxic Solution

Silent Spring of the Sea

Posted at 11:03 AM | Permalink

FOI letter to Scottish Ministers re. Formaldehyde/Formalin use on salmon farms since 2013

Read FOI letter in full online here

FOI review of SEPA's refusal to provide information on Formaldehyde/Formalin use in Loch Tralaig

Video Nasty: Chemically Embalmed Scottish Salmon at Kames in Loch Tralaig

Sunday Times: "Chemical fears at Scots fish farms"

Scottish fish farms using cancer-linked embalming fluid as disinfectant

EXPOSED: Mowi's Cache of Carcinogenic Chemicals On Conservative MSPs Estate

EXPOSED: Scottish Salmon's Cascading Use of Cancer-Causing Chemical

Posted at 11:01 AM | Permalink

"What’s Bad for Bees Could Be Bad for Marine Life, Too"

Hakai magazine reported (4 May 2020):

Here's the Ocean Sciences paper cited above:

Scottish Salmon Watch reported on other scientific research on the environmental impacts of Imidacloprid in March 2020:

A scientific paper published in Marine Environmental Research in October 2019 reported:

[If any scientists have any other references or research into the aquatic impact of Imidacloprid please pass on to Don Staniford: salmonfarmingkills@gmail.com]

National Geographic reported in November 2019:

Read more via Science magazine via "Neonicotinoids disrupt aquatic food webs and decrease fishery yields":

Download paper in full online here

The paper concludes:

Read more about the 'Silent Spring of the Sea' (a chapter in the award-winning 2004 book 'A Stain Upon the Sea'):

Read more via:

Posted at 08:38 AM | Permalink

"Mowi asks to trial new lice drug in Scotland"

Fish Farming Expert reported (22 May 2020):

Fish Farming Expert reported in March 2020:

Read more via:

Posted at 08:12 AM | Permalink

Scottish Greens "Deeply Concerned" at Mowi's Field Trial of Neonicotinoid Imidacloprid in Loch Ailort

Mark Ruskell MSP of the Scottish Greens has written to the Cabinet Secretary for Environment, Climate Change & Land Reform raising concerns about the use of neonicotinoid insecticide Imidacloprid in salmon farming:

Download letter as a PDF online here

Read more via:

Posted at 06:23 PM | Permalink

Letter to the Prince of Wales re. bee-killing Imidacloprid use at royal warrant holder Mowi

Read Scottish Salmon Watch's letter to the Prince of Wales in full online here

Secret Trials: 'Royal' Salmon Doused with Bee-Killing Insecticide Imidacloprid?

Read press release with notes to editors and media backgrounder in full online here

Complaint re. MOWI's reckless behaviour & subsequent fatality in Loch Alsh

Download Scottish Salmon Watch's letter of complaint to the Maritime & Coastguard Agency (1 May 2020) in full online here

Probe launched following death of Highland fish farm worker

"Leave Our Farms Alone" Demand Mowi. Here's What They're Hiding & Why Mowi Want the Public to Keep Away!

Mowi's Ghoul at Ardintoul

Fighting Mowi's Legal Action Over Filming at Salmon Farms

Caught on Camera - Mowi's Reckless Breaches of Health & Safety in Loch Alsh

The Fish Pharm Menace - Mowi is Like a Bad Movie (& Dick Dastardly)!

Video sparks HSE scrutiny of Mowi in Loch Linnhe

Posted at 10:01 AM | Permalink

Censored: Welfare Abuse on Salmon Farms

Download letter from APHA to Mowi in full online here

Download the press release, media backgrounder and notes to editors in full as a PDF online here

Scottish Salmon Watch today (23 April 2020) filed a formal request for a review of APHA's refusal via ATIC1896 to disclose detailed information on welfare abuses on salmon farms in Scotland since 1 January 2018 and filed an appeal with the Information Commissioner with respect to APHA's refusal to disclose photos via ATIC1836 (both replied to on 10 March 2020).

