A petition launched only yesterday has already attracted over 18,000 supporters. The petition, organised by SumOfUs, calls on Marine Scotland to "conduct immediate, unannounced on-the-spot inspections of all Scottish salmon farms to assess fish welfare". The petition showcases shocking video footage of welfare abuse at a salmon farm in Loch Shieldaig obtained earlier this month by Scottish Salmon Watch and published by The Ferret.
In October 2018, a Scottish Parliamentary Reply by Fergus Ewing (Cabinet Secretary for the Rural Economy) conceded that there had been only two unannounced site inspections of fish farms "in the last year".
Corin Smith posted on Facebook (19 June):
Here's the Scottish Government's FOI reply in May 2019:
The Scottish Government does have powers to enforce unannounced inspections of salmon farms.
Why the Scottish Government is not carrying out inspections of salmon farms is a question for Scotland's Minister for the Promotion of Norwegian-owned Salmon Farming (Fergus Ewing):
Read more via the report 'Scottish Scamon'
Nor is the Scottish Government alone in having a salmon pink tainted view of salmon farming.
The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) testified to the Scottish Parliament's salmon farming inquiry in February 2018 that 15% of inspections of salmon farms in 2017 were unannounced but later had to correct the information reducing the figure to 9%.
Shock, horror - the SEPA representative who testified to the Scottish Parliament's salmon farming inquiry in February 2018 (Anne Anderson) subsequently left to join the salmon farming industry's lobby group the Scottish Salmon Producers Organisation (as revealed by The Ferret in September 2018).
I think you can safely say that the salmon farming industry see SEPA's inspectors coming a mile away.
Read more via "The Scottish Environment Pollution Agency" and "SEPA's Shame on Salmon Farming"
Last year, another SumOfUs petition called on SEPA and the Scottish Government to test effluent from salmon farming operations for deadly viruses. Signed by over 43,000 supporters it was delivered by Scottish Salmon Watch to the Scottish Government (via the Scottish Parliament) in May 2018.
Photo: Mark Ruskell MSP with Don Staniford
Read more via:
42,000 sign petition for tougher Scottish salmon farm testing
Salmon farms are turning Scotland's seas into an open sewer, claim campaigners
Scottish salmon farming petition signed by 30,500
Another SumOfUs petition featuring horrific video footage of lice-infested farmed salmon shot by photographer Corin Smith in Loch Roag attracted over 33,000 supporters.
Another SumOfUs petition in Canada in 2017 was successful in forcing the Minister of Fisheries to make amendments to the Fisheries Act.
Scottish Salmon Watch has been campaigning for the Scottish Government to tighten the net on salmon farms in Scotland too.
Earlier this month (17 June), Scottish Salmon Watch called for video surveillance inside salmon farms to ground-truth what was happening in the cages.
Scottish Salmon Watch filmed inside a salmon farm in Loch Shieldaig on 8 June 2019 - watch video report via STV News:
The Scottish Salmon Company issued the following statement to STV News.
Scottish Salmon Watch has published photos and made available video footage via Google Drive.
The Ferret reported (13 June 2019):
Read article in full online here
Read more via: Frankenfish Video - The Ugly Face of Lousy Scottish Salmon
This is not the first time, shocking welfare abuse of farmed salmon has been captured on camera. The BBC's One Show broadcast gruesome video footage shot by photographer Corin Smith in September 2018 (also broadcast by BBC Panorama in May 2019).
Download photos and footage made publicly available by photographer Corin Smith online here
The BBC's One Show broadcast the video footage on 10 September 2018 (also broadcast by BBC Panorama in May 2019).
The trade publication Salmon Business lambasted the "own goal" by The Scottish Salmon Company's and their PR consultants:
The Scottish Salmon Company (a company registered in the tax haven of Jersey, floated on the Norwegian stock exchange and whose largest shareholder is an anonymous Swiss bank account believed to be controlled by Ukrainian banker Yury Lopatinskyy) is now culpable of the same PR "own goal" by denying the painfully obvious welfare abuse at their salmon farm in Loch Shieldaig.
When questioned by STV News, The Scottish Salmon Company once again questioned whether the video footage and photos were from their site.
The same line was given to The Ferret (13 June 2019):
STV News (19 June 2019) featured video footage from Scottish Salmon Watch - watch online now
Scottish Salmon Watch's video footage prompted a complaint to Police Scotland, the Scottish Government's Fish Health Inspectorate and the Animal & Plant Health Agency re. breach of the Animal Health & Welfare Act (Scotland) 2006.
Scottish Salmon Watch's complaint enclosed photos and video evidence and detailed how a Volt de-louser (and other boats) were at The Scottish Salmon Company's salmon farm in Loch Shieldaig.
Video footage of the de-bugging operation was posted online.
Scottish Salmon Watch's press release (13 June 2019) included the following quote from a kayaker who acted as a safety 'buddy' during filming in Loch Shieldaig.
Scottish Salmon Watch invite readers (including journalists, salmon farmers and politicians) to view the photos and video footage for yourselves and judge whether it was shot at The Scottish Salmon Company's salmon farm in Loch Shieldaig.
The photos and video footage have been made publicly available via Google Drive.
The Daily Mail reported (5 September 2018):
The Mail On Sunday reported in March 2019:
Watch Sir David Attenborough's video message online here