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.
"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 wanted to ban 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."
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.
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?
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).
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":
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.
"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."
'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).
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):
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 '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 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."
The list of shame is headed by Mowi's appropriately named Isle of Muck salmon farm followed by Mowi's Bagh Dail nan Ceann (Bay of the Dead Heads).
Whilst salmon farming companies continue to freely pollute Scotland's pristine waters with viruses, diseases and pathogens discharged directly into the sea, Mowi has introduced precautionary measures inside processing plants. Fish Farming Expert reported (31 March 2020):
As farmed salmon remain untested for a host of viruses, pathogens and diseases; Intrafish reported (31 March 2020) that Mowi is converting a laboratory in Chile into a Covid-19 test center.
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?
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?
Read more on the use of Imidacloprid in salmon farming and Benchmark's lack of transparency via:
Calling all data junkies! Finally (after SEPA fixed their data gremlin), the public can now download mortality, toxic chemical and biomass data for the whole of 2019 - click on CSV Export online here
The newly available data also shows which salmon farms have the biggest mortality problems - again headed by Mowi with 'Bay of the Dead Heads' leading the way with a staggering 1,000 tonnes of dead fish reported in September and October 2019.
8 out of the top 30 worst mortalities (by weight) since 2002 (from when the data is available) occurred in 2019.
If you number-crunch the data since 2002 here's the top 20 largest reported uses - with Mowi's Port na Moine salmon farm in Loch Craignish heading the list with 480 grams of the toxic chemical Deltamethrin used in March 2019:
And here's the top 20 biggest reported uses of the lobster-killing chemical Azamethiphos since 2020 with Mowi's Macleans Nose and Groatay salmon farms represented during 2019:
Scottish Salmon Watch is still trying to download data on mortalities, toxic chemicals and biomass from the Scottish Environment Protection Agency's 'Scotland's Aquaculture' web-site.
SEPA replied earlier this morning (12 March 2020):
The data provides an update on mass mortalities reported by salmon farms during January 2020 - a staggering 239,333 dead farmed salmon detailed via 30 'Mortality Event Reports':
A 'Mortality Event Report' for The Scottish Salmon Company's Gravir salmon farm reads:
"Reported to be a mechanical treatment. Low level CMS had been detected a few months ago, the site is being harvested from as required and will be fallow by end of June 2020. No further treatments are planned."
A 'Mortality Event Report' for The Scottish Salmon Company's Grimsay salmon farm reads (CF = Cleaner Fish):
"Suspected CF may be nipping at salmon, due to low lice - wrasse creeled out and put into separate pens."
Normally it is the salmon farming environment which causes damage to the cleaner fish so it feels like fish karma that the cleaner fish are biting back.
Here's the normal sorry state of affairs with welfare abuse of cleaner fish by salmon farming operations:
The Sunday National & Ferret reported (10 November 2019):
Download letters from Dr Lynne Sneddon of the University of Liverpool to the Scottish Government, RSPCA, Animal Welfare Commission and the Scottish Parliament's Cross-Party Group on Animal Welfare:
Download letters from Dr Lynne Sneddon of the University of Liverpool to the Scottish Government, RSPCA, Animal Welfare Commission and the Scottish Parliament's Cross-Party Group on Animal Welfare:
Scottish Salmon Watch has appealed to the Scottish Information Commissioner (SIC) to force the disclosure of documents in relation to Benchmark's 'Clean Treat' method of lice treatment and has asked both the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) and the Scottish Government to review their refusal of information in relation to the secret chemical treatment BMK08 (perhaps also known as Ectosan).
So whilst the Scottish Government and SEPA refuse to disclose information on Clean Treat and BMK08 (which could be the same as Ectosan) investors are pumping money in Benchmark.
Is BMK08 destined to be a magic bullet or will it be remembered as a toxic trade like a failed Ponzi scheme?
Whatever the case, surely the public has a right to know certainly before BMK08 is used on Scottish salmon farms (if it has not been used already)?
When asked for a site visit to the Clean Treat operation and specific information on BMK08, Benchmark replied to Scottish Salmon Watch:
Scottish Salmon Watch visited Benchmark's Laboratory at Ardtoe in July 2019:
SEPA's lack of transparency in terms of toxic chemical use by salmon farming operations is shocking. Scottish Salmon Watch Tweeted yesterday (26 February 2020):
In January 2020, Mowi warned people to keep away from their farms. "As activists continue to sidestep the democratic process in favour of interrupting work spaces, governments must step up to protect the health and safety of employees working within the laws of the country," wrote Mowi Scotland's Director of Communications in Fish Farmer magazine (16 January 2020).
The Sunday National & Ferret reported in November 2019:
Mowi's salmon farm at MacLean's Nose in Loch Sunart reported 140,873 dead salmon in six incidents in 2019 (all in May) with Cardiomyopathy Syndrome cited as the reason for mortalities (it appears that Mowi may not have reported the incidents immediately):
Mowi's salmon farm at Camas Glas in Loch Sunart reported 128,361 dead salmon in three incidents in 2019 (all in October) with Pasteurella skyensis cited as the reason for mortalities:
Mowi's salmon farm at Poll na Gille in Loch Shuna reported 114,514 dead salmon in five incidents in 2019 (all in September & October) with Anaemia, Pasteurella skyensis, complex gill disease, treatment losses and Hydrolicer treatments cited as reasons for mortalities:
"It's scandalous that SEPA is now opening the floodgates to lobster-killing chemicals such as Emamectin benzoate - a toxic chemical SEPA wanted to ban back in 2016," continued Staniford, author of '