November 2020
11/23/2020
11/19/2020
Viva investigation of Scottish Salmon!
STAY TUNED... for something coming soon! 👀🐟 pic.twitter.com/vk3Ll2Yp3f
— Viva! (@vivacampaigns) November 16, 2020
❗ BREAKING: Scottish Salmon Farming Exposed 🐟
— Viva! (@vivacampaigns) November 23, 2020
Alarming scenes captured at Scottish salmon farms supplying Co-op, M&S, Sainsbury’s, Lidl, Aldi & Morrisons reveal putrid conditions that lead to invasions of flesh-eating parasitic sea lice.https://t.co/8Syk2GdxNr@NadaFarhoud pic.twitter.com/B4zPWWAAYV
Read more via Viva's 'Scottish Salmon Farming: Exposed':
Alarming scenes at Scottish salmon farms supplying Co-op, Sainsbury’s, Lidl, Aldi, Morrisons and M&S reveal putrid conditions that lead to invasions of parasitic sea lice @vivacampaigns @NadaFarhoud @DailyMirror
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) November 23, 2020
70% of Scottish salmon is @rspcaassured https://t.co/5ry4QhhPEG pic.twitter.com/XvmO0rj28t
"Scottish salmon is the best in the world" claims SSPO - WTF?!
'Opinion' is defined as: "a view or judgement formed about something, not necessarily based on fact or knowledge" https://t.co/NgwDWnVQXN
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) November 19, 2020
For example: "Scottish salmon is the best in the world" is opinion not based on fact or knowledge! @tavishscott @rspcaassured @SSPOsays pic.twitter.com/sCq7w7dbQD
"Scottish salmon is the best in the world," claims @tavishscott in today's 'Opinion' @heraldscotland name-checking @MowiScotlandLtd on Rum & @salmon_scottish on Lewis https://t.co/8GX2GDa2ZF
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) November 19, 2020
Maybe you should fact-check? @SSPOsays
The camera never lies (unlike Scottish Salmon)! pic.twitter.com/PdvUfvEfX4
An 'Opinion' piece by Tavish Scott, Chairman of the Norwegian err I mean 'Scottish' Salmon Producers Organisation (SSPO), published in today's Herald newspaper (19 November 2020) does not stand close scrutiny.
Tavish's 'Opinion' piece (read it in full online here) includes:
Does these photographs - published by the Scottish Government's Fish Health Inspectorate (despite legal objections from salmon farmers) - look like "the best salmon in the world" or a "premium product"?
Photos slipped out last month @marinescotland provide yet more damning evidence of welfare abuse on salmon farms - please boycott Scottish salmon! https://t.co/bp2h3Rylag @salmon_scottish @Try_Lochlander @Folketrygdfond @GreenerScotland @scotgp @coopuk @rspcaassured @SSPCA_Mike pic.twitter.com/Sngg29WYTp
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) November 4, 2020
Ongoing Welfare Abuse on RSPCA Assured Salmon Farms - Why No Prosecutions? https://t.co/MJPgaijAAy @MairiGougeon @APHAgovuk @rspcaassured @kamesfishfarm @MowiScotlandLtd @scotseafarms @salmon_scottish @GriegShetland @Animallawyersuk @onekindtweet @ProfCMDwyer @LynneUSneddon pic.twitter.com/AIQHyRkb0q
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) October 19, 2020
Edie Bowles @Animallawyersuk said the dossier, compiled by Don Staniford, a critic of salmon farming, indicated “systemic and obvious” pain & suffering that could justify legal action against @scotgov @MairiGougeon @SSPOsays https://t.co/ZuzAis8gEr @SundayTimesScot @ciwf @scotgp pic.twitter.com/RPVIAL3KlS
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) February 2, 2020
RSPCA Assured Mowi Plagued by Mass Mortalities & Infectious Diseases https://t.co/vxZTjE37qA Boycott disease-ridden Scottish salmon treated with antibiotics @MowiScotlandLtd @rspcaassured @sainsburys @LidlGB @AldiUK Enteric Redmouth Disease (Yersiniosis) is like the Black Death! pic.twitter.com/Rry8Y5vFvq
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) May 27, 2020
Be Sure to Boycott RSPCA Assured Scottish Salmon! https://t.co/61yIroIUBp Shocking new photos published of Mowi's disease-ridden North Shore feedlot in Loch Erisort @marinescotland @MowiScotlandLtd "visibly moribund fish" & "significant lice damage" @sainsburys @rspcaassured pic.twitter.com/gjLaeqpcFz
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) April 7, 2020
Perhaps the SSPO's new Chairman should open his eyes?
Read more via:
Scottish Salmon's Vision for "A Better Future For Us All" - WTF?!
The Camera Never Lies About Scottish Salmon!
Ongoing Welfare Abuse & Unnecessary Suffering on Salmon Farms - Why No Prosecutions?
RSPCA Suspend Salmon Farm Inspections
RSPCA Assured Mowi Plagued by Mass Mortalities & Infectious Diseases on Skye
Censored: Welfare Abuse on Salmon Farms
Photo Dossier of Diseased, Deformed & Abused Scottish Salmon
The Faces of Scottish Salmon - the Ugly Truth Exposed
Media Backgrounder: The Welfare Nightmare of Scottish Salmon
EXPOSED: Photo Disclosures Opens Floodgates to More Diseased & Deformed Scottish Salmon
Legal Complaint Vs Breaches of Animal Health & Welfare (Scotland) Act
Horror photos of farmed salmon spark legal threat
Why does @rspcaassured certify 70% of Scottish salmon farms as welfare-friendly when there is systemic suffering & abuse? @RSPCA_official @RSPCA_Frontline @AnimalLawCon @Animal_Alliance @animalpharm @AnimalEquality @AnimalAid @media_ciwf @PETAUK @HSIUKorg https://t.co/ZuzAis8gEr pic.twitter.com/1rWDdk5Hsc
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) February 2, 2020
11/18/2020
New Science Dogs Approval of Neonicotinoid Imidacloprid for Scottish Salmon!
Neonicotinoid use in Scottish salmon going to the dogs? https://t.co/Ts1xPOrpAl
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) November 19, 2020
New science shows that Imidacloprid - used on pets to kill fleas - is poisoning rivers @DaveGoulson @roseofgoodhope
How can you justify use in salmon farming? @WeAreBenchmark @MowiScotlandLtd pic.twitter.com/xNXZUIgm1W
The Guardian reported (17 November 2020):
Science of the Total Environment reported (7 November 2020):
The Daily Mail reported (17 November 2020):
An Editorial - "Neonics in Salmon Farming - Alarm Bells Are Ringing" - by Professor Dave Goulson from the University of Sussex was published in British Wildlife in August 2020:
Editorial in British Wildlife: "Neonics in Salmon Farming - Alarm Bells Are Ringing" @britwildlife @DaveGoulson https://t.co/hn6DHZmS9D @FerdOwner @WeAreBenchmark @FergusEwingMSP @strathearnrose @salmonfarming1 @IntraFishNorge @thefishsite @nature_scot @MasumiYamamuro @scotgp pic.twitter.com/kcIrtdhB0I
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) August 24, 2020
The Sunday Times reported in June 2020:
In June 2020, Scottish Salmon Watch solicited scientific support for a ban on the use of Imidacloprid in salmon farming and shared a scientific dossier - "Imidacloprid - A Neonicotinoid Insecticide Toxic to Aquatic Life" - detailing environmental impacts of Imidacloprid on aquatic ecosystems.
Read more via:
- Imidacloprid Use in Scottish Salmon Farming?
- Secret Salmon - On the Trail of Imidacloprid Use in Scotland!
- British Wildlife: "Neonics in Salmon Farming - Alarm Bells Are Ringing"
- Caveat Chile - toxic neonicotinoid Imidacloprid (BMK08) coming soon!
- Imidacloprid Licensed for Use by Mowi in Loch Ailort?
- Further Scientific Opposition to Imidacloprid Use in Salmon Farming
- Patent lifts lid on neonicotinoid use in salmon farming
- Horrible History: Imidacloprid Use in Salmon Farming
- Scientific Opposition to Neonicotinoid Use in Salmon Farming
- Backgrounder: "Imidacloprid - A Neonicotinoid Insecticide Toxic to Aquatic Life"
- BBC Farming Today on "Neonicotinoids in Salmon Farming"
- Sunday Times: "Outlawed insecticide may be used on Scottish salmon"
- FOI letter on Scientific Concerns re. Imidacloprid Use in Scottish Salmon Farming
- Scottish Greens "Deeply Concerned" at Mowi's Field Trial of Neonicotinoid Imidacloprid in Loch Ailort
- Letter to the Prince of Wales re. bee-killing Imidacloprid use at royal warrant holder Mowi
- Secret Trials: 'Royal' Salmon Doused with Bee-Killing Insecticide Imidacloprid?
- Follow the Salmoney - the Norwegian tobacco billionaire behind the Neonicotinoid Imidacloprid
- ENDS Report: "Calls for greater transparency over ‘toxic’ new fish farm product"
- Letter to SEPA: Please Come Clean on Imidacloprid!
- Letter to Scottish Ministers, SEPA & the VMD re. Imidacloprid
- FOI requests on Imidacloprid to SEPA, VMD & the Scottish Government
- Revealed: Toxic Neonicotinoid Insecticide Used to 'CleanTreat' Lousy Salmon
- Please Come Clean on BMK08!
- Sunday Times: "Official fears revealed over toxic threat of salmon trade"
- Cleaning Tox-Sick Scottish Salmon
- CleanTreat FOI Disclosures by the Scottish Government to Scottish Salmon Watch
- Media Backgrounder: Chemically Embalmed Scottish Salmon
- All is Not Well With Sick Scottish Salmon
Secret Salmon - On the Trail of Imidacloprid Use in Scotland https://t.co/u2ulxotaTN Has the toxic neonicotinoid been used illegally @WeAreBenchmark @FAIfarms at Ardtoe marine laboratory? @ScottishEPA @marinescotland @vmdgovuk @FerdOwner @MowiScotlandLtd @FergusEwingMSP #BMK08 pic.twitter.com/LwP1twMoQW
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) September 4, 2020
Mowi's Million Dollar Man Testifies to Scottish Parliament
Ben Hadfield (MD of Mowi Scotland): "We have delivered, maybe not 100%" @SP_RECcttee @MowiScotlandLtd @ScotParl @SSPOsays https://t.co/fZuedob1lJ
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) November 18, 2020
Mowi score 110% for mass mortalities, escapes, infectious diseases, dead seals, use of ADDs & environmental pollution! pic.twitter.com/h0npd6QvZg
Mowi's million dollar man Ben Hadfield testified to the Scottish Parliament this morning (18 November 2020).
