Fighting Mowi's Legal Action Over Filming at Salmon Farms

Scottish Salmon Watch is fighting threatened legal action by Norwegian giant Mowi over filming at salmon farms.

"The Go Pro camera never lies unlike salmon farming companies," said Don Staniford, Director of Scottish Salmon Watch. "Secret filming inside salmon farms, gruesome photos obtained via Freedom of Information and tip-offs from whistleblowers have lifted the lid on disease-ridden Scottish salmon. Scottish Salmon Watch will continue to closely monitor this toxic and unhealthy industry and that means further filming inside and under filthy feedlots. Norwegian-owned Mowi is operating in Scottish waters where the public have enshrined rights to navigation and access."

"Filming is in the public interest and the public has a right to know what's going on inside salmon feedlots," continued Staniford. "Secret filming at Mowi's 'Bay of the Dead Heads' salmon farm in July prompted an investigation by the Animal & Plant Health Agency and media coverage in The Sunday National and The Ferret. Shocking footage shot at The Scottish Salmon Company's welfare nightmare in Loch Shieldaig was broadcast by STV News in June and led to an unannounced site inspection by Marine Scotland's Fish Health Inspectorate. Given the skeletons lurking in their cages, it is not surprising that Mowi physically blocked our filming at salmon feedlots in the Argyll Coast and Islands Hope Spot in September and now lawyers are threatening legal action following further filming earlier this month in Loch Alsh Special Area of Conservation. Based on video footage and photographic evidence, Mowi is clearly breaking the Animal Health & Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006 in relation to 'unnecessary suffering', 'cruel operations' and 'ensuring the welfare of animals'."

Read more via "Mowi's Ghoul at Ardinoul"

Mowi's legal threat - issued via "sharp litigator" Euan McSherry of law firm Aberdein Considine on 12 November 2019 - included:

"You accessed the Ardintoul Farm [on 2 November 2019] with the assistance of dinghies and a kayak. There was unauthorised recording, of both Company property and Company site personnel, and the use of a drone. Specifically, you accessed walkways belonging to the Ardintoul Farm cages, see Image 1. You were seen penetrating the above-surface netting of the cage with what appears to be an electronic device and inserting the said device below the water surface of the cage, see Image 2. Your incursion and activities occurred without obtaining the permission of the Company"

Mowi's "sharp litigator" continued:

"Further, you were asked by Company site personnel to remove yourself from the pen walkway, and you refused to comply to these requests. The health and safety risk you posed to yourself and others prevented important work from continuing at the site. The Company’s work vessel approaching the pen walkway operates a crane – a hard hat is required to be worn in the vicinity of an operational crane. You appear not to be in possession of a hard hat and thus prevented staff from continuing with their work duties. Your incursion, activities and verbal interactions with the Company’s site personnel has caused them stress and anxiety. They were concerned for their safety when you refused to remove yourself from the pen walkway. The Company site personnel felt threatened by your actions and words and by the actions of your eight accomplices."

"At around 9.45am, you and two accomplices approached the perimeter of the Company’s onshore structures. You carried out unauthorised recording, of both Company property and Company site personnel. Again, your approach and recording caused the Company’s site personnel stress and anxiety. They felt threated (sic) by your actions and by the actions of your two accomplices."

"This incident has been reported to the police in line with the Company’s policy for responding to intruders."

"The Company is concerned that your activities impact fish health and welfare; your own personal safety; staff health, safety and wellbeing; and property rights and obligations. These concerns apply not only to this site, but to all sites (the “Sites”) operated throughout Scotland by the Company. As well as the risk to fish health and welfare, the Company has duties to its staff, its regulators, the Crown Estate and the public to ensure that it prevents your potentially hazardous interference with the Company’s Sites. For those reasons, it will be forced to take further action unless you co-operate with its requests and desist from further unauthorised access at any of its properties and workplaces."

"In the circumstances detailed above, and in order to protect fish, visitors, staff and property, the Company requires you to desist from taking any further unauthorised access to, or having any further unauthorised interaction with, the Sites and requests that you provide an undertaking to desist in the terms contained in the undernote to this letter. It also require you to provide the full names of your unknown seven accomplices."

"If you refuse or delay to confirm your undertaking in these terms the Company will be left with no choice but to take steps to protect the Company’s Sites, and its rights in relation thereto, through the courts. No further warning will be given. We trust that will not be necessary and look forward to receiving the signed undertaking by no later than Thursday, 14^th November 2019."

Here's the undertaking which I've refused to sign:

Here's my initial reply dated 12 November 2019:

From: Don Staniford <[email protected]>
Date: Tue, Nov 12, 2019 at 8:19 PM
Subject: Re: Letter issued by email to Mr Don Staniford from Mowi Scotland Limited regarding unauthorised access at Ardintoul - November 2019
To: McSherry, Euan <[email protected]>

Euan,

Without prejudice.

You really must start getting your facts correct. As I have pointed out previously (see previous correspondence) it is vital that you do not make basic factual errors.

1) Mowi's salmon farm at Ardintoul is in Loch Alsh not Loch Duich as you stated. You can see this via the Scotland's Aquaculture database which includes a map: http://aquaculture.scotland.gov.uk/data/fish_farms_monthly_biomass_and_treatment_reports_record.aspx?monthly_data_id=3656892

The Ardintoul salmon farm is located within the Lochs Duich, Long and Alsh MPA/SAC:

http://www.savescottishseas.org/scottish-marine-protected-area-network/lochs-duich-long-and-alsh-mpa/

https://sac.jncc.gov.uk/site/UK0017077

2) You incorrectly state that Elly Edwards "attended" Mowi's Ardintoul salmon farm on 2 November 2019. Elly Edwards was miles away at the time of the inspection visit looking after children.