APHA FOI review request re ATIC1896 by Scottish Salmon Watch 23 April 2020

Information Commissioner appeal by Scotthis Salmon Watch re APHA's FOI refusal via ATIC1836 23 April 2020

APHA FOI Response ATIC1896 10 March 2020

APHA FOI Response Internal Review ATIC1836 10 March 2020

APHA FOI refusal 11 Oct 2019 ATIC1836

APHA FOI Dossier (April 2020)

Here's photos of morts being disposed of in Mallaig from Mowi's Isle of Muck salmon farm in 2019:

Here's video footage of a fatty oil slick at Mowi's Isle of Muck salmon farm leaked by a whistleblower:

Update:

Read letter in full online here

Posted at 09:20 AM | Permalink

FOI Reveals Virus-Laden Salmon Slip Net & Into Scottish Waters

A Freedom of Information reply from the Scottish Government earlier this month (2 April 2020) reveals an abject lack of testing of viruses, pathogens and infectious diseases.

Scottish Salmon Watch's FOI request of 28 February 2020 also asked for:

The Scottish Government refused the FOI request on 2 April 2020 citing commercial confidentiality:

Read the Scottish Government's FOI reply dated 2 April 2020 in full online here

The Scottish Government posted the FOI reply online on 3 April 2020 via FOI/202000018313:

Scottish Salmon Watch today (9 April 2020) formally requested a review of the Scottish Government's FOI refusal.

In February 2020, Scottish Salmon Watch wrote to Scottish Ministers with respect to bio-security protocols and safety precautions of imported ova.

Download letter in full online here

The Scottish Government replied on 25 March 2020:

According to the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE):

The Scottish Government's 'Biosecurity Measures Plan' states:

The Scottish Government's 'Disinfection Guide' is available online here

In February 2020, Scottish Salmon Watch and The Ferret revealed that imports of salmon eggs (ova) from Norway were banned in May 2019 following fears of the spread of Infectious Salmon Anaemia.

Norwegian Salmon Egg Exports Banned Due to Disease Risks

Game Ova for Scottish Salmon - Deadly disease delays egg imports from AquaGen in Norway

Deadly virus outbreak prompted fears over import of fish farm eggs to Scotland

In June 2019, Scottish Salmon Watch revealed that testing by Marine Scotland Science in 2018 and 2019 found Piscine Reovirus in over 50% of farmed salmon.

Read more via "Virus-Laden Farmed Salmon"

In April 2019, Scottish Salmon Watch wrote to Scottish Ministers urging the testing of ova, smolts and farmed salmon in sea cages for infectious diseases, pathogens and viruses.

Posted at 06:10 AM | Permalink

Under the Cloak of Coronavirus: SEPA open the floodgates to lobster-killing chemicals!

Under the guise of the Coronavirus crisis, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) has opened the floodgates to the use of toxic chemicals (including the lobster-killing pesticide Emamectin benzoate which SEPA proposed to be banned back in 2016 before lobbying by the Scottish Government, salmon farmers and the chemical company Merck staved off a ban).

Fish Farming Expert reported (8 April 2020):

The Fish Site reported (8 April 2020):

Fish Farmer reported (9 April 2020):

A press release issued by the Scottish Salmon Producers Organisation on 7 April 2020 stated:

SEPA's web-site explains:

SEPA's temporary regulatory position statement for the use of sea lice medicine at marine finfish farms dated April 2020 includes:

And:

The 20-page 'Temporary Regulatory Position Statement' continues:

And:

With respect to Emamectin benzoate (the lobster-killing pesticide which SEPA proposed to be banned back in 2016), SEPA states:

Read SEPA's 'Temporary Regulatory Position Statement' (April 2020) in full online here

SEPA's web-site also reads in relation to Emamectin benzoate:

The Ferret has reported on the scandal dubbed 'Slicegate' since 2017:

A review of 'Slicegate' was published in 2017 via Slicegate: Anatomy & Chronology of an Environmental Lobotomy - How the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency was Sliced to death by the Scottish Government and salmon farming lobby.

Last month, Scottish Salmon Watch revealed that SEPA had blocked the disclosure of documents relating to the use of the toxic neonicotinoid Imidacloprid (marketed by Benchmark as BMK08 & Ectosan).