Here's some video clips:
Video clip of Mowi's MD Ben Hadfield being grilled by @1edmountain (convenor of @SP_RECcttee) on "difficult" mortality figures for diseased Scottish Salmon @MowiScotlandLtd @SSPOsays @ScotParl @HamishMacdonell @tavishscott
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) November 19, 2020
"You cannot just wave a magic wand" #lordvoldemort pic.twitter.com/QGXb7gSuv5
Scottish salmon "is subject to unfair attacks & criticism" @MowiScotlandLtd "In Scotland we have a number of activists which focus specifically on a company when mortality is occurring" @ScotParl @SP_RECcttee @SSPOsays @salmon_scottish @scotseafarms https://t.co/VykE0KE3YI pic.twitter.com/nqSWvWAber
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) November 19, 2020
Watch in full via Scottish Parliament TV online here
A full transcript will be published via the Official Report before 24 November 2020 - online here
Mowi's money men rake in million$ as tens of million$ of farmed $almon die a cruel death https://t.co/2ivoCyccKX Ben Hadfield @MowiScotlandLtd is fast catching up with Steve Austin coining in a cool $1 million in 2019 #Salmoney #Salmonopoly #Salmafia @IntraFishNorge pic.twitter.com/QuYumDLUCa
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) March 26, 2020
Here's some videos from Mowi salmon farms which make it "difficult" for Ben Hadfield to explain his $1 million earnings to his Board of Directors in Norway and shareholders and which has prompted the threat of legal action against Scottish Salmon Watch for secret filming.
Read more via:
Over One Million Morts for Scottish Salmon in September 2020!
Survival of the Unhealthiest Scottish Salmon - New data reveals shocking mortality rates!
Disease Breaks Mowi's Heart in Scotland
Dead in the Water - New Data Reveals Mass Mortalities & Disease on Scottish Salmon Farms
Lousy Mowi is Like a Mange-Ridden Dog!
Disease & Mortalities Plague Scottish Salmon
RSPCA Assured Mowi Plagued by Mass Mortalities & Infectious Diseases on Skye
Deadly Mowi - the Horror Story Continues!
'Moribund' Mowi: Salmon Gill Poxvirus, Amoebic Gill Disease & Anaemia at Ardintoul
Mowi's Mass Mortalities Pile Ever Higher
If Mowi was a dog it would be mange-ridden & infested with parasites https://t.co/fylgm3fwtZ @MowiScotlandLtd Why does the RSPCA continue to support welfare abuse by certifying Mowi salmon farms @rspcaassured ? @ChrisGPackham @philip_ciwf @onekindtweet @ciwf @ProfCMDwyer #RSPCA pic.twitter.com/LRq1l9ixWt
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) September 3, 2020
Be Sure to Boycott RSPCA Assured Scottish Salmon! https://t.co/61yIroIUBp Shocking new photos published of Mowi's disease-ridden North Shore feedlot in Loch Erisort @marinescotland @MowiScotlandLtd "visibly moribund fish" & "significant lice damage" @sainsburys @rspcaassured pic.twitter.com/gjLaeqpcFz
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) April 7, 2020
RSPCA Assured Mowi Plagued by Mass Mortalities & Infectious Diseases https://t.co/vxZTjE37qA Boycott disease-ridden Scottish salmon treated with antibiotics @MowiScotlandLtd @rspcaassured @sainsburys @LidlGB @AldiUK Enteric Redmouth Disease (Yersiniosis) is like the Black Death! pic.twitter.com/Rry8Y5vFvq
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) May 27, 2020
Scottish Parliament on 'Salmon farming in Scotland inquiry update'
Today in the Scottish Parliament - broadcast live @ScotParl TV from 9am @SP_RECcttee:
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) November 18, 2020
"Salmon Farming in Scotland Inquiry Update" https://t.co/nEFRRMujJC
Watch evidence from @ScottishEPA @TerryAHearn @HighlandCouncil @marinescotland @SSPOsays @tavishscott @MowiScotlandLtd pic.twitter.com/gHwXbOU8pv
Convenor of @SP_RECcttee Edward Mountain MSP:
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) November 18, 2020
"There's enough dead Scottish salmon to fill 300 articulated lorries which would stretch from the Scottish Parliament to Murrayfield!" @SSPOsays @MowiScotlandLtd @GogarServices @BBTankers @joe_crowley https://t.co/fZuedob1lJ pic.twitter.com/0PKvmKXBY5
More details and papers online here
Scottish Salmon claim "significant progress" @SP_RECcttee "We have met the benchmarks requested of us & gone further" @tavishscott @SSPOsays @salmon_scottish
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) November 18, 2020
You mean progressing to significantly higher mortalities, escapes, infectious diseases etc?https://t.co/ofjX847nkx pic.twitter.com/hRwHeSby0V
Mr Magoo must have joined the board of Scottish Salmon: "Our vision brings together our commitments to the environment with best standards of fish welfare" https://t.co/ofjX847nkx @tavishscott @SSPOsays @SP_RECcttee @HamishMacdonell @ScottishEPA @HighlandCouncil @rspcaassured pic.twitter.com/WRuXEE4VNm
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) November 18, 2020
Watch today's evidence session live on Scottish Parliament TV online here
Watch live now on Scottish Parliament TV - the "Salmon farming in Scotland inquiry update" is even better than an episode of the Muppet Show! https://t.co/fZuedob1lJ@ScotParl @SP_RECcttee pic.twitter.com/jQYkIq9bqx
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) November 18, 2020
Highland Council's Mark Harvey testifies @SP_RECcttee that it is "almost impossible" to balance the jobs from salmon farming vs negative impacts on tourism @HighlandCouncil https://t.co/fZuedob1lJ
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) November 18, 2020
There's no jobs on a dead planet! @Jonnynogaps @IanDobb @ScotSalmonTank @WHFP1 pic.twitter.com/GDGQIfHMBo
Scottish Salmon's Vision for "A Better Future For Us All" - WTF?!
Scottish Parliament Grills Scottish Salmon
Scottish Parliament Report: "Salmon Farming in Scotland" - Key recommendations
Daily Mail: "MSPs seek tougher rules amid fears on disease in fish farms"
The National: "Action needed to protect wild salmon from fish farming, report finds"
Producers should be barred from opening new fish farms near wild salmon routes, say MSPs
One in five Scottish fish farms 'not meeting standards'
Scottish Parliament publishes scathing report on salmon farming
Holyrood Committee releases their findings on the impact of salmon farming
MSPs warning over salmon farming impact on environment
One fish farm produces waste equivalent to 'all of Scotland's west coast towns'
Report on Environmental Impacts of Salmon Farming
11/17/2020
Grieg's Exit Strategy for Disease-Ridden Scottish Salmon Farms
Norwegian-owned Grieg Seafood waves goodbye to Scotland - leaving mass mortalities, infectious diseases, escapes, dead seals & environmental pollution in their wake! @GriegShetland @GriegNL @Folketrygdfond @SSPOsays @tavishscott @bbcshetland #Shetland https://t.co/BkWCsFCg0h pic.twitter.com/6VfD7PnhUP
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) November 17, 2020
"Salmon farming in Shetland is successful" claims @tavishscott @SP_RECcttee
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) November 18, 2020
Errr - did you not read the news yesterday on how Grieg Seafood is dead in the water in Shetland?https://t.co/BkWCsFCg0h@GriegShetland @shetlandtimes @bbcshetland @Shetnews @SSPOsays @HamishMacdonell pic.twitter.com/B5hZZv4qMs
Seafood Source reported (17 November 2020):
Shetland News reported (17 November 2020):
The Shetland Times reported (17 November 2020):
Grieg's Q3 2020 financial report published earlier today (17 November 2020) makes for grim reading for shareholders which include the Norwegian Government's Pension Fund:
To flesh the "high mortality event at Skye" out, here's gruesome video footage shot by Scottish Salmon Watch at Grieg Seafood's disease-ridden operations in Loch Dunvegan on the Isle of Skye in July 2020 and September 2020.
Grieg Seafood reports Heart & Skeletal Muscle Inflammation (Piscine Reovirus) in Loch Dunvegan on Skye https://t.co/JQz2K2rsoL @GriegShetland @SSPOsays @marinescotland @APHAgovuk @IainNaHoe @WHFP1 @ScotSalmonTank @KateForbesMSP https://t.co/jDOzHQZvkB @FergusEwingMSP @scotgp pic.twitter.com/7yQPhqifS4
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) September 21, 2020
Mass mortality data published earlier this month (6 November 2020) by the Scottish Government's Fish Health Inspectorate reveal the scale of Grieg Seafood's disease problems on the Isle of Skye as well as in Shetland - including 146 'Mortality Event Reports' totaling 1.7 million dead salmon since reporting began in January 2017 (1.2 million have been reported in 2020). Here's the latest mortality reports (data up to the end of September 2020) with Complex Gill Disease, Cardiomyopathy Syndrome, Treatment losses (Salmosan/Hydrogen Peroxide), Pancreas Disease, Bacterial Challenge, Heart & Skeletal Muscle Inflammation, Physical Damage from Optilicer Treatments, Winter Ulcers, Bacterial Infection (Moritella & Vibrio), Amoebic Gill Disease, Damaged Gills - Bleeding, Infectious Pancreatic Necrosis and Anaemia cited as reasons for deaths:
Scottish Salmon Watch reported (6 November 2020):
Shocking Scottish Salmon: 78.3% mortality rate reported at Grieg Seafood's Leinish salmon farm on the Isle of Skye - four out of five @rspcaassured fish died a horrible death! @GriegShetland @SSPOsays @onekindtweet https://t.co/a3w08wp8bt@KateForbesMSP @Ianblackford_MP @WHFP1 pic.twitter.com/wzA2j4E6CD
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) November 6, 2020
Data published by the Scottish Salmon Producers Organisation - which represents the six foreign-owned companies who together account for 99% of 'Scottish' salmon farming production - paints a shocking picture of diseased and dead Scottish salmon with a staggering 78.3% mortality at Grieg Seafood's Leinish salmon farm in Loch Dunvegan on the Isle of Skye.
Intrafish reported (18 September 2020):
In September 2019, Scottish Salmon Watch reported on welfare problems at Grieg Seafood's North Papa salmon farm in Shetland including physical damage is "attributed to a recent Optilicer treatment".
Here's more evidence of welfare abuse at Grieg Seafood - sourced from photos published by the Scottish Government's Fish Health Inspectorate:
Edie Bowles @Animallawyersuk said the dossier, compiled by Don Staniford, a critic of salmon farming, indicated “systemic and obvious” pain & suffering that could justify legal action against @scotgov @MairiGougeon @SSPOsays https://t.co/ZuzAis8gEr @SundayTimesScot @ciwf @scotgp pic.twitter.com/RPVIAL3KlS
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) February 2, 2020
There was simply no escape for the problems plaguing Grieg Seafood in Scotland.
