Road Spill for Diseased Scottish Salmon (Not Even Fit For Roadkill)!

If further evidence of Scottish salmon's burgeoning 'mort mountain' was needed, video footage of diseased salmon spilled all over the A86 main road between Fort William and Dalwhinnie was posted on Facebook yesterday - featuring cars and camper vans driving through a slick of virus-laden Scottish salmon and what appears to be the Gogar lorry driver making a phone call (you can also see lesions and flayed skin which look similar to some of the shocking images of welfare abuse published by the Scottish Government's Fish Health Inspectorate).

Scottish Salmon Watch has passed on this quaint video to the Scottish Tourism Alliance for use in their 'Tourism Scotland 2020' next marketing campaign. I can see the slogans now - "Come to Scotland for free Scottish Salmon Road-Kill" or "Visit Scotland - a land where diseased Scottish salmon are so plentiful they leap onto the road".

Or maybe the Scottish skiing season at nearby Aviemore could be extended by using slimy Scottish salmon as artificial snow? Next time you're driving in the Highlands of Scotland please remember to bring your Scottish salmon tyres (and plenty of disinfectant as well as nose-plugs).

Traffic Scotland Tweeted yesterday (13 September):

Corin Smith posted on Facebook (14 September):

Here's more video footage posted by Corin Smith:

It's not clear yet what infectious diseases, pathogens, viruses and bacteria were infecting the dead farmed salmon or whether any fluids leached into any watercourses potentially infecting wild fish - the River Spey and Loch Laggan are in the vicinity of the salmon spill.

John Robins of Animal Concern wrote to the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (15 September) and brought the matter to the attention of Scottish Ministers and Highland Council:

E-MAIL FROM: John F. Robins, Secretary and Campaigns Consultant, Animal Concern, Post Office Box 5178, Dumbarton G82 5YJ. Tel. 01389-841-639, Mobile: 07721-605521.

E-MAIL: [email protected] website: http://www.animalconcern.org/

Animal Concern is a pressure group registered as a non-profit making Limited Company (Co. No. SC109126) established in 1988 as Animal Concern (Scotland) Ltd. It incorporates the Scottish Anti-Vivisection Society which was founded in 1876.

Roseanna Cunninghame MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform,

Mairi Gougeon MSP, Minister for Rural Affairs and the Natural Environment,

The Scottish Government,

Edinburgh

Dear Ms Cunninghame and Ms Gougeon,

You will find below a copy of my e-mail to SEPA regarding a potentially very serious pollution and animal health risk incident which took place near Dalwhinnie last Friday.

If the statement attributed to the driver of the lorry involved in the incident is accurate it could mean that large numbers of consignments of possibly highly toxic waste from salmon farms are being carried across Scotland in unsealed vehicles totally unsuitable for the safe transfer of such waste. Spillages such as that which occurred last Friday could result in diseases, which have killed vast numbers of fish on salmon farms, being released into the home river systems of our declining populations of wild Atlantic Salmon and seatrout.

I ask that you immediately ban the transfer of salmon morts by road, carry out a full assessment of the current situation regarding the often long distance transportation of salmon morts from farms to disposal facilities and introduce compulsory high minimum standards of biosecurity before allowing such waste onto our roads again.

Yours sincerely,

John F. Robins,

Animal Concern

From: [email protected] <[email protected]>
Sent: 15 September 2019 08:31
To: '[email protected]' <[email protected]>
Subject: Possible pollution incident involving salmon morts

Please note: I tried to deliver this message via your on-line contact form but that is limited to 2,000 characters. I’d appreciate it if you would acknowledge receipt of this e-mail.

E-MAIL FROM: John F. Robins, Secretary and Campaigns Consultant, Animal Concern, Post Office Box 5178, Dumbarton G82 5YJ. Tel. 01389-841-639, Mobile: 07721-605521.

E-MAIL: [email protected] website: http://www.animalconcern.org/

Scottish Environment Protection Agency

Strathallan House

Castle Business Park

Stirling

FK9 4TZ

Dear Sir or Madam,

I write concerning an incident on Friday 13th September involving a Gogar Services vehicle (registration number DS15 CKF) carrying a load of salmon farm morts.

This vehicle shed its load on the road near Dalwhinnie. I’m not sure if this was on the A9 or the A889. It was reported on the Facebook page of a Mr. William Haughton who posted a video which you should be able to view on this link: https://www.facebook.com/1winks1/videos/2501635109894586

This link also takes you to the video and to comments added since the video was posted:

https://www.facebook.com/1winks1?eid=ARDMwNwB_DjatS146_qxkTKCNzwQt6f7XyU0TmPgRS5P75VkP5wl2oqQzdzj7fq9Lyofhb6zSUxmeDvJ

The comments posted include a claim that the incident occurred near the River Truim (a tributary of the Spey) and a driver saying there was still fish debris on the road on Saturday 14th September. The video shows vehicles driving through the morts and other comments are from drivers claiming their cars and motorbikes had fish debris sticking to them after driving through the morts.

One comment claims the lorry driver said he had required to brake suddenly and the dead salmon were thrown forward out of the rear of the lorry and over his cab. From the number of salmon covering both lanes of the road and the verges I would estimate that 1 tonne or more of fish were ejected from the lorry.

As you are no doubt aware morts from salmon farms are often classified as toxic waste as the fish may have been killed by a number of diseases including some which are highly infectious. They may also have been treated with toxic chemicals or dangerous pharmaceuticals before they died.

If you have not already done so I ask you to investigate this incident to determine whether the load did include diseased or otherwise contaminated fish and, if so, did the loss of those fish into the environment pose any risk to the public, especially those people who came into contact with the morts?

I am also concerned that wild fish stocks could have been put at risk if contaminated residues from the incident scene were washed into the River Truim or if debris carried away by vehicles which drove through the morts, entered any other waterways.