The Ferret reported (17 March 2020):

"SEPA are permitting salmon farmers to pollute with impunity," said Don Staniford, Director of Scottish Salmon Watch in response to relaxed rules announced in March 2020. "Turning a blind eye to breaches of environmental rules is one thing but giving the salmon sector a special exemption is beyond the pale. What other sectors have been given a free pass to pollute with immunity from prosecution? Welfare abuse on salmon farms was shameful during 2019 and now SEPA is promoting conditions which serve only to exacerbate disease and mortality problems during 2020."

"It's scandalous that SEPA is now opening the floodgates to lobster-killing chemicals such as Emamectin benzoate - a toxic chemical SEPA planned on banning back in 2016," continued Staniford, author of 'Silent Spring of the Sea', in response to SEPA's relaxed rules on toxic chemicals. "Coronavirus is being deployed as a Trojan Horse by salmon farmers waging a never-ending war on sea lice. Heaven knows what environmental damage this toxic industry will be guilty of by the end of June when the temporary rules are lifted. Shellfish such as lobsters are collateral damage in the salmon farming industry's deadly battle. Consumers faced with chemically embalmed Scottish salmon in the supermarket would be wise to keep a safe distance. The relaxed rules may mean more contaminated salmon slipping through the regulatory net and into shopping baskets."

The Ferret reported (7 April 2020):

The relaxation of rules in Canada prompted a petition from Clayoquot Action:

In other Coronavirus news, it seems that the toxic pesticide Ivermectin (used by salmon farmers in the 1990s to kill sea lice) could be rearing its ugly head as a treatment for Covid-19.

The Conversation reported (6 April 2020):

The Fish Site reported (6 April 2020):

Two decades ago the use of Ivermectin caused controversy with supermarkets refusing to sell farmed salmon treated with the dangerous pesticide.

In 2017, documents obtained from the Veterinary Medicines Directorate via Freedom of Information revealed that the Scottish Salmon Company breached safety levels for Emamectin benzoate in the flesh of Scottish salmon three times in 2016 at two salmon farms in Loch Roag on the Isle of Lewis (Vacasay and Taranaish) due to an "overdose".

Emamectin contamination of Scottish farmed salmon has occurred at least eight times with other cases reported by the VMD in 2012 (Scottish Salmon Company), 2010 (Lakeland Marine), 2009 (Skelda Salmon), 2006 (Scottish Sea Farms) and 2005 (Marine Harvest, re-named Mowi in 2019 due to negative consumer perception).

The Daily Mail reported (14 March 2017):

The Ferret: "Environmental rules for salmon farming industry relaxed"

SEPA relax environmental controls during Coronavirus crisis

Rules relaxed for fish farmers due to Covid-19

2019 Salmon Farming Data Online Now!

Shame on SEPA the Laggard not Leader (even the sloths at SSPO are quicker at publishing data)!

ENDS Report: "Calls for greater transparency over ‘toxic’ new fish farm product"

Letter to SEPA: Please Come Clean on Imidacloprid!

Follow the Salmoney - the Norwegian tobacco billionaire behind the Neonicotinoid Imidacloprid

The Ferret: "Fish farm companies ‘bidding to use bee-harming pesticide’"

Revealed: Toxic Neonicotinoid Insecticide Used to 'CleanTreat' Lousy Salmon

Please Come Clean on BMK08!

Media Backgrounder: Chemically Embalmed Scottish Salmon

Sunday Times: "Official fears revealed over toxic threat of salmon trade"

Cleaning Tox-Sick Scottish Salmon

CleanTreat FOI Disclosures by the Scottish Government to Scottish Salmon Watch

The Sunday Times: "Chemical fears at Scots fish farms"

EXPOSED: Scottish Salmon's Cascading Use of Cancer-Causing Chemical

Salmon farming giant Mowi probed over chemical use

Leading fish farm watchdog joins fish farm industry

Fish farming industry bids to relax limits on toxic pesticide

All is Not Well With Sick Scottish Salmon

The Scottish Environment Pollution Agency

SEPA's Shame on Salmon Farming

Effects of pharmaceuticals used to treat salmon lice on non-target species: Evidence from a systematic review

Slicegate: Anatomy & Chronology of an Environmental Lobotomy - How the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency was Sliced to death by the Scottish Government and salmon farming lobby