In January 2017, nearly 6,000 farmed salmon died at a Grieg Seafood salmon farm in Shetland due to the heated 'torture chamber' called the Thermolicer:
Salmon Business reported in June 2020:
BBC News reported in June 2020:
In 2009, The Shetland Times reported:
Scottish Salmon Watch published a report - 'Scottish Scamon' - in February 2019 with a section on Grieg Seafood including:
Salmon Business reported (18 November 2020):
Fish Farmer reported (18 November 2020):
Read more:
- Salmonopoly: How Norway's Salmafia Control 'Scottish' Salmon - Follow the Salmoney!
- Over 5 Million Dead 'Scottish' Salmon Since 2017 - Sponsored by Investors from Norway, the Faroes etc!
- Pasteurellosis "has caused great losses" in Scottish salmon farms
- Alexa, how many salmon die each year on Scottish salmon farms? 42 million* (but we don't know for sure as the answer is deemed "commercially damaging")!
- Survival of the Unhealthiest Scottish Salmon - New data reveals shocking mortality rates!
- Skye's the Limit for Disease-Ridden Scottish Salmon
- Video Nasties - Disease-Ridden Scottish Salmon & Toxic Soup!
- Meet Pop-Eye the Scottish Salmon - Tortured by an Optilicer!
Meet Norway's Salmafia who control the majority of 'Scottish' salmon farming. Follow the Salmoney to reveal the Norwegian Salmonopoly! @MowiScotlandLtd @scotseafarms @LeroySeafood @GriegShetland @salmon_scottish @Folketrygdfond @WeAreBenchmark @FerdOwner https://t.co/Kob2OOcz2m pic.twitter.com/bOaZaDHiBW
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) November 17, 2020
Salmonopoly: How Norway's Salmafia Control 'Scottish' Salmon - Follow the Salmoney!
Meet Norway's Salmafia who control the majority of 'Scottish' salmon farming. Follow the Salmoney to reveal the Norwegian Salmonopoly! @MowiScotlandLtd @scotseafarms @LeroySeafood @GriegShetland @salmon_scottish @Folketrygdfond @WeAreBenchmark @FerdOwner https://t.co/Kob2OOcz2m pic.twitter.com/bOaZaDHiBW
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) November 17, 2020
Norwegian companies are playing a high risk game of 'Salmonopoly' (a word coined by a 2006 documentary from Wilfried Huismann and Arno Schumann) led by Mowi owner John Fredriksen (Norway's richest man before abandoning his Norwegian citizenship to live in Cyprus and London).
So-called 'Scottish' salmon farming - 99% of which is owned/controlled by six foreign companies - is a sham, scam and a consumer con.
In order to find out who are the key players with a stranglehold on 'Scottish' salmon farming - the Norwegian 'Salmafia' - we need to follow the 'Salmoney'. In February 2010, the Norwegian newspaper Dagbladet published an article on 'Salmon Farming's Power Network':
Tracing who owns salmon farming in Scotland reveals a similar network of Norwegian-owned companies and Norwegian 'Salmoney' which controls in excess of two thirds of 'Scottish' salmon farming.
The salmon farming industry's most powerful players - the 'Salmafia' - are dominated by Norwegian billionaires.
Norway's Salmafia is headed by John Fredriksen: billionaire owner of Mowi - ranked 141 on the Forbes billionaires list with a wealth of $10.1 billion and described by Forbes as a 'Viking Raider'
Norway's Salmafia includes:
Helge Møgster (majority shareholder in Austevoll Seafood which is the majority owner in Leroy - co-owner of Scottish Sea Farms - described by Salmon Business as a "seafood behemoth" and "titan")
Gustav Magnar Witzoe (the youngest Norwegian billionaire due to his stake in SalMar - co-owner of Scottish Sea Farms) and his 'Salmon King' father also named Gustav Witzoe who gifted him his fishy fortune ($3.6 billion according to Forbes)
Johan Andresen (tobacco billionaire owner behind Ferd Capital which is the largest owner of Benchmark - and also shareholder in Scottish Sea Farms co-owner Leroy and shareholder in Grieg Seafood as well as being the Chair of Norway's Council on Ethics which polices ethical and environmental investments of the Government Pension Fund of Norway)
Per Grieg (CEO of Grieg Seafood - named Norway’s Entrepreneur of the Year in 2018)
The Norwegian Government itself as represented by the Government Pension Fund Norway (controlled by the Norwegian Government's Ministry of Finance and the Minister of Finance Jan Tore Sanner via Folketrygdfondet - the largest shareholder in Bakkafrost which owns The Scottish Salmon Company, second largest shareholder in Mowi, second largest shareholder in Scottish Sea Farms co-owner Leroy, second largest shareholder in Scottish Sea Farms co-owner SalMar and second largest shareholder in Grieg Seafood)
Norway's inside man in Scotland is the Scottish Government's Minister for Rural Economy, Fergus Ewing.
Fergus Ewing is ‘un-ministerial’, says civil service union @FerretScot https://t.co/QcnZ3I2Jx4 @pcs_union accused @FergusEwingMSP of avoiding FOI law by failing to ensure that 25 meetings with fish farming industry were recorded @FOIScotland @CampaignFoI @TheSoundOfJura @scotgp pic.twitter.com/97edIH4QAu
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) June 5, 2020
In February 2019, Scottish Salmon Watch published a report: "Scottish Scamon: How Foreign Interests Control 99% of 'Scottish' Salmon Farming":
Read more via: Press Release: "Scottish Scamon" and "Scottish Scamon: How foreign interests control 99% of 'Scottish' salmon farming"
The Ferret reported in February 2019:
As much as 99 per cent of farmed salmon production from Scottish-branded companies is controlled outwith Scotland. Most of the industry is Norwegian, and one major parent company is registered in Jersey, an offshore tax haven.https://t.co/vxzBIgSWYy
— The Ferret (@FerretScot) February 24, 2019
Anyone for 'Scottish' salmon? Imported as eggs from Norway & Iceland and bankrolled by £££$$€€s in #Norway, #Faroes, #USA, #Denmark & #Belgium
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) November 13, 2020
'Exclusively from Scotland' claims @salmon_scottish "Provenance guaranteed" @waitrose @wjhm93 @Folketrygdfond https://t.co/NusyErqUWk pic.twitter.com/H2CZUVJEjD
Oops - Bakkafrost wrongly gives #Sweden not #Norway as the origin of Norwegian Government Pension Fund @Folketrygdfond
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) November 13, 2020
"This is clearly a mistake from our side – apologies for that. Folketrygdfondet is Norwegian and this will be corrected on our webpage" https://t.co/NusyErqUWk pic.twitter.com/Yq47zE5wMg
As largest shareholder in Bakkafrost, @Folketrygdfond should surely divest @salmon_scottish or exert influence to end welfare abuse! Norway's Pension Fund demands ethical & environmental investmenthttps://t.co/NusyErqUWk @NorwayMFA @fiskeridir @NFdep @erna_solberg @Stortinget pic.twitter.com/Fcc06y5hPD
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) November 13, 2020
"Norwegian interests risk bringing the whole rotten edifice of 'Scottish Salmon' crashing down" warns @HGSalmonUK to @Feorlean & @FergusEwingMSP https://t.co/7leCLZarz1 @GAA_Advocate @salmonfarming1 @IntraFishNorge @thefishsite @Salmon_Business @GreenerScotland @fiskeridir pic.twitter.com/79CBueZzXB
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) October 1, 2020
Norwegian Salmon Ova Slip Back Into Scotland (as Infectious Salmon Anaemia plagues salmon farms in Norway) https://t.co/MAShiQlkpw @GreenerScotland @marinescotland @APHAgovuk @DefraGovUK @InfoMattilsynet @FergusEwingMSP @HGSalmonUK @EWNutritionGmbH @WeAreBenchmark @scotseafarms pic.twitter.com/BtzuLNd79Y
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) August 26, 2020
Norwegian Salmon Egg Exports Banned Due to Disease Risks https://t.co/rEeHFKqewt @EFTAsecretariat @InfoMattilsynet @marinescotland @fiskeridir @NFdep @WeAreBenchmark @scotseafarms @MowiScotlandLtd @HGSalmonUK @FergusEwingMSP @DefraGovUK @SSPOsays #ISA #Norway #ScottishScamon pic.twitter.com/XmW4SaPYG2
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) February 24, 2020
Data on ova imports over the last decade show how Norwegian interests have overpowered 'Scottish' salmon farming with Iceland stepping into the breach following the Norwegian ban. Data published by the Scottish Government via FOI in September 2020 revealed the following imports of ova since April 2019 (data up to July 2020):
Data disclosed by the Scottish Government via FOI in February 2020 (following a successful appeal by Scottish Salmon Watch to the Scottish Information Commissioner) reveal ova imports prior to April 2019:
The FOI disclosure by the Scottish Government in February 2020 also provided data on ova imports in 2016:
Data on ova imports during 2017 was finally published by the Scottish Government following an appeal by Scottish Salmon Watch in December 2019:
An analysis of the data available since 2016 (i.e. 1 January 2016 to 2 July 2020) reveals that 9 of the 10 highest consignments of imported ova originated from Mowi/Marine Harvest in Norway (Marine Harvest changed their name to Mowi in January 2019 due to "negative consumer perception").
Of 234.7 million salmon ova imported into Scottish salmon farms via 213 consigments since 1 January 2016 (data up to 2 July 2020), 146. 3 million (62%) via 125 consignments were sourced from Norway, 60.2 million (26%) via 60 consignments were sourced from Iceland and 28.2 million (12%) via 28 consignments were sourced from Ireland.
The list of companies importing the most ova was headed by Mowi Norway followed by Stofnfiskur in Iceland (owned by Norway's Benchmark), AquaGen in Norway (owned by German-based EW Group), Mowi Ireland, Salmobreed in Norway (owned by Norway's Benchmark) and then Grieg Rogaland in Norway.
The list of companies importing ova since 1 January 2016 (data up to 2 July 2020) was headed by Mowi with 41 consignments totaling 74.8 million followed by The Scottish Salmon Company with 45 consignments totaling 37.7 million; Scottish Sea Farms with 30 consignments totaling 36 million; Grieg Seafood with 16 consignments totaling 25 million and Cooke Aquaculture with 24 consignments totaling 16.9 million.
Download collated ova import data (2016 to July 2020) online here
Norwegian-owned Mowi changed their name from Marine Harvest in January 2019 due to "negative consumer perception" despite objections from the Mowinckel family - from which the name Mowi is derived. Norway's Financial Times (Dagens Naringsliv) reported in December 2018:
Even so-called 'Scottish' salmon is derived from foreign sources - mostly from Norway where the risk of the spread of Infectious Salmon Anaemia and Iceland where the risk of the spread of Piscine Reovirus (the causal agent for Heart & Skeletal Muscle Inflammation) is all too real. The Managing Director of Hendrix Genetics Aquaculture (Neil Manchester) admitted to the Scottish Government in 2016 via documents obtained via FOI that the Landcatch strain of 'Scottish' salmon was originally sourced from Norway.
