Scottish Salmon Watch have uncovered another cache of carcinogenic chemicals - this time stored on the shore of Loch Arkaig near Fort William at a salmon farm operated by Norwegian-owned Mowi (formerly known as Marine Harvest - the company changed their name in 2019 due to "negative connotations consumers associate with Marine Harvest" according to Mowi's CEO Alf Helge-Aarskog).
Mowi's Loch Arkaig operations are rented off the Achnacarry Estate which is owned by Conservative MSP Donald Cameron (the current Chief of the Cameron clan known by the title 'Cameron of Lochiel'). Donald Cameron is also the Lord Lieutenant of Inverness-shire - the British monarch's personal representative in an area which has been defined since 1975 as consisting of the local government districts of Inverness, Badenoch and Strathspey, and Lochaber, in Scotland.
The Chiefs of the Cameron clan would surely be turning in their chemically embalmed graves if they saw the quantities of carcinogenic Formaldehyde used in Loch Arkaig.
Perhaps Donald Cameron MSP is wanting to turn Loch Arkaig into an art work along the lines of Damien Hirst's shark pickled in Formaldehyde (although Donald freely admits he is scared of sharks and "was traumatised by watching all the Jaws movies")?
Data obtained from the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) via Freedom of Information revealed that Marine Harvest (re-named Mowi on 1 January 2019) used 8,081,250 grams (8,081 kg) of Formaldehyde in 2017 and 2018 in Loch Arkaig.
Loch Arkaig should display a 'Toxic' hazard warning.
Scottish Salmon Watch reported last month:
Maybe the clan Chief Cameron - "one of the proudest and most romantic clans in Scotland" - has consumed too much toxic farmed salmon that it has pickled his Harrow and Oxford University educated brain?
Donald Cameron MSP - described in The Daily Record as "Ruth Davidson's chief policy coordinator" - told the Scottish Parliament in February 2019 during a debate on salmon farming:
Donald Cameron MSP's vested financial interest in supporting Marine Harvest (re-named Mowi on 1 January 2019 despite objections from the Mowinckel family) appears to trump his Parliamentary interests. The ECCLR (Environment, Climate Change & Land Reform) Committee report (March 2018) which Donald Cameron MSP refers to above (and which he was a member of) included the following concerns on chemical use on salmon farms:
Even the pro-industry REC (Rural Economy & Connectivity) Committee report on salmon farming (November 2018) reiterated the ECCLR Committee's concerns regarding toxic chemical use on salmon farms.
Donald Cameron MSP - currently the shadow cabinet secretary for the rural economy for the Scottish Conservatives - will no doubt have watched the BBC Panorama investigation in May 2019 which featured concerns over the misreporting of chemicals by Mowi and other salmon farming companies.
Now that Mowi is seeking to move away from the West coast, perhaps their landlord in Loch Arkaig will ask them to take their containers of carcinogenic chemicals with them?
Mowi is certainly not the only salmon farming company dependent upon toxic and carcinogenic chemicals. In May 2019, Scottish Salmon Watch filmed rows upon rows of chemical containers to used on salmon farms across Scotland.
Last month, Scottish Salmon Watch uncovered a stash of Formaldehyde at The Scottish Salmon Company's operations at Russel Burn Hatchery on the shore of Loch Kishorn.
In 2018, Scottish Salmon Watch published video footage of vats of Formaldehyde at Kames Fish Farming near Loch Melfort in Argyll.
Read more via:
- Sunday National: "Fears over toxic chemical approved for use in fish farms"
- The Ferret: Scottish Fish Farms Using Cancer-linked Embalming Fluid as Disinfectant
Nearly 200 fish farms are allowed to use a carcinogenic chemical called formaldehyde which is used to embalm corpses - EXPOSED: Scottish Salmon's Cascading Use of Cancer-Causing Chemical
Scottish Salmon Watch wrote to SEPA (copied to Donald Cameron MSP) on 12 July 2019:
Date: Fri, Jul 12, 2019 at 9:08 PM
Subject: Testing of Loch Arkaig water supply for Formaldehyde?
To: <[email protected]>
Cc: <[email protected]>, Cameron D (Donald), MSP <[email protected]>
From: McSherry, Euan <[email protected]>
Date: Tue, Jul 16, 2019 at 1:31 PM
Subject: Unauthorised intrusion at Loch Arkaig and urgent request to move online material – July 2019 (694168)
To: [email protected] <[email protected]>
Mr Staniford
- Introduction
We act on behalf of Mowi Scotland Limited (Mowi), formerly known as Marine Harvest (Scotland) Limited. We had cause to write to you in (i) November 2017, (ii) October 2018 and (iii) June 2019. On each occasion we requested that you delete identified, offending material and to confirm that said material would not be more widely disseminated. You complied with the November 2017 request. You removed two of the three offending online videos identified in our October 2018 request. You have removed none of the offending online videos in our June 2019 request. On each occasion you have refused to provide the requested confirmation. On each occasion, our client asked you to cease your unauthorised activities at Mowi’s fish farms and processing plants. However, such unauthorised intrusions continue.