How the Scottish Government ‘nuanced’ away fish farm pesticide ban

Pesticide report suppressed after freedom of information warning

Scottish Government under fire for helping block pesticide ban

Revealed: secret role of US drug company in fish farm pesticide row

Ban on polluting pesticide dropped after complaint from fish farmers

Mapped: the 45 lochs polluted by fish farm pesticides

The Sunday Times: "Salmon industry toxins soar by 1000 per cent"

Scottish Salmon's Lethal Legacy - Ten-fold Increase in Toxic Chemical Use in Ten Years

Scientific Backgrounder: Ecotoxicity & Chemical Resistance

Media Backgrounder: Scotland's 'Silent Spring' of the Sea

Daily Mail: "The toxic chemicals in farmed salmon straight from the loch"

Scottish Salmon Overdoses on Toxic Chemical

Read more on toxic chemicals used by salmon farms online here

Posted at 05:49 AM | Permalink

Be Sure to Boycott RSPCA Assured Scottish Salmon - Shocking New Photos Published of Mowi's North Shore Feedlot in Loch Erisort!

Shocking photos slipped out recently by the Scottish Government's Fish Health Inspectorate reveal welfare abuse and disease-ridden operations at Norwegian-owned Mowi's RSPCA Assured salmon farm at North Shore in Loch Erisort on the Isle of Lewis. The damning inspection report details infectious diseases, viruses and pathogens such as Complex Gill Disease, Anaemia, Amoebic Gill Disease, Salmon Gill Poxvirus, Paranucleospora theridion, Cardiomyopathy Syndrome and Piscine Myocarditis Virus as well as severe lice infestation.

Like all Mowi's salmon farming operations, the cash hungry RSPCA certify the North Shore salmon farm in Loch Erisort as "welfare-friendly" via the much maligned RSPCA Assured scheme.

Even during the Coronavirus crisis when supermarket shelves are running empty, are you sure you want to be caught eating "healthy and delicious" Mowi salmon like Scottish Ministers Fergus Ewing and Kate Forbes?

These five farmed salmon which were sampled and photographed by the Scottish Government (out of over 750,000 fish in 17 cages on Mowi's disease-ridden feedlot) surely make you want to throw up and throw the sick salmon in the bin?

When you see the Mowi Salmon Wagon coming please avoid it like the proverbial plague!

In view of the "severe" lice damage to Mowi's salmon it is not surprising that the damaged fish are skinned to remove any trace of the welfare nightmare of factory fish farming. Can anyone seriously look the camera in the eye and defend Mowi salmon as a "responsibly sourced" and "welfare friendly" RSPCA Assured product as marketed by supermarkets such as Sainsbury's, Lidl and Aldi?

Please take the salmon pledge not to eat farmed salmon!

The damning report (including photos) relating to an inspection of Mowi's salmon farm on the Isle of Lewis on 28 October 2019 was recently added to the 'Case Information' published by the Scottish Government (some files are published five or six months after the Fish Health Inspectorate visits). Thankfully, Scottish Salmon Watch is constantly updating the case against Scottish salmon and has summarized the Fish Health Inspectorate report below:

The Fish Health Inspection report dated 28 October 2019 detailed mass mortalities of over 65,000 fish over the last four weeks alone and finally reported 16,791 morts from October 2017 due to Pasteurella skyensis (note that Mowi changed their name from Marine Harvest in 2019 due to negative consumer perception despite opposition from the Mowinckel family who gave their family name to the Mowi strain of salmon pioneered by Thor Mowinckel in Norway)!

The late reporting was cited in a letter from the Fish Health Inspector dated 19 December 2019 to Mowi which also raised the issue of an "inadequately maintained" farm management agreement/statement and "discrepancies in sea lice data sets" which needed to be addressed by 19 January 2020 (this helps explains the delay in posting the October 2019 inspection report).

BBC News reported on the mass mortality due to Pasteurella skyensis in October 2017:

The Daily Mail reported in January 2018:

Mortality data published on 6 March 2020 by the Scottish Government's Fish Health Inspectorate confirms the late reporting by Mowi of 16,791 mortalities due to Pasteurella skyensis in October 2017 (Mowi reported the deaths over two years late in December 2019!) with a staggering 336,388 mortalities via twelve 'Mortality Event Reports' (a further ten 'Mortality Event Reports' did not provide a number of mortalities) with the weekly mortality rate recorded as high as 12.25%.