Last month (1 October 2020), Scottish Salmon Watch reported that FOI disclosures deemed commercially sensitive by the Scottish Government revealed that since 2016 Hendrix Genetics has imported over 21 million salmon eggs (ova) from Norway, Iceland and Ireland into their Ormsary Hatchery in Argyll to produce 'Scottish' salmon. Dutch-owned Hendrix Genetics bought Scottish company Landcatch Natural Selection - owned by the Lithgows - in 2010.
Stofnfiskur is a subsidiary of Norwegian-owned Benchmark (the company seeking to use the banned neonicotinoid Imidacloprid in Scottish salmon farming). Benchmark's largest shareholder is Norwegian-owned Ferd Capital - controlled by Norwegian investor and Norway's fifth richest person Johan Henrik Andresen (the Salmoney behind Imidacloprid - which Mowi want to use in Scotland).
Meet the filthy rich Norwegian tobacco billionaire @FerdOwner desperate to 'CleanTreat' parasite-infested pharmed salmon with the toxic neonicotinoid insecticide Imidacloprid (BMK08/Ectosan) @WeAreBenchmark https://t.co/ORQS4EAeDS #Salmoney #Salmonopoly https://t.co/u5aJ4cQ1eS pic.twitter.com/2zh6cxBdeg
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) March 18, 2020
"It's the tasty one," said a cigarette ad for Tiedemanns Tobaksfabrik (biggest tobacco company in Norway) @FerdOwner https://t.co/Pv7Npg9mWB "Setting a new standard in environmental care for sea lice bath treatments," claims CleanTreat @WeAreBenchmark #BlowingSmoke #Imidacloprid pic.twitter.com/SE0xCB38FC
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) March 19, 2020
In a colossal conflict of interest, Johan Andresen is also Chair of the Norwegian Government's Council on Ethics which according to its web-site "gives advice on whether investments in financial instruments issued by specified issuers are inconsistent with the Fund’s Ethical Guidelines".
Benchmark's second largest shareholder is Norwegian-owned Kverva who owns salmon farming giant SalMar (which itself co-owns Norskott Havbruk, owner of Scotland's second largest salmon farmer Scottish Sea Farms).
Gustav Witzoe Jr comes in at #4 in the 2020 Forbes World's Youngest Billionaires List - just after Johan Andersen's daughters:
John Fredriksen's twin daughters are now too old as they are in their late 30s to be included in the Forbes World's Youngest Billionaires List but these A-list billionaires look set to be presiding over Mowi when their father retires.
Cecilie Fredriksen already sits on the Board of Directors of Mowi.
Salmon Business reported in September 2019:
AquaGen has been owned by the German company EW Group since 2013 when Mowi/Marine Harvest and Cermaq sold their stakes. In 2011, The New York Times fingered AquaGen in Norway as the likely source of the ISA outbreak in Chile following a scientific paper published in the Archives of Virology.
"A virulent variant of Infectious Salmon Anaemia (ISA) virus has been detected in broodfish from a Norwegian sea site operated by AquaGen, which supplies many of the eggs used in Scottish salmon farming," reported Fish Farming Expert in July 2017.
"We have found another solution. We lost the one export permit to Scotland and found another solution this year with a partner that delivers to Scotland," AquaGen’s Nina Santi told SalmonBusiness in January 2018. "We’ll be back with deliveries to Scotland in mid-2018."
AquaGen chairman Odd Magne Rødseth, speaking to Fish Farming Expert in November 2017, said "the move to start egg production in Scotland would help serve the Scottish industry better and was also a precautionary measure against any ban on the import of eggs. “You never know whether will find some reason to close the border,” he said (predicting the ban on ova imports from Norway in May 2019). A few months before the ban on exports of ova from Norway due to Infectious Salmon Anaemia, Insider reported in March 2019:
In August 2020, Scottish Salmon Watch revealed that AquaGen had resumed importing 'elite' ova from Norway for use as 'Scottish' broodstock following the ban in 2019 even though ISA continued to plague Norwegian salmon farms.
Norwegian Salmon Ova Slip Back Into Scotland (as Infectious Salmon Anaemia plagues salmon farms in Norway) https://t.co/MAShiQlkpw @GreenerScotland @marinescotland @APHAgovuk @DefraGovUK @InfoMattilsynet @FergusEwingMSP @HGSalmonUK @EWNutritionGmbH @WeAreBenchmark @scotseafarms pic.twitter.com/BtzuLNd79Y
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) August 26, 2020
Salmon farming companies started flooding Scotland with foreign-sourced salmon eggs (ova) decades ago. FOI data disclosed by the Scottish Government in November 2018 reveal how the genetic integrity of 'Scottish' salmon has been eroded by ova imports from Norway, Iceland and Ireland.
A paper published in the journal Aquaculture in 2016 graphically illustrated how imported ova had flooded salmon farms in Scotland since the late 1990s.
In view of the foreign nature of 'Scottish' salmon farming, it is little wonder that claims by The Scottish Salmon Company and the supermarket Waitrose with respect to 'Native Hebridean Salmon' have been called into question:
It is obvious that foreign investors are abusing Scotland's high quality reputation and iconic history of wild Atlantic salmon to make money. The Q3 2020 presentation of The Scottish Salmon Companu included reference to the "strategic rationale" of Scotland including the claim that it is a region characterised by "high quality salmon from Scottish Provenance priced at a premium" (i.e. foreign companies like Bakkafrost can exploit Scotland's image to make more profits):
In appropriating the good name of Scottish salmon, foreign-owned companies have turned Salmo salar (the Latin name for Atlantic salmon - the leaper) into a leper.
Salmo domesticus has turned Salmo salar - the Leaper - into a leper. Salmon farming is a pariah not a panacea pic.twitter.com/UCfhXT0HhR
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) September 16, 2019
In view of the ongoing Viking invasion it may already be too late to save truly Scottish salmon. The Sunday Times reported in March 2013:
Since 2013 even more farmed salmon have escaped from Scotland's foreign-owned salmon farms with Norwegian-owned Mowi responsible for two mass escapes in 2020 totaling over 120,000 fish - that's over twice the entire 'wild' catch of salmon in Scotland in 2019!
Official Scottish Government figures show Mowi has recovered zero out of 48,834 escapees (i.e. 0%!) @MowiScotlandLtd https://t.co/3hMTYTQb9V
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) October 9, 2020
How much will @GreenerScotland fine Mowi for failing to recapture escapees? @fms_scotland @FergusEwingMSP @strathearnrose £0.00? #Mowi pic.twitter.com/hzHpfYKhX7
When did @MowiScotlandLtd apply to @GreenerScotland for "authorisation for the emergency use of nets to affect recapture"? @marinescotland @fms_scotland There's 48,834 escapees to catch - that's more than Scotland's entire rod catch of wild salmon for 2019 (reported as 47,515)! pic.twitter.com/tQDIMngkYL
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) August 28, 2020
This Xmas, Easter and every day of the year please boycott 'Scottish' salmon. If you need more evidence please follow Inside Scottish Salmon Feedlots on Facebook.
Ocean advocate Katie Tunn on the Isle of Skye spells out her ten reasons to boycott Scottish salmon:
Read more via:
- The Norwegian, Faroese, Swedish*, Ukrainian & Swiss Salmoney Behind the 'Scottish' Salmon Company
- Over 5 Million Dead 'Scottish' Salmon Since 2017 - Sponsored by Investors from Norway, the Faroes etc!
- Massive Attack on "Rotten Edifice" of 'Scottish' Salmon
- Norwegian Salmon Ova Slip Back Into Scotland (as Infectious Salmon Anaemia plagues salmon farms in Norway)
- Norway's Infectious Salmon "Horror Show" Secretly Playing Now In Scotland?
- EFTA disclose documents on disease-ridden Norwegian salmon farming but refuse more citing commercial confidentiality
- 'Scottish' salmon resumes imports of "ISA-free" eggs from Norway?
- Follow the Salmoney - the Norwegian tobacco billionaire behind the Neonicotinoid Imidacloprid
- The Ferret: "Imports of Norwegian salmon eggs banned over deadly virus"
- Norwegian Salmon Egg Exports Banned Due to Disease Risks
- 'Scottish' Salmon Exposed As Made in Ireland & Iceland
- FOI Victory: Scottish Ministers Forced to Come Clean on 'Scottish' Salmon
- The National: "Watchdog demands release of government facts about Scottish Salmon"
- Mail On Sunday: "90% of Scottish salmon 'ISN'T' from Scotland' - 66m eggs shipped in from abroad"
- Salmon Eggsclusive: Scotland's 'King of Fish' is Now Viking Not Scottish!
- Easter Egg Ban for 'Scottish' Salmon?
- Deadly virus outbreak prompted fears over import of fish farm eggs to Scotland
- Game Ova for Scottish Salmon - Deadly disease delays egg imports from AquaGen in Norway
- 'Secret' Scottish Salmon - Norwegian-owned Scottish Sea Farms refuse to disclose information for ova imports as it would "cause substantial harm to their commercial interests"
- Complete Mockery of the Brand 'Scottish Salmon': Norway bans import of Scottish salmon eggs citing disease risks & genetic impacts under the Nature Diversity Act
- Tartan imposters’ charge as fish egg imports hit 90%
- Invasion of the Viking salmon
- 'Norwegian' genes found in wild salmon populations in Wester Ross
11/13/2020
Over 5 Million Dead 'Scottish' Salmon Since 2017 - Sponsored by Investors from Norway, the Faroes etc!
Over 5 Million Dead 'Scottish' Salmon Since 2017 @salmon_scottish - sponsored by investors from Norway, Sweden, Faroes, USA, Denmark, Belgium & Luxembourg! @Folketrygdfond @NorwayMFA @fiskeridir @NFdep @Try_Lochlander @SSPOsays @FergusEwingMSP @strathearnrose @marinescotland pic.twitter.com/37ehamHX24
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) November 13, 2020
The 'Scottish' Salmon Company - actually owned by Faroese/Norwegian controlled company Bakkafrost - is experiencing huge losses due to mass mortalities and disease problems such as Pancreas Disease, Anaemia, Vibriosis, Amoebic Gill Disease, Infectious Pancreatic Necrosis, Fungus, Moritella Viscosa (Winter Ulcer), Enteric Redmouth Disease (Yersiniosis), Proliferative Gill Disease, Cardiomyopathy Syndrome and Haemorrhagic Smolt Syndrome.