I also request that you determine whether or not this load was being carried legally and, if it was not, I ask you to prosecute those responsible.

I do not know what farm or farms these morts came from but I’m sure Gogar Services (contact details below) will be able to provide you with that information.

I look forward to hearing from you regarding this incident.

Yours faithfully,

John F. Robins,

Animal Concern

Gogar Services, East Gogar, Blairlogie, Stirlingshire FK9 5QB. 01259 728203. https://www.gogarservices.co.uk/

The Daily Record reported (17 September):

Here's a Tweet in reply:

If you're unlucky enough ever to get close to disease-ridden Scottish salmon it is advisable to have a jolly good scrub down - the stench of Scottish salmon is enough to make you vomit all over the road.

If you've been taken in hook line and stinker with the glossy marketing of 'healthy', 'RSPCA Assured', 'organic' and 'sustainable' Scottish salmon then perhaps it's time to take a closer look at all the reasons not to eat farmed salmon.

Here's video footage inside skips full of diseased Scottish salmon:

Yesterday's spill involving Stirlingshire-based Gogar is not the first time trucks carrying diseased Scottish salmon have made the news. The Daily Mail featured a Gogar truck laden with diseased Scottish salmon in an article published in January 2018:

If the Daily Mail doesn't do it for you, please watch the BBC One Show's 'Dead Salmon Run' broadcast in December 2017 - featuring footage of diseased salmon effluent leaking from Billy Bowie trucks:

The Sunday Times reported (28 January 2018):

The Global Alliance Against Industrial Aquaculture reported in a press release issued in January 2018:

Press Release: "Diseased Salmon Slip Net & Spill on Road - Failure to police the transport of dead fish prompts EC complaint"

Download press release in full with Notes to Editors and FOI documents online here

Following a BBC exposé on 'The One Show' broadcast last month, campaigners are calling on local authorities and the Scottish Government to properly police the transport of mortalities from Scotland's disease-ridden salmon farms.

Photo: Fluids leaking from a Billy Bowie haulage truck transporting diseased farmed salmon from Loch Kishorn - broadcast by the BBC's 'The One Show' on 11 December 2017

The Global Alliance Against Industrial Aquaculture (GAAIA) has filed a complaint to the European Commission regarding a breach of the Animal By-Products Regulations by the United Kingdom. GAAIA has also written to the Scottish Government requesting an urgent investigation into disease-ridden mortalities from Scottish salmon farms (Download Letter to Fergus Ewing 28 Jan 2018).

One local authority (East Ayrshire) is now investigating the standards of the vehicles used to transport farmed salmon morts and compliance with the Animal By-Products Regulations 2013 (ABPR).

Footage from the BBC screened on 11 December 2017 showed a haulage truck operated by Billy Bowie flouting the law by leaking fluids from diseased salmon farmed by Scottish Sea Farms in Loch Kishorn (read more via Scottish Sea Farms mort events in 2017). There have been other reported cases of farmed salmon spilling onto roads across Scotland including the A9.

Documents obtained via Freedom of Information (FOI) reveal that local authorities are failing to enforce the regulations with some citing a lack of resources and others completely ignorant [1]:

"We don’t have the resources to carry out any monitoring or surveillance of these activities, we didn’t carry out any investigations into these activities in 2017," replied Argyll & Bute Council on 11 January 2018.

"Stirling Council would not be involved in this. This would be for Aquaculture Industry to respond to," replied Stirling Council on 26 January 2018 (GAAIA has since asked for a review pointing out that "salmon farms are clearly not located within Stirlingshire - however, the transport of dead farmed salmon does occur within your local authority").

"As you may be aware, East Ayrshire’s Trading Standards team are taking forward the investigation of vehicles leaking ABP with the transporter Billy Bowie. As they are leading on this matter, my team will not be taking forward any specific action on this particular case," replied Highland Council on 24 January 2018.

"I am providing notice that under Section 17 of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 that the Council does not hold the information requested and so, is unable to comply with your request. I can advise that there are no salmon farms in Renfrewshire," replied Renfrewshire Council on 23 January 2018 (GAAIA replied: "It is patently obvious that there are no salmon farms in Renfrewshire! The FOI request relates to transport of dead fish from salmon farms to disposal sites across Scotland and in Northern England. Renfrewshire is cited in this case in October 2015 on the A737 (as reported by The Courier)."

"Shetland Islands Council has not had to issue any warning letters, complete any investigations, surveillance or monitoring in regard to the transport and disposal of salmon farm mortalities," replied Shetland Isles Council on 20 December 2017.

Other local authorities have either not replied or did not possess any information even though local authorities are charged by law with enforcing the legislation.

"APHA do not inspect or monitor the transport of salmon farm mortalities," said a FOI reply from the Animal & Plant Health Agency dated 9 January 2018. "The enforcement of the regulations is the responsibility of Local Authorities under the Animal By-Products (Enforcement) (England) Regulations 2013 and of the Scottish Government under The Animal By-Products (Enforcement) (Scotland) Regulations 2013".

"Police Scotland has no protocols with any local authority or operating company regarding the disposal of wastes from fish farms," said a FOI reply from Police Scotland dated 10 January 2018.

"Not only are haulage companies flouting the regulations but local authorities are failing to enforce the law," said Don Staniford, Director of the Global Alliance Against Industrial Aquaculture (GAAIA) and author of 'Scottish Salmon Farming 101'. "Scottish salmon farming has a huge mort mountain with over one in four farmed salmon dying and an estimated 20 million morts piling up across Scotland. It beggars belief that haulage trucks making 'The Dead Salmon Run' are not being properly policed. Scottish salmon farming stinks and leaves a bad taste in the mouth."