Explained reasons listed by the Scottish Government's Fish Health Inspectorate included "anaemia associated with gill bleeding", "thermal lice treatment", "losses during bath treatment", Pasteurella skyensis, PD (Pancreas Disease), AGD (Amoebic Gill Disease) and CMS (Cardimyopathy Syndrome):

Additional information listed by the Scottish Government's Fish Health Inspectorate included "Above threshold lice numbers so lice treatments have continued despite compromised gill and cardiovascular health", "Lice treatment had to be performed due to lice numbers" and "Ongoing sea lice challenge, as such mechanical treatments have been carried out":

Last month, Advocates for Animals wrote to the Scottish Government challenging the legality of the Thermolicer due to welfare problems and mass mortalities.

The Fish Health Inspection report for Mowi's North Shore salmon farm in Loch Erisort detailed a host of diseases, parasites, pathogens and viruses including Complex Gill Disease, Anaemia, Neoparamoeba perurans, Amoebic Gill Disease, Salmon Gill Poxvirus, Paranucleospora theridion, Cardiomyopathy Syndrome and Piscine Myocarditis Virus as well as physical evidence of moribund, lethargic and haemorrhaging fish with breaches of lice infestation levels.

A letter from Marine Scotland to Mowi dated 13 December 2019 detailed a host of diseases, viruses and pathogens and noted that "all fish sampled displayed moderate to severe lice damage".

Judging by this job advert, perhaps the farm manager responsible for such shocking welfare abuse was fired and a new manager hired?

The people in charge of the RSPCA's inspection of salmon farms (one of the inspectors is a former Mowi manager!) are clearly not doing a good job of policing fish welfare on salmon farms.

In January 2020, Scottish Salmon Watch revealed welfare abuse at Mowi's RSPCA Assured salmon farm at Tabhaigh which is also in Loch Erisort.

Photos: RSPCA Assured salmon farmed at Mowi's Tabhaigh site in Loch Erisort (published in January 2020 by the Scottish Government's Fish Health Inspectorate)

The Scottish Government's Fish Health Inspectorate reported (17 January 2020) disease and mortality problems at Mowi's North Shore salmon farm in Loch Erisort during an inspection on 12 November 2019 (no samples or photos were taken unlike the October 2019 inspection visit):

In February 2020, Scottish Salmon Watch published a dossier of photos of diseased and deformed Scottish salmon - including many farmed by Mowi and certified via RSPCA Assured:

The Case Against Scottish Salmon Continued - new data for January 2020

2019 Salmon Farming Data Online Now!

Mort Update (Jan 2020): 239,333 dead salmon via 30 'Mortality Event Reports'

Deadly Mowi - the Horror Story Continues!

Private Eye on Salmon Farming's 'Killing Fields'

The Killing Farms - Scottish Salmon's Horror Story Continues!

'Moribund' Mowi: Salmon Gill Poxvirus, Amoebic Gill Disease & Anaemia at Ardintoul

Update: Mass Mortalities Piling Up at Scottish Salmon

The Case Against Scottish Salmon

Revealed: Mowi's Nightmare in Loch Linnhe - 55% Mortality & Infectious Diseases

All Sorts of Problems for Mowi in Loch Erisort (Yet Again)!

"Leave Our Farms Alone" Demand Mowi. Here's What They're Hiding & Why Mowi Want the Public to Keep Away!

Update: Mass Mortalities Piling Up at Scottish Salmon

Mowi's Mass Mortalities Pile Ever Higher

Mowi's Ghoul at Ardintoul

Fighting Mowi's Legal Action Over Filming at Salmon Farms

Caught on Camera - Mowi's Reckless Breaches of Health & Safety in Loch Alsh

Sunday National/Ferret: "Salmon company Mowi rapped over fish welfare after 700,000 deaths"

Mowi "care passionately for the health and welfare of our fish" (*cough* Bullshit! *cough*)

EXPOSED: Photo Disclosures Opens Floodgates to More Diseased & Deformed Scottish Salmon

Update: Mortalities & Disease Decimating Scottish Salmon

Mowi's Nightmare Before Xmas - The Unlucky 13

Revealed: Mowi's Nightmare in Loch Linnhe - 55% Mortality & Infectious Diseases

'Frankenfish' Halloween Protest (31 October) - Beware of the Nightmare of Scottish Salmon!