Data published by the Scottish Government's Fish Health Inspectorate on 6 November 2020 reveal that The Scottish Salmon Company has officially reported a staggering 590 'Mortality Events' since February 2017 (data up to the end of September 2020) totaling 5.3 million dead salmon (94 cases did not provide/disclose numbers so that figure will be significantly higher). Here's the top 20 (i.e. worst in terms of numbers of morts) 'Mortality Event Reports':
590 'Mortality Events' @salmon_scottish with 5 million+ dead since 2017 due to Pancreas Disease, Anaemia, Vibriosis, Amoebic Gill Disease, Fungus, Moritella Viscosa (Winter Ulcer), Cardiomyopathy Syndrome & Haemorrhagic Smolt Syndrome https://t.co/utAZi5zhMZ @Folketrygdfond pic.twitter.com/Xi9SQzR6v8
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) November 13, 2020
Here's video footage shot by Scottish Salmon Watch at The Scottish Salmon Company's disease-ridden salmon farm at Quarry Point in Loch Fyne in 2018:
Weekly mortality rates have approached 40% in some of the worst cases reported by The Scottish Salmon Company - including cases in Loch Striven over the Summer of 2020:
Revealed: 102,344 dead salmon (40% mortality) in one week at one farm @salmon_scottish in August https://t.co/AsVyIRDGip
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) November 3, 2020
Please boycott Scottish salmon! @coopuk @Try_Lochlander @sainsburys @LidlGB @waitrose @marksandspencer @Morrisons @asda @Tesco https://t.co/FpKosacuJq pic.twitter.com/NEsA57HP99
Fish Farming Expert reported (10 November 2020):
Bakkafrost, which was registered on the Oslo Stock Exchange in Norway in 2010, reported financial information on 10 November 2020 under the disclosure requirements pursuant to section 5 -12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act.
The Q3 2020 presentation included:
Bakkafrost's Q3 2020 accounts included:
Salmon Business reported in November 2018:
If the salmon farmed by The Scottish Salmon Company was a wine it would not be fit to drink (not even as vinegar on your fish and chips)!
Photos published by the Scottish Government's Fish Health Inspectorate reveal widespread welfare abuse at The Scottish Salmon Company:
Given the scale of welfare abuse, it is no wonder that lawyers for The Scottish Salmon Company attempted (unsuccessfully as it turned out) to prevent publication.
Here's photos leaked by a whistleblower in 2018 working for The Scottish Salmon Company at their facility at Toward near Dunoon in Argyll (the whistleblower was sick to the stomach at their poor welfare and hygiene standards):
And little wonder that there is growing community opposition to The Scottish Salmon Company's expansion plans.
Mass mortalities and infectious diseases are sadly nothing new at The Scottish Salmon Company. Seafood Source reported in November 2016:
Shocking video footage of welfare abuse inside a salmon farm operated by The Scottish Salmon Company in Loch Roag and a burial pit for mass mortalities was broadcast by the BBC One Show in 2018:
Read more via:
The Norwegian, Faroese, Swedish, Ukrainian & Swiss Salmoney Behind the 'Scottish' Salmon Company
Stornoway Gazette: "Campaign group accuse local salmon farm of welfare issues"
Dead in the Water - New Data Reveals Mass Mortalities & Disease on Scottish Salmon Farms
The Camera Never Lies About Scottish Salmon!
"No Unauthorised Access - Keep 15m Away" warn Scottish Salmon Company. Nothing to See Here (Honest)!
The 'Sealicehunter' - the Washing Machine for Dirty Scottish salmon
Photos slipped out last month @marinescotland provide yet more damning evidence of welfare abuse on salmon farms - please boycott Scottish salmon! https://t.co/bp2h3Rylag @salmon_scottish @Try_Lochlander @Folketrygdfond @GreenerScotland @scotgp @coopuk @rspcaassured @SSPCA_Mike pic.twitter.com/Sngg29WYTp
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) November 4, 2020
The Norwegian, Faroese, Swedish*, Ukrainian & Swiss Salmoney Behind the 'Scottish' Salmon Company
Anyone for 'Scottish' salmon? Imported as eggs from Norway & Iceland and bankrolled by £££$$€€s in #Norway, #Faroes, #USA, #Denmark & #Belgium
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) November 13, 2020
'Exclusively from Scotland' claims @salmon_scottish "Provenance guaranteed" @waitrose @wjhm93 @Folketrygdfond https://t.co/NusyErqUWk pic.twitter.com/H2CZUVJEjD
Who owns The Scottish Salmon Company? You'd be forgiven for thinking it was a Scottish company but dare to peek under the tartan kilt and look past the 'Scottish Provenance' advertising and you'll find Norwegian, Swedish* and Faroese investors along with a shady history involving a Ukrainian banker, an anonymous Swiss bank account and an office in the tax haven of Jersey.
Whilst out walking the dog last month I came across an old box for transporting salmon with the logo of Bakkafrost - the owner of The Scottish Salmon Company - still visible under the pile of poo bags. In order to discover the money men behind this foreign-owned company, you need to dig deep and need a strong stomach!
Spotted on our beach walk today - the piles of dog poop are collected in an old farmed salmon box. Very apt since Bakkafrost (owners of The Scottish Salmon Company) are used to dealing in complete crap! @salmon_scottish @Folketrygdfond pic.twitter.com/e6my7ikgvG
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) October 14, 2020
If you look at the web-site of The Scottish Salmon Company it positively oozes Scottishness with brands including 'Lochlander', 'Native Hebridean' and 'Tartan'. This foreign-owned company (which imports millions of salmon ova from overseas) claims 'Scottish Provenance'. "Our Provenance Guaranteed logo is our trademark symbol which guarantees our customers 100% traceability, complete confidence in our supply chain and underscores our values of Scottish quality, sustainability and authenticity," claims The Scottish Salmon Company (a claim recently called into question).
Search The Scottish Salmon Company's web-site and you will struggle to discover who is lurking under the tartan kilt of this "Scottish standard bearer".
Follow the Salmoney and you quickly find your way down to the murky depths of the Salmafia who are playing a high stakes game of Salmonopoly - with the owners of The Scottish Salmon Company pitted against Mowi's billionaire Norwegian owner John Fredriksen, Norwegian-owned 'Scottish' Sea Farms and Norwegian-owned Grieg Seafood!
Not everyone is buying into The Scottish Salmon Company's high risk strategy.
Islanders camp out over Arran salmon farm plans https://t.co/X7oc15jPkx @salmon_scottish @ArranCoast @FergusEwingMSP @howardlwood @chandlerfish
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) October 21, 2020
Oh dear - Salmon farming in @PrivateEyeNews again!
— Salmon Research (@salmonresearch) November 19, 2020
Death, disease, destruction, a demonstration and a decision for @North_Ayrshire to make on @salmon_scottish farm expansion!
In a 'real' civilised country, these farms wouldn't even get to the planning stage. pic.twitter.com/WLF97QfSUH
A web-link to The Scottish Salmon Company's 'Investor Relations' (at a web-site located in the tax haven of Jersey where the company is registered with Companies House) is broken and no news has been posted since January 2020. The fact is that The Scottish Salmon Company is owned by Bakkafrost who agreed to buy 68.6% of shares in September 2019, upping their stake to 78% later in September 2019, increasing their share to 95.6% in December 2019 and then via a compulsory acquisition of minority shares in January 2020 taking 100% control in February/March 2020.
Bakkafrost's head office is located in the Faroe Islands but their largest shareholder is the Norwegian Government Pension Fund (Folketrygdfondet) which is strangely now registered in Sweden* followed by Regin Jacobsen and his mother Oddvor (the first billionaire family in the Faroe Islands and the only Faroese featured in Berlingske’s list of the 100 richest people in the Danish Kingdom). Here's a list of their major shareholders:
Salmon Business reported in July 2020 (note that the largest shareholder was then registered in Norway not Sweden):
In line with their foreign ownership, The Scottish Salmon Company has imported tens of millions of salmon eggs (ova) from Iceland and Norway which are hatched in freshwater hatcheries to be farmed into 'Scottish' salmon. Here's data sourced from a Freedom of Information reply from the Scottish Government:
Hi Will. Native Hebridean Salmon is bred from wild Hebridean Salmon and farmed only in Hebridean waters. It has complete traceability to the Scottish Hebridean Islands. - Mark
— Waitrose & Partners (@waitrose) October 13, 2020
For public clarification, can Waitrose please come clean on the "complete traceability" of Hebridean Salmon? Is it sourced from @salmon_scottish ? Is it sourced from salmon eggs imported from Norway or Iceland? @marinescotland @WeAreBenchmark @HGSalmonUK https://t.co/3spFPTDB93 pic.twitter.com/cq0i5uZQBY
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) October 15, 2020
Bakkafrost was registered on the Oslo Stock Exchange in Norway in 2010. Here's a list of 'primary insiders' at Bakkafrost.
Bakkafrost's web-site details the Group Management - including CEO Regin Jacobsen:
And CEO of The Scottish Salmon Company, Odd Eliasen:
According to Wallmine, Regin Jacobsen earns slightly more than your average salmon farmer.
Wikipedia reports on Bakkafrost:
The Q3 2020 presentation included reference to the "strategic rationale" of Scotland including the claim that it is a region characterised by "high quality salmon from Scottish Provenance priced at a premium" (i.e. foreign companies like Bakkafrost can exploit Scotland's image to make more profits):
MarketScreener reports on Bakkafrost:
Local reported last month (30 October 2020):
Bakkafrost's largest shareholder is Folketrygdfondet - described on their web-site as "professional investment manager whose main task is to manage the Government Pension Fund Norway on behalf of the Ministry of Finance".
The Norwegian Government is effectively bankrolling - via their shareholding in Bakkafrost - environmental impacts in Scotland as well as welfare abuse on salmon farms.
Folketrygdfondet is also the second largest shareholder in Mowi - Scotland's largest salmon farming company.
And the second largest shareholder in Grieg Seafood which is reporting colossal mortality problems on the Isle of Skye:
And the second largest shareholder in Leroy (co-owner of Scottish Sea Farms):
And second largest shareholder in SalMar (co-owner of Scottish Sea Farms - another Norwegian-owned company experiencing welfare and mortality problems in Scotland):
Folketrygdfondet claimed in April 2020 that is was "staying vigilant" to the "multiple challenges and dilemmas" of the salmon farming industry:
Scottish Salmon Watch today (13 November 2020) asked Bakkafrost's largest shareholder to investigate ongoing welfare abuse and mass mortalities at The Scottish Salmon Company.
As largest shareholder in Bakkafrost, @Folketrygdfond should surely divest @salmon_scottish or exert influence to end welfare abuse! Norway's Pension Fund demands ethical & environmental investmenthttps://t.co/NusyErqUWk @NorwayMFA @fiskeridir @NFdep @erna_solberg @Stortinget pic.twitter.com/Fcc06y5hPD
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) November 13, 2020
Back in February 2019, Scottish Salmon Watch revealed that 99% of 'Scottish' salmon farming production was controlled/owned by six foreign companies including The Scottish Salmon Company (then owned/controlled by Ukrainian banker Yuri Lopatinsky via Northern Link and an anonymous account registered at the Swiss Stock Exchange).