3) Your use of the word "threated" is either legal jargon I am unfamiliar with or you are in need of a spell-checker as well as a fact checker.

4) Notwithstanding your erroneous usage of the word "accomplices" your basic Maths needs correcting - is it eight (as you suggest at one point) or seven as you suggest at another point?

5) You claim that Mowi staff experienced "stress and anxiety" when I legally filmed at the Ardintoul land base (there was no trespass and I respectfully stayed outside the perimeter). Don't you think their stress and anxiety was caused by Mowi staff worried that the disease-ridden mortalities which were kept in bins would be discovered as evidence of welfare abuse and breach of the Animal Health & Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006?

In terms of the legal points raised I will obviously need to seek special legal counsel in Scotland as the issues you highlight are special to Scots. Since I live in England and have family commitments I will not be able to meet in person with a lawyer in Scotland this week.

You may wish to note now that the "unauthorised incursion" (again you should be much more careful with your words as there was no unauthorised access) at Mowi's Loch Arkaig salmon farm in July 2019 led to media coverage in The Sunday Times:

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/chemical-fears-at-scots-fish-farms-mlh6smzj6

Our visits to Mowi salmon farms in September 2019 were also previewed in The Times and Oban Times:

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/campaigners-test-health-at-salmon-farms-m70k8x6hh

https://www.obantimes.co.uk/2019/08/29/protestors-make-waves-for-salmon-farms/

Our visit to Mowi's Bagh Dail Nan Ceann (Bay of the Dead Heads) salmon farm in July 2019 prompted an investigation by the Animal & Plant Health Agency as well as the Fish Health Inspectorate - as detailed by Mowi in a press release on 30 October 2019:

https://mowiscotland.co.uk/2019/10/30/warm-temperatures-challenge-fish-health/

And detailed in The Ferrret and Sunday National on 10 November 2019:

https://theferret.scot/mowi-fish-farming-deaths/

https://www.thenational.scot/news/18026340.salmon-company-mowi-rapped-fish-welfare-700-000-deaths/

And our visit to Mowi's Ardgour salmon farm in Loch Linnhe in July 2019 prompted a follow up from the Health & Safety Executive: https://donstaniford.typepad.com/my-blog/2019/08/mowis-breaches-of-health-safety-in-loch-linnhe-.html

Finally, please be aware that the drone which you refer to captured various Health & Safety breaches by Mowi staff including unclipping my kayak, kicking my paddle in the water and attempting to ram my safely secured kayak (not to mention a member of Mowi staff deliberately scraping down my Achilles heel with his work boot and calling me a "cunt" and "beady eyed"). I will endeavour to ensure that this footage is made available to Mowi and the court if Mowi does take this matter further.

Yours sincerely,

Don Staniford

Director of Scottish Salmon Watch

Mowi have repeatedly issued legal threats in an attempt to stop Scottish Salmon Watch from filming - including in July 2019 after Scottish Salmon Watch filmed at Bagh Dail Nan Ceann (Bay of the Dead Heads) - read online here

The Scottish Salmon Producers Organisation Tweeted immediately following Scottish Salmon Watch's visit to Mowi's Ardgour salmon farm on 2nd November 2019.

In September 2019, Scottish Salmon Watch wrote to the Chief Executive of the Maritime & Coastguard Agency raising serious concerns about safety and the reckless boat operations of Mowi during pre-announced visits to their salmon farms on 1 September 2019.

Read letter in full online here

Further information on secret filming by Scottish Salmon Watch is available online via "Photos of Secret Filming at Scottish & Irish Salmon Farms" (21 June 2019) - including:

During 2018 and 2019 Scottish Salmon Watch has been filming secretly at salmon farms in Scotland and Ireland - with shocking video footage taken inside salmon farms owned by Mowi, Scottish Sea Farms and The Scottish Salmon Company.

The video footage is taken using a Go Pro camera (ca. £150 from Amazon) mounted on a 3.5m telescopic pole (£10.99 from Amazon).

STV News broadcast video footage taken by Scottish Salmon Watch at The Scottish Salmon Company's salmon farm in Loch Shieldaig in June 2019:

The Sunday Mail newspaper featured video footage taken by Scottish Salmon Watch in November 2018 under the headline:

In October 2018, The Sunday Post published an article featuring Scottish Salmon Watch's underwater video footage:

Kayaks, canoes and rowing boats have all been used to visit the salmon farms - with biosecurity precautions and disinfection protocols adhered to prior to and following every salmon farm visit.

The vital importance of adhering to biosecurity precautions before, during and after filming at salmon farms cannot be stressed enough.

Read a profile published in The Shooting Times in October 2018:

In October 2019, a blog - "The Go Pro Camera Never Lies (Unlike Salmon Farmers)" - included:

Scottish Salmon Watch has used the Gro Pro camera to lift the lid on the use of toxic chemicals and mass mortalities on salmon farms. In July 2019, Scottish Salmon Watch uncovered a cache of carcinogenic chemicals at a Mowi salmon farm in Loch Arkaig.

In May 2019, Scottish Salmon Watch filmed rows upon rows of chemical containers to be used on salmon farms across Scotland.

In June 2019, 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.

And video footage of toxic chemicals at Wester Ross Salmon.

And another stash of toxic chemicals at Loch Duart.

Video footage of mass mortalities piled high in skips has been amassed by Scottish Salmon Watch via secret filming at salmon farms across Scotland during 2018 and 2019.