It's Like a Bad Mowi (Deja Vu After Marine Harvest Horror Show)!

Video Nasty: Thermolicer - the Heated Torture Chamber for Scottish Salmon

Sick Bucket Time for Mowi Salmon

Cardiac Disease Arrests Mowi in Kingairloch

Welfare Abuse at Scottish Salmon Farms - Why No Legal Enforcement Or Prosecutions?

Mowi's Welfare Nightmare on Rum - "blind", "physical damage", "anorexic" & over 40,000 dead fish!

The Fish Pharm Menace - Mowi is Like a Bad Movie (& Dick Dastardly)!

"Mowi are talking rubbish" says National Trust in the Financial Times

Ministers Gorge on Scottish Salmon à la John Gummer

Scottish Salmon's Mort Mountain Piles Ever Higher in 2019

BBC Countryfile on ADDs impacting on cetaceans

Video sparks HSE scrutiny of Mowi in Loch Linnhe

Proposed salmon farm raises environmental concerns in Hebrides

Memo to MOWI - You Got to Move it, You Got to Move it Mowi!

Mowi “holding communities to ransom” over relocation of fish farm sites says campaigner

Shocking Video Footage from Mowi's 'Bay of the Dead Heads' (Bagh Dail nan Ceann)

Mowi's Fungus Pollution of the River Polly

Fish farms urged to stop use of toxic chemical in Scottish waters

EXPOSED: Mowi's Cache of Carcinogenic Chemicals On Conservative MSP's Estate

Salmon farming giant Mowi probed over chemical use

Salmon Farming Exposed

Mowi's Greed of Feed

Mowi's Disease-Ridden Mortalities - 1.6 million+ in 101 incidents (2017-2018)

The Sorry State of Scottish Salmon Farming in 2018

Negative perception of Marine Harvest behind switch to Mowi

"We think it's completely wrong that the Mowi name will be associated with the kind of farming that Marine Harvest operates"

X-Rated Mowi: Preview of Marine Harvest's Horror Show

Media Backgrounder: MOWI - Unfit for Purpose

Scottish salmon farms in disease hell row after tons of rotting fish dumped in skips

Whistleblower photos of Marine Harvest

Sunday Mail: "Gutted - 300,000 salmon are killed as storm batters fish farm"

The welfare status of salmon farms in Scotland

Named: Supermarkets selling salmon from 'poor' welfare firms

EXPOSED: Gruesome Photos of Deformed & Diseased Scottish Salmon

Horror photos of farmed salmon spark legal threat

Media Backgrounder: "Marine Harmfest Scotland"

24,500 fish escape from Marine Harvest farm after storm damage

Scottish Salmon's Mort Mountain Leaps Over 10 Million - FOI reveals 2.3 million dead salmon at Marine Harvest farms in 2017

Mapped: the 45 lochs polluted by fish farm pesticides

RSPCA in firing line over Marine Harvest's seal-killing spree in Scotland

16,000 salmon escape Argyll fish farm after storms

Fish company investigated after salmon farm pollutes Scottish loch - Marine Harvest, one of the largest fish-farming companies, is under investigation after polluting loch with pesticide

Revealed: the dirty dozen salmon farms that contaminate lochs with pesticides

Marine Harvest fined £23,500 for pollution

Campaigners want polluted salmon farm endorsed by Oliver to be shut

Posted at 04:34 PM | Permalink

The Ferret: "Environmental rules for salmon farming industry relaxed"

The Ferret reported (7 April 2020):

Read Ferret article in full online here

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) reported (25 March 2020):

"SEPA are permitting salmon farmers to pollute with impunity," said Don Staniford, Director of Scottish Salmon Watch. "Turning a blind eye to breaches of environmental rules is one thing but giving the salmon sector a special exemption is beyond the pale. What other sectors have been given a free pass to pollute with immunity from prosecution? Welfare abuse on salmon farms was shameful during 2019 and now SEPA is promoting conditions which serve only to exacerbate disease and mortality problems during 2020."