The Ferret reported in February 2019:
In June 2019, lawyers representing The Scottish Salmon Company's controlling shareholder Yuriy Lopatynskyy threatened legal action against Scottish Salmon Watch for publishing information via 'Scottish Scamon'. Here's the legal threat served in June 2019:
Read the section of the report on The Scottish Salmon Company which lawyers for Yuri Lopatinsky objected to (Scottish Salmon Watch did not remove the offending report and stands by the published information).
The report included:
Download report in full online here
BBC News reported in September 2019:
Salmon Business reported earlier in September 2019 that the 'Ukrainian investor' selling his stake in The Scottish Salmon Company to Bakkafrost was Yuri Lopatinsky:
Yuri Lopatinsky has registered businesses in Charlotte Square, Edinburgh, next door to the First Minister of Scotland (according to Insider he owns Bute House, the residence of the First Minister of Scotland).
Insider reported in June 2019:
The Scotsman reported in March 2010:
Fish Farming Expert reported in January 2020:
Fish Farming Expert reported in December 2019:
Read more via:
Over 5 Million 'Scottish' Salmon Mortalities Sponsored by Investors from Norway, the Faroes etc!
Stornoway Gazette: "Campaign group accuse local salmon farm of welfare issues"
"No Unauthorised Access - Keep 15m Away" warn Scottish Salmon Company. Nothing to See Here (Honest)!
The Camera Never Lies About Scottish Salmon!
Ongoing Welfare Abuse & Unnecessary Suffering on Salmon Farms - Why No Prosecutions?
Waitrose Challenged on "Complete Traceability" of Native Hebridean Salmon
Massive Attack on "Rotten Edifice" of 'Scottish' Salmon
Norway's Infectious Salmon "Horror Show" Secretly Playing Now In Scotland?
Secret Filming Lifts Lid on Sickening Scottish Salmon
Maaey Day for The Scottish Salmon Company
The Severely Damaged Scottish Salmon Company - For Sale Now!
Mmmm Blind Scottish Salmon with Boils, Anyone?
Ground-Truthing Disease-Ridden Scottish Salmon
‘Sick’ salmon film prompts government probe into Scottish fish farm
Blowing the Whistle on Scottish Salmon - whistleblowers leak gruesome photos of farmed salmon
Sick salmon at Scottish fish farm revealed on film
Horror photos of farmed salmon spark legal threat
Disease-ridden Scottish Salmon
Viking invasion taints 'Scottish' salmon - 90% of eggs now imported
For public clarification, can Waitrose please come clean on the "complete traceability" of Hebridean Salmon? Is it sourced from @salmon_scottish ? Is it sourced from salmon eggs imported from Norway or Iceland? @marinescotland @WeAreBenchmark @HGSalmonUK https://t.co/3spFPTDB93 pic.twitter.com/cq0i5uZQBY
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) October 15, 2020
New Scottish Government survey reveals that 89.7% of 'Scottish' salmon are derived from foreign sources (Norway, Iceland & Ireland) https://t.co/LX57bm5nfV @marinescotland @GreenerScotland @SSPOsays @WeAreBenchmark @HGSalmonUK @FergusEwingMSP pic.twitter.com/NH9CrYu1JK
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) October 19, 2020
Addendum:
Date: Fri, Nov 13, 2020 at 12:02 PM
Subject: The Scottish Salmon Company
To: <folketrygdfondet@ftf.no>
Cc: <marika.burvald@ftf.no>
From: Høgni Dahl Jakobsen <hodj@bakkafrost.com>
Date: Fri, Nov 13, 2020 at 12:13 PM
Subject: RE: Komið umvegis heimasíðuna
To: dstaniford@gaaia.org <dstaniford@gaaia.org>
Thank you for your question. This is clearly a mistake from our side – apologies for that. Folketrygdfondet is Norwegian and this will be corrected on our webpage.
Vh / Br
Høgni Dahl Jakobsen
|
Oops - Bakkafrost wrongly gives #Sweden not #Norway as the origin of Norwegian Government Pension Fund @Folketrygdfond
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) November 13, 2020
"This is clearly a mistake from our side – apologies for that. Folketrygdfondet is Norwegian and this will be corrected on our webpage" https://t.co/NusyErqUWk pic.twitter.com/Yq47zE5wMg
Date: Mon, Nov 16, 2020 at 11:43 AM
Subject: Folketrygdfondet registered in Sweden not Norway?
To: <folketrygdfondet@ftf.no>
11/12/2020
Pasteurellosis "has caused great losses" in Scottish salmon farms
"Norwegian experts fear a 'new' farmed salmon disease is on the rise" https://t.co/6JJ77WRZ2w In Scotland, Pasteurellosis "has caused great losses to the industry". "Scotland has battled the disease for some time" @IntraFishNorge @marinescotland @MowiScotlandLtd @FergusEwingMSP pic.twitter.com/juNdsVi7Kp
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) November 12, 2020
Intrafish reported (12 November 2020):
Intrafish reported (20 August 2020):
Is deadly Infectious Salmon Anaemia already lurking in Scottish salmon farms & hatcheries? @FergusEwingMSP @marinescotland @strathearnrose @KateForbesMSP @MowiScotlandLtd @WeAreBenchmark @EWNutritionGmbH @scotseafarms @GriegShetland @salmon_scottish @HGSalmonUK @SSPOsays #ISA https://t.co/71QYAVTZXb
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) August 20, 2020
Read more via:
Norway's Infectious Salmon "Horror Show" Secretly Playing Now In Scotland?
The Ferret: "Imports of Norwegian salmon eggs banned over deadly virus"
Norwegian Salmon Egg Exports Banned Due to Disease Risks
Game Ova for Scottish Salmon - Deadly disease delays egg imports from AquaGen in Norway
Deadly virus outbreak prompted fears over import of fish farm eggs to Scotland
11/11/2020
Alexa, how many salmon die each year on Scottish salmon farms? 42 million* (but we don't know for sure as the answer is deemed "commercially damaging")!
Alexa, how many salmon die each year on Scottish salmon farms? 42 million* https://t.co/jRQzhheju6
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) November 11, 2020
Sadly we don't know for sure as the answer is deemed "commercially damaging" by @sspo!
Will @ScottishEPA & @marinescotland force disclosure? @salmon_scottish @rspcaassured pic.twitter.com/fua9nkM6g3
How many salmon die each year on Scottish salmon farms? Now that may sound like a straightforward question with a simple answer. Like 42 being the Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, The Universe, and Everything in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. As it happens the estimate for the number of farmed salmon mortalities in Scotland in 2019 is an eye-popping 42 million - with ca. 20 million dying in freshwater hatcheries and farms and ca. 20 million in sea cages and via transfers by wellboat (working is shown below).
Sadly, we have no officially reported data on the exact numbers of dead farmed salmon in Scotland since the year 2012 following lobbying by the 99% foreign-owned 'Scottish' salmon farming industry who argued that public disclosure were be "commercially damaging".
If you're looking for data on numbers of @rspcaassured dead farmed salmon in Scotland they don't exist - in 2013 @SSPOsays lobbied @ScottishEPA not to disclose mortalities as it was deemed commercially damaging! https://t.co/cDEyvS04dO @strathearnrose @salmon_scottish @scotgp pic.twitter.com/FICRbrpGXJ
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) September 2, 2020
We're therefore left with data up to only 2012 and are faced with mind-bending extrapolation and interpolation to arrive at answers for the years 2013 to 2019. At least the data from 2010 to 2012 gives actual numbers of mortalities which along with data on weight of mortalities gives an indication of the ratio of mortalities by number to mortalities by weight. Roughly speaking one thousand tonnes of mortalities = 700,000 dead salmon but this will obviously depend on the stage of salmon farming production (with mortalities in the hatchery when the fish are much smaller weighing less and mortalities in the sea phase of production weighing much more).
Here's the data set we're working from - as reported by Rob Edwards of The Sunday Herald in 2013 (now one of the big brains behind The Ferret):
Pythagoras, Einstein, Tao as well as Matt Damon in the film 'Good Will Hunting' would all struggle to decipher the conundrum that is Scottish salmon's mortality problem.
To find a way through the complexity we would love to have the help of Beth Harmon in Netflix's hit show 'The Queen's Gambit' but that's a work of fiction (in much the same way as the Scottish salmon farming industry's claims of 'healthy' fish and 'low' mortality).
What we do have is data published by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency on the weight (in tonnes) of mortalities - hence we have Rob Edwards reporting in July 2020 via The Ferret article "Farmed salmon deaths from disease reach record high":
We also have data on mortalities published by the Scottish Government's Fish Health Inspectorate - but this incomplete data set only relates to mortality events which are greater than 1% (i.e. it does not capture all mortalities) and 16% of cases have missing figures.
Over 1 Million dead salmon in September 2020! https://t.co/VWeqgu0zc6
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) November 9, 2020
Diseased Scottish salmon is piling up higher than Ben Nevis (Scotland's highest mountain)!@rspcaassured @salmon_scottish @LeroySeafood @GreenerScotland @scotgp @onekindtweet @ciwf @ProfCMDwyer @PETAUK pic.twitter.com/o0DqbHWApz
And we also have data sourced from the Scottish Salmon Producers Organisation (SSPO) which has published monthly mortality and cumulative data since it was forced to do by the Scottish Parliament in 2018 (the way the data is presented is as if the industry - 99% of which is controlled/owned by six foreign companies - is trying to bury the evidence).
In order to pick through the white noise, we have to channel Matt Damon's mathematical genius and use all available data. Our ballpark answer suggests mortalities in the sea phase of salmon farming production to be as low as 10 million and as high as 25 million per year since 2012 (when data is last publicly available) but then you have to factor in another 18-25 million morts per year in the freshwater phase of production.
In 2017, The Times newspaper suggested 20 million mortalities on salmon farms in Scotland.
The figure of 20 million mortalities was derived from a report - "RSPCA Assured certification of Scottish farmed salmon" - published in July 2017 by Salmon & Trout Conservation Scotland:
The Scottish Salmon Producers Organisation have obviously downplayed numbers but admitted "somewhere between 6 and 10 million fish" in 2017.
If we want to calculate total mortality of farmed salmon then we need to go back to imports of ova (eggs) and follow the life-cycle of salmon from hatch in the hatchery to on-growing as smolts in sea cages. For that we have a useful data set in the shape of an annual fish farm production survey published by the Scottish Government.
Data junkies and geeks will love the information presented in the latest survey for 2019 published in October 2020 - with 63 million to 71 million ova laid down each year leading to 38.5 million to 53 million smolts put to sea (a mortality figure ranging from 18 million to 25 million per year):
So you have something like 70 million ova laid down to hatch each year leading to the annual production of ca. 50 million smolts (i.e. ca. 30% annual mortality during the hatchery phase of salmon farming production).