- Unauthorised Access
The content of the published online video - accessed via this link: https://vimeo.com/347341760 - demonstrates that you attended at Mowi’s Loch Arkaig fish farm in July 2019 without authorisation. Our client has legitimate and grave concerns about this intrusion as it contravenes their biosecurity and health and safety policies and safe ways of working. All Mowi farms (whether aquatic or terrestrial) need to ensure the highest standards of animal health and welfare, and of staff and vistitor health, safety and wellbeing. All visitors need to comply with site specific protocols in order to protect fish, visitors, staff and property. Our client is not going to allow its staff, product or reckless third parties to be exposed to the risk of unauthorised activities which pose a clear and present danger to is biosecurity and health and safety policies and safe ways of working. Further unauthorised activities and incursions will be reported to Police Scotland. Further, our client reserves the right to take civil proceedings against you should you continue to pursue unauthorised activities on, over or at our client’s fish farms and processing plants across Scotland.
- Defamatory statements
The Loch Arkaig site was fallow at the time of your filming. Contrary to the your statements, some of intermediate bulk containers (IBCs) filmed held formaldehyde, some did not. Many IBCs were holding net ropes and other equipment. Products using formaldehyde are used, with the approval of the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs, for dis-infection, fumigation and foot bathing purposes in the farming of fish, poultry, sheep and cattle. Our client’s use of such products is licensed and permitted.
The following content of the video is defamatory of Mowi. You rightly state that Sainsbury’s supermarkets sell Mowi/Marine Harvest farmed salmon. You go on to state, or infer, that (i) our client is not a responsible retailer, (ii) that its salmon product is toxic and (iii) that it is releasing toxic chemicals into the marine environment. You ask the public not to buy Scottish salmon and say that it is toxic. Through the proximity of your statements, the inference is that our client’s farmed salmon, if eaten, is hazardous to the health of the public at large. I take from your involvement in litigation proceedings in British Columbia in 2012 and 2013 that you are aware of the distinction between subjective and objective standards of assessment. As under Canadian law, under Scots law the test to be applied to the defamatory statements brought to your attention is an objective one, and an objective approach is also taken when asking whether statements found to be defamatory will lower the reputation of a legal person in the eyes of right thinking members of society generally. The fact that you may believe something to be true is, with respect, not a relevant defence. It is irrelevant in law if you believe that something which conflicts with your views and vision is wrong. These matters are set out more eloquently in the trial judge’s opinion in Mainstram Canada v. Staniford 2012 BCSC 1433, in particular paragraphs 186 to 188, and the Honourable Mr. Justice Tysoe’s written reasons in Mainstream Canada v. Staniford 2013 BCCA 341, in particular paragraphs 24 to 48.
Your statements are false, defamatory and, viewed objectively, they lower the reputation of Mowi in the eyes of right thinking members of society generally. Your entreaty to the public is founded on the falsehoods you have advanced and seeks to cause Mowi economic loss.
- Conclusion
As noted previously, my client does not seek to stifle free speech or debate but it will act to protect its reputation. Mowi has asked that we provide you with 48 hours to remove the identified video and to confirm that the original videos, or any versions or copies of them, will not be disseminated more widely. We trust that this matter can be resolved amicably and without having to have recourse to the courts. If the identified, offending material is not removed by the expiry of the stated period for removal, our client will consider approaching the courts to have you ordained to do so. However, as stated, our client would prefer to see the permanent deletion of the identified, offending material via this approach
The objects of this correspondence are the removal of the offending material and the cessation of the unauthorised activities at Mowi’s business premises. It is not to set out the precise terms of any subsequent litigation which is necessary. This email is accordingly without prejudice to our client's whole rights and pleas and may not be referred to in any future court, alternative dispute resolution or tribunal proceedings whatsoever without the express and written consent of our clients or at their instance.
Yours faithfully
Euan McSherry
Partner | Aberdein Considine
From: Don Staniford <[email protected]>
Date: Tue, Jul 16, 2019 at 7:37 PM
Subject: Re: Unauthorised intrusion at Loch Arkaig and urgent request to move online material – July 2019 (694168)
To: McSherry, Euan <[email protected]>