Irony of Virus-Laden Scottish Salmon Exploiting Coronavirus Crisis

2019 Salmon Farming Data Online Now!

Shame on SEPA the Laggard not Leader (even the sloths at SSPO are quicker at publishing data)!

Leading fish farm watchdog joins fish farm industry

Fish farming industry bids to relax limits on toxic pesticide

The Scottish Environment Pollution Agency

SEPA's Shame on Salmon Farming

Scottish salmon farming petition signed by 30,500

Slicegate: Anatomy & Chronology of an Environmental Lobotomy - How the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency was Sliced to death by the Scottish Government and salmon farming lobby

Scotland’s green watchdog wined and dined by polluters

Government watchdog bowed to industry pressure on fish farm pollution

Ban on polluting pesticide dropped after complaint from fish farmers

Scottish watchdog labelled ‘lapdog’ after agreeing to keep fish farm deaths secret

Posted at 11:13 AM | Permalink

The Case Against Scottish Salmon Continued - new data for January 2020

'Case Information' published today (6 April 2020) reveals mass mortalities, infectious diseases, fungus and use of the carcinogenic chemical Formalin and the antibiotic Florfenicol on Scottish salmon farms inspected by the Scottish Government during January 2020 (2019 'Case Information' including photos is available online here).

Facebook deemed the photos too graphic to publish!!

The Fish Health Inspectorate reported (6 April 2020) 99,369 mass mortalities at Cooke's Cairndow Hatchery on Loch Fyne in Argyll on 17/18 January 2020 (120,000+ morts since hatch of ova in December 2019) with a further 70,000 morts in May 2019 and 153,356 morts in June 2019 (i.e. over 340,000 morts in a year):

A letter from Marine Scotland dated 12 February 2020 included:

The Fish Health Inspectorate reported in January 2020 on mass mortalities at Landcatch's Ormsary Hatchery in Argyll - including 54,629 morts due to "shock" and deformities with 28,390 morts in stock owned by the Scottish Salmon Company in January 2020.

The Fish Health Inspectorate reports that the Landcatch Ormsary Hatchery uses the carcinogenic chemical Formalin "twice a week".

In March 2019, Scottish Salmon Watch visited Landcatch's Ormsary Hatchery.

Another Fish Health Inspectorate report for January 2020 detailed disease problems ("likely Flavobacterium" - the causative agent of Bacterial Cold Water Disease) at Landcatch's Ormsary Smolt Unit including use of the antibiotic Florfenicol (Floricol), the antimicrobial Bronopol (Cress) and the carcinogenic chemical Formalin.

Please note that Cress is the trade name for the antimicrobial fungal disinfectant Bronopol - as explained in a FHI report published in October 2019 for a Mowi salmon farm:

The Fish Health Inspectorate report for January 2020 also cites fungus problems and Formalin use at Landcatch's Clachbreac Hatchery which supplies smolts for on-growing by Loch Duart and Organic Sea Harvest.

Watch a video report of Formalin use in Loch Arkaig by Mowi:

Read more via:

2019 Salmon Farming Data Now Online!

Shame on SEPA the Laggard not Leader (even the sloths at SSPO are quicker at publishing data)!

Mort Update (Jan 2020): 239,333 dead salmon via 30 'Mortality Event Reports'

Private Eye on Salmon Farming's 'Killing Fields'

The Killing Farms - Scottish Salmon's Horror Story Continues!

Photo Dossier of Diseased, Deformed & Abused Scottish Salmon

The Faces of Scottish Salmon - the Ugly Truth Exposed

Media Backgrounder: The Welfare Nightmare of Scottish Salmon

'Moribund' Mowi: Salmon Gill Poxvirus, Amoebic Gill Disease & Anaemia at Ardintoul

Update: Mass Mortalities Piling Up at Scottish Salmon

The Case Against Scottish Salmon

Revealed: Mowi's Nightmare in Loch Linnhe - 55% Mortality & Infectious Diseases

Update: Mortalities & Disease Decimating Scottish Salmon

Solving Scottish Salmon's Multi-Million Mortality Problem

Mass Mortalities & Disease Ravage Scottish Salmon Farms (& It's Going to Get Worse!)

Scottish Salmon's Mort Mountain Piles Ever Higher in 2019

Mass deaths: nine million fish killed by diseases at Scottish salmon farms

Mowi's Disease-Ridden Mortalities - 1.6 million+ in 101 incidents (2017-2018)

Media Backgrounder: Scottish Salmon's Mort Mountain - Leaping to Record Levels in 2018?

New Report - "The State of Scottish Salmon Farming in 2018"

Posted at 04:50 PM | Permalink

Dutch TV slams "organic" salmon

Watch online here

The 'Investigation Service' TV show is mostly in Dutch but there are parts in English - including an interview with the 'organic' salmon farmer in Norway and a phone interview with Scottish Salmon Watch.

SEPA relax environmental controls during Coronavirus crisis

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) reported (25 March 2020):

"SEPA are permitting salmon farmers to pollute with impunity," said Don Staniford, Director of Scottish Salmon Watch. "Turning a blind eye to breaches of environmental rules is one thing but giving the salmon sector a special exemption is beyond the pale. What other sectors have been given a free pass to pollute with immunity from prosecution? Welfare abuse on salmon farms was shameful during 2019 and now SEPA is promoting conditions which serve only to exacerbate disease and mortality problems during 2020."

SEPA Tweeted (6 April 2020):

Irony of Virus-Laden Scottish Salmon Exploiting Coronavirus Crisis

2019 Salmon Farming Data Online Now!

Shame on SEPA the Laggard not Leader (even the sloths at SSPO are quicker at publishing data)!

Leading fish farm watchdog joins fish farm industry

Fish farming industry bids to relax limits on toxic pesticide

The Scottish Environment Pollution Agency

SEPA's Shame on Salmon Farming

Scottish salmon farming petition signed by 30,500

Slicegate: Anatomy & Chronology of an Environmental Lobotomy - How the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency was Sliced to death by the Scottish Government and salmon farming lobby

Scotland’s green watchdog wined and dined by polluters

Government watchdog bowed to industry pressure on fish farm pollution

Ban on polluting pesticide dropped after complaint from fish farmers

Scottish watchdog labelled ‘lapdog’ after agreeing to keep fish farm deaths secret

Posted at 06:57 PM | Permalink

ENDS Report: "Calls for greater transparency over ‘toxic’ new fish farm product"

ENDS Report reported (25 March 2020):

Read article in full online here

Read more via:

Posted at 05:53 PM | Permalink

Letter to SEPA: Please Come Clean on Imidacloprid!

Here's a letter to SEPA's Chief Executive Terry A'Hearn:

Including:

Read letter in full online here

FOI requests on Imidacloprid to SEPA, VMD & the Scottish Government (17 March 2020)

FOI request on Imidacloprid to Norwegian Government & Norwegian Food Safety Authority (17 March 2020)

Read more via:

Posted at 12:17 PM | Permalink

Follow the Salmoney - the Norwegian tobacco billionaire behind the Neonicotinoid Imidacloprid

Forbes reported in May 2020:

Follow Johan Andresen on Twitter:

Here's the largest shareholders in Benchmark:

Johan Andresen of Ferd in Norway (mis-spelled as Andersen) is listed by Companies House as the one person with significant control in Benchmark:

Wikipedia reports:

Maybe Mr Andresen should divest from Benchmark - a company using a toxic neonicotinoid insecticide (banned for the use in terrestrial agriculture in 2018) in the environmentally damaging salmon farming industry?

Mail Online reported in 2016:

Read more on the tobacco billionaires online here

Johan Andresen claimed in an interview in 2018 that Ferd subscribed to various values such as 'honesty' and 'credibility'.

In an interview with Reuters in 2017 in his role as head of the Council of Ethics, the tobacco billionaire turned ethical investor referred to the "lack of transparency/desire to keep things secret".

Which begs the question, why is Benchmark (which is controlled by Johan Andresen and Ferd) undermining their credibility by not being honest on BMK08/Ectosan?

Why is Benchmark showing a lack of transparency on Imidacloprid use in salmon farming via their CleanTreat system?