Mortality data published by the Scottish Government's Fish Health Inspectorate (data published on 4 November 2020 up to the end of September 2020) details mass mortalities in the hatchery with 118 'Mortality Event Reports' for freshwater salmon farms reported since January 2017 totaling 6.6 million dead salmon. Here's the top 10 biggest mortality events for freshwater hatcheries since 2017 with Mowi's 1.5 million morts at Lochailort heading the list of shame:
If you look at mortality in the sea phase of salmon farming production there's been a staggering 1,509 'Mortality Event Reports' since February 2017 (data up to the end of September 2020) totaling 13.2 million (with 200+ events not disclosing/reporting numbers). Here's the top 20 biggest mortality events for sea cage salmon farms since 2017 with Scottish Sea Farms at Snaraness in Shetland heading the list of shame:
If you look just at the data for September 2020, there were 78 'Mortality Event Reports' totaling close to 1 million dead salmon (965,020) - here's the top 10 with mortality rates up to a whopping 43%:
Mortality data for August 2020 was also close to 1 million with 996,329 farmed salmon officially reported as dying due to Pancreas Disease, Anaemia, Cardiomyopathy Syndrome, Gill health, complex gill disease, post treatment mortality, post-physical delicing, Sea lice (Caligus) grazing damage, treatment losses and other issues.
In August 2020, nearly one million (996,329) farmed salmon were reported as dying due to Pancreas Disease, Anaemia, Cardiomyopathy Syndrome, complex gill disease, post treatment mortality, post-physical delicing, Sea lice (Caligus) grazing damage etc https://t.co/jI6ajOUOS9 pic.twitter.com/jFTvCuEQSa
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) October 29, 2020
And expect mortalities in October 2020 to be well over 1 million since it is statistically-speaking the worst month for mortalities accounting for 14% of the year's dead salmon. Scottish Salmon Watch warned in October 2018:
According to Corin Smith at Inside Scottish Salmon Feedlots, mortality rates have increased since data was first published in 2002.
Here's a report from October 2019.
More recent data published by the Scottish Salmon Producers Organisation - which represents the six foreign-owned companies who together account for 99% of 'Scottish' salmon farming production - paints a shocking picture of diseased and dead Scottish salmon with cumulative mortality over the full production cycle as high as 78.3% (i.e. 4 out of 5 salmon are dying in the sea phase of production).
Shocking Scottish Salmon: 78.3% mortality rate reported at Grieg Seafood's Leinish salmon farm on the Isle of Skye - four out of five @rspcaassured fish died a horrible death! @GriegShetland @SSPOsays @onekindtweet https://t.co/a3w08wp8bt@KateForbesMSP @Ianblackford_MP @WHFP1 pic.twitter.com/wzA2j4E6CD
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) November 6, 2020
Here's the worst mortality rates at most of Scotland's salmon farms during July 2020 (not all salmon farming companies - e.g. Kames - are members of the SSPO):
Data published by the SSPO for June 2020 shows lower cumulative mortality but most sites are experiencing mortality rates of well over 10%.
Of the salmon farms harvesting out in May 2020, the cumulative mortality ranged from 5% to 42%:
Of the five salmon farms which harvested out in April 2020 the cumulative mortality ranged from 10% to 31%.
Only four salmon farms were harvested out in March 2020 with cumulative mortality ranging from a high of 39% to a low of 12%:
Cumulative mortality at salmon farms which harvested out in February 2020 ranged from a high of 39% to a low of 8.5%:
Cumulative mortality ranged from a high of 40% and a low of 8% at salmon farms harvested out in January 2020:
There's obviously a range of mortality rates between years, sites and even regions but an industry-average mortality rate in excess of 20% would seem accurate with mortality rates rising over the last decade.
Scottish Salmon pledges "highest standards of animal welfare" https://t.co/gKKOW27Ixh
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) November 10, 2020
Judging by welfare abuse, mass mortalities & infectious diseases plaguing @rspcaassured salmon farms across Scotland the only way is up! @SSPOsays @tavishscott @HamishMacdonell @salmon_scottish pic.twitter.com/dUWtUPmiyt
The 2019 Scottish Fish Farm Production Survey published in October 2020 reported survival rates of 73.8% (i.e. 26.2% mortality) for 2017 (the last year available). Here's the crucial data which can assist in our calculations.
You can see from the above table that data for 2018 and 2019 is not yet published but the survival rate ranges between a low of 71.8% (i.e. 28.2% mortality) in 2007 and a high of 85.4% (i.e. 14.6% mortality) in 2012. The survival rate drastically differs between regions too with survival in in 2017 as low as 58.2% (i.e. 41.8% mortality) in the North West and as high as 80.8% (i.e. 19.2% mortality) in the South West:
From the data published by the Scottish Government in October 2020 we know that anywhere between 38 million and 52 million smolts are put to sea each year so a survival rate of say 75% (i.e. 25% mortality) would therefore equate with between 9.5 million and 13 million morts.
A more simple equation begins with the mortality data that we do possess; namely the 2010-2012 data (published before the Scottish Environment Protection Agency caved into lobbying by the salmon farming industry not to report numbers of mortalities):
And then we take the mortality data (in tonnes) for 2013 to 2019 that has been published:
If 13,627 tonnes of morts equates with 8.5 million farmed salmon (as was the case in 2012) then 25,772 tonnes of morts (as reported in 2019) equates with 16.5 million morts
Or if 9,717 tonnes of morts equates with 6.8 million farmed salmon (as was the case in 2011) then 25,772 tonnes of morts (as reported in 2019) equates with 18 million morts
Or if 7,159 tonnes of morts equates with 5.5 million farmed salmon (as was the case in 2010) then 25,772 tonnes of morts (as reported in 2019) equates with 19.8 million morts
Data for the first six months of 2020 is also published via 'Scotland's Aquaculture' web-site with 9,930 tonnes reported compared to 8,610 tonnes in the first six months of 2019. Here's the top 20 worst salmon farms for morts (up to June 2020):
Since we know mortalities in the second half of the year are significantly higher than in the first half of the year (in 2019 there were 17,162 tonnes of morts in the second half of the year compared to 8,610 tonnes in the first - roughly double) then we could realistically assume there will be perhaps 20,000 tonnes of mortalities in the second half of 2020 with 30,000 tonnes in total. If so, we could expect maybe 24 million mortalities in the seawater phase of salmon farming production in 2020. Video evidence certainly suggests that 2020 is another annus horribilis for Scottish salmon.
Video footage from Kames Fish Farming, photos of a mort pit at The Scottish Salmon Company and recent data from Mowi's Glenfinnan salmon farm it is painfully clear that mass mortalities in freshwater salmon farms are becoming hugely significant.
Dead fish @rspcaassured @salmon_scottish in Loch Damph from 2019 look eerily familiar to the Loch Tralaig morts @kamesfishfarm during 2020. Is this part of the "escalating saprolegniosis outbreaks on salmon farms"? @thefishsite @SSPOsays @scottishaqua https://t.co/xJ0KTr1fUB pic.twitter.com/5v7cvX24gH
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) October 8, 2020
Mowi's ASC-certified salmon farm in Loch Shiel (Glenfinnan) reported over 60,000 mortalities in August 2020.
Scottish Salmon Watch has given it our best shot and invites anyone else to come up with an answer which is until there is full disclosure by salmon farming industry will have to remain guesswork.
Out of 1709 'Mortality Events' published since 2017 there are still 281 cases with missing figures (16%) @salmon_scottish has 106 & @scotseafarms has 140 with numbers not disclosed https://t.co/VWeqgu0zc6
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) November 9, 2020
Why? @marinescotland @SSPOsays @MairiGougeon @FergusEwingMSP @scotgov pic.twitter.com/oSMwgKgCMf
Fishy Figures - why has @kamesfishfarm not reported ANY mass mortalities during 2020 in Loch Tralaig (subject of a welfare abuse investigation @APHAgovuk)? https://t.co/VWeqgu0zc6@marinescotland @GreenerScotland @Feorlean @FergusEwingMSP @strathearnrose @ScottishEPA @SSPOsays pic.twitter.com/5zqAygq8Wx
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) November 9, 2020
Scottish Salmon Watch reckon ca. 20 million farmed salmon die each year in the sea phase of production with another 20 million fish dying each year in hatcheries and freshwater farms. So from hatch to catch (i.e. from import as eggs into the hatchery to harvest out of sea cages for processing to supermarkets) there could be ca. 40 million morts (maybe even 42 million).
If you have a better guesstimate or an inside track on mortality numbers please do meet the maths challenge. You never know - the weight of public pressure may force disclosure!
Would you mind awfully reporting on the number of dead farmed salmon? @marinescotland @ScottishEPA @SSPOsays
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) November 11, 2020
I fully appreciate that disclosure may be 'commercially damaging' but surely the public has a right to know the scale of mortality? @rspcaassuredhttps://t.co/jRQzhheju6 pic.twitter.com/2kPhUGvgL5
Scottish Salmon Watch invites other answers and hopes a Will Hunting or Beth Harmon steps up to the challenge.
Calling all Math geeks, Big Bang nerds & Brainboxes:
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) November 11, 2020
Please help calculate how many salmon die each year on Scotland's disease-ridden farms!
Desperately seeking Will Hunting or Beth Harmon to decipher the conundrum that is #Scottish #salmon
Details via https://t.co/jRQzhgWI5w pic.twitter.com/rp85nlO0ht
Please email Don Staniford via salmonfarmingkills@gmail.com - and remember to show your working and cite your source material.
Note that these mortality figures do not count 'cleaner fish' which are dying in their hundreds of thousands on Scottish salmon farms - but that's another story.........
In the meantime, as Douglas Adams wrote: "So long and thanks for all the fish!"
Read more via:
- Over One Million Morts for Scottish Salmon in September 2020!
- Survival of the Unhealthiest Scottish Salmon - New data reveals shocking mortality rates!
- Disease Breaks Mowi's Heart in Scotland
- Dead in the Water - New Data Reveals Mass Mortalities & Disease on Scottish Salmon Farms
- The Ferret: "Farmed salmon deaths from disease reach record high"
- REVEALED: Over Half a Million Salmon Tortured to Death by De-Licers!
- Mort Update (Jan 2020): 239,333 dead salmon via 30 'Mortality Event Reports'
- The Killing Farms - Scottish Salmon's Horror Story Continues!
- Update: Mass Mortalities Piling Up at Scottish Salmon
- Update: Mortalities & Disease Decimating Scottish Salmon
- Solving Scottish Salmon's Multi-Million Mortality Problem
- Media Backgrounder: Disease-Ridden Scottish Salmon is Dead in the Water
- Scottish Salmon's Mort Mountain Piles Ever Higher in 2019
- Media Backgrounder: Scottish Salmon's Mort Mountain - leaping to record levels in 2018?
- BBC Radio Shetland grills Scottish Salmon Producers on "damning" report
“You can’t help a suffering animal once it’s dead”.https://t.co/eg8coVRiwe
— Salmon Research (@salmonresearch) November 5, 2020
A crime under the Animal Health & Welfare Act 2006, Animals & Wldlife Bill, and Welfare of Farmed Animals 2010.👇@strathearnrose @MairiGougeon @ChrisGPackham @claudiabeamish @markruskell @StaceyDooley pic.twitter.com/Bha0UocQ9Q
11/10/2020
Stornoway Gazette: "Campaign group accuse local salmon farm of welfare issues"
Headline in The Stornoway Gazette: "Campaign group accuse local salmon farm of welfare issues" @Sygazette https://t.co/GTSE0qbODJ
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) November 10, 2020
"It is now surely time for @salmon_scottish to end its operations in Loch Roag” said Andrew Graham-Stewart @SalmonTroutCons @Folketrygdfond @SSPOsays pic.twitter.com/LSQM32nVHH
The Stornoway Gazette reported (10 November 2020):
Read more via:
- Take the Salmon Pledge - please join the boycott against farmed salmon!
- Over One Million Morts for Scottish Salmon in September 2020!
- Survival of the Unhealthiest Scottish Salmon - New data reveals shocking mortality rates!
- "No Unauthorised Access - Keep 15m Away" warn Scottish Salmon Company. Nothing to See Here (Honest)!
- Video Nasty: Death Threat & Assault by Salmon Farmer for Questioning Use of Carcinogenic Chemicals at Kames!
- The Camera Never Lies About Scottish Salmon!
- Welfare Warning for Scottish Salmon - stormy waters & prolonged periods of pain forecast!
- Herald: "Scottish salmon found in ‘sickening’ conditions across Scotland as sea lice problem escalates"
- Video Exposes Welfare Abuse at RSPCA Assured salmon farm sourced by M&S 'Lochmuir'
Photos slipped out last month @marinescotland provide yet more damning evidence of welfare abuse on salmon farms - please boycott Scottish salmon! https://t.co/bp2h3Rylag @salmon_scottish @Try_Lochlander @Folketrygdfond @GreenerScotland @scotgp @coopuk @rspcaassured @SSPCA_Mike pic.twitter.com/Sngg29WYTp
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) November 4, 2020
Scottish Salmon's Vision for "A Better Future For Us All" - WTF?!
Scottish Salmon pledges "highest standards of animal welfare" https://t.co/gKKOW27Ixh
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) November 10, 2020
Judging by welfare abuse, mass mortalities & infectious diseases plaguing @rspcaassured salmon farms across Scotland the only way is up! @SSPOsays @tavishscott @HamishMacdonell @salmon_scottish pic.twitter.com/dUWtUPmiyt
The Scottish Salmon Producers Organisation has unveiled a new vision statement.
Read the SSPO's new report - "A Better Future for Us All" - online here
Watch the SSPO's video promotion online here
The SSPO's five pledges include 'the highest standards of animal welfare':
A claim which does not stand close scrutiny in view of recent video footage of welfare abuse at RSPCA Assured Scottish salmon:
“You can’t help a suffering animal once it’s dead”.https://t.co/eg8coVRiwe
— Salmon Research (@salmonresearch) November 5, 2020
A crime under the Animal Health & Welfare Act 2006, Animals & Wldlife Bill, and Welfare of Farmed Animals 2010.👇@strathearnrose @MairiGougeon @ChrisGPackham @claudiabeamish @markruskell @StaceyDooley pic.twitter.com/Bha0UocQ9Q
Photographic evidence of gruesome farmed salmon - captured by the Scottish Government's Fish Health Inspectorate - does not exactly back up the SSPO's claims of high welfare standards.
RSPCA Assured Mowi Plagued by Mass Mortalities & Infectious Diseases https://t.co/vxZTjE37qA Boycott disease-ridden Scottish salmon treated with antibiotics @MowiScotlandLtd @rspcaassured @sainsburys @LidlGB @AldiUK Enteric Redmouth Disease (Yersiniosis) is like the Black Death! pic.twitter.com/Rry8Y5vFvq
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) May 27, 2020
Photos slipped out last month @marinescotland provide yet more damning evidence of welfare abuse on salmon farms - please boycott Scottish salmon! https://t.co/bp2h3Rylag @salmon_scottish @Try_Lochlander @Folketrygdfond @GreenerScotland @scotgp @coopuk @rspcaassured @SSPCA_Mike pic.twitter.com/Sngg29WYTp
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) November 4, 2020
Ongoing Welfare Abuse on RSPCA Assured Salmon Farms - Why No Prosecutions? https://t.co/MJPgaijAAy @MairiGougeon @APHAgovuk @rspcaassured @kamesfishfarm @MowiScotlandLtd @scotseafarms @salmon_scottish @GriegShetland @Animallawyersuk @onekindtweet @ProfCMDwyer @LynneUSneddon pic.twitter.com/AIQHyRkb0q
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) October 19, 2020
Edie Bowles @Animallawyersuk said the dossier, compiled by Don Staniford, a critic of salmon farming, indicated “systemic and obvious” pain & suffering that could justify legal action against @scotgov @MairiGougeon @SSPOsays https://t.co/ZuzAis8gEr @SundayTimesScot @ciwf @scotgp pic.twitter.com/RPVIAL3KlS
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) February 2, 2020
"Scottish salmon farming stands at a momentous point" says @tavishscott @SSPOsays https://t.co/gKKOW27Ixh
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) November 10, 2020
"We will apply the highest standards of animal welfare" @rspcaassured @sainsburys @salmon_scottish @Tesco @LidlGB @AldiUK @asda @waitrose @SSPCA_Mike
How low can you go? pic.twitter.com/MRivBsU64W
So instead of taking Scottish Salmon's pledge why not join Philip Lymbery, CEO of Compassion In World Farming, and others all over the world in taking the pledge not to eat farmed salmon.
Join Philip Lymbery, CEO of Compassion In World Farming & author of 'Farmageddon', in taking the pledge not to eat farmed salmon! https://t.co/4aHyVQVGGA @philip_ciwf @CIWF_EU @media_ciwf @onekindtweet @rspcaassured @SSPCA_Mike @SSPCA_Kirsteen @LynneUSneddon @Animallawyersuk pic.twitter.com/71XmOo9zAt
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) November 9, 2020
Please take the pledge against farmed salmon! https://t.co/4aHyVQE5i0@TasmanianGreens @envirotas #SalmonPledge pic.twitter.com/W9kTXWF3Dy
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) November 7, 2020
Scottish Salmon's fifth pledge is to "be good neighbours in every way":
Scottish Salmon's pledge to 'Our Communities': "We will be good neighbours in every way, increasing our positive social impact. We’re proud of the part we play in helping our communities thrive" @SSPOsays @tavishscott @HamishMacdonell @FergusEwingMSP https://t.co/gKKOW27Ixh pic.twitter.com/Tf8E4Q7uo5
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) November 10, 2020
Not everyone agrees that salmon farms in Scotland are good neighbours:
Nice to see the toxic #salmon industry bowing to public pressure. Sad to see such little backbone from @scotgov to enforce meaningful regulations. And unsurprising to see the continued ploy of the industry to bribe communities into submission:https://t.co/rfx097MFiF
— SST-T (@ScotSalmonTank) November 10, 2020
In January 2020, Scottish Salmon Watch unveiled their '2020 Vision for Scottish Salmon':
Close down all salmon farms in Scotland by 2025 urge campaigners! https://t.co/bnew0S7trR Read our '2020 Vision for Scottish Salmon' @SSPOsays @FergusEwingMSP @scotgp @strathearnrose @KateForbesMSP @MairiGougeon @GreenerScotland @claudiabeamish @ScotLINK @WWFScotland @ciwf pic.twitter.com/kzbombCAsS
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) January 22, 2020
Salmon farming lobbyists & apologists meet today "to develop a 'blueprint' for the industry" https://t.co/bnew0S7trR As an antidote read our '2020 Vision for Scottish Salmon'. Open your eyes! @SSPOsays @ScottishEPA @nature_scot @scotgp @AST_Salmon @fms_scotland @marinescotland pic.twitter.com/BkYPjPDdJQ
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) January 23, 2020
Read more via:
- The Devil is in the Data - why no published figures on use of toxic chemicals via wellboats?
- Take the Salmon Pledge - please join the boycott against farmed salmon!
- Over One Million Morts for Scottish Salmon in September 2020!
- Survival of the Unhealthiest Scottish Salmon - New data reveals shocking mortality rates!
- "No Unauthorised Access - Keep 15m Away" warn Scottish Salmon Company. Nothing to See Here (Honest)!
- Video Nasty: Death Threat & Assault by Salmon Farmer for Questioning Use of Carcinogenic Chemicals at Kames!
- "The Right to Privacy"
- Scottish Sea Farms Seek Removal of Photos of Former Employees
And we'll scream and shout and yell at us if you get too close - we might even hit you and report you to @FergusEwingMSP. The salmon industry talks utter shite about everything, apart from their own utter shite. https://t.co/TvSUKGuPq1
— Niall McKillop (@Badabrach) November 10, 2020
Scottish Salmon's foresight team set out their vision for "a green & sustainable future" https://t.co/zS0JDSIsFt@tavishscott @HamishMacdonell @SSPOsays
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) November 10, 2020
"We will work continuously to minimise our impact & ensure a healthy environment" https://t.co/gKKOW27Ixh pic.twitter.com/dZyRnGOzAl
“We already have an incredibly good environmental story to tell" claims @tavishscott @SSPOsays
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) November 10, 2020
Oops - above his quote @heraldscotland is a link to a news article headlined: "Salmon farm creates 'serious threat' to life in a protected Scottish sea zone"https://t.co/WYZFDOKicO pic.twitter.com/shaxtrIe6I
SEPA: "Regulation of Fish Farms Streamlined" - err isn't streamline a euphemism for 'reduce to the bare bones'?
Isn't "streamlining" a euphemism for 'scaling back' and 'reducing to the bare bones'?https://t.co/xHNLUqPp80 pic.twitter.com/bhbAG07wZl
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) November 10, 2020
The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) reported yesterday (9 November 2020):
SEPA takes on new powers to regulate chemical treatment residues from wellboats, adding to existing regulation of in-pen treatments, streamlining regulation and making it easier to ensure discharges meet environmental standards.
— Scottish Environment Protection Agency (@ScottishEPA) November 9, 2020
Read more 👉 https://t.co/dRlY0KfE0K pic.twitter.com/kS9J3AlI99
Immediately alarm bells have started ringing with the suspicion that "streamlining" is a euphemism for 'scaling back' and 'reducing to the bare bones' of an already leaky regulatory net for Scottish salmon farming.
New @ScottishEPA regulation!
— Salmon Research (@salmonresearch) November 9, 2020
Complete this statement:
“Transfer of powers streamlines regulation and makes it easier to ensure combined discharges from fish farms and wellboats are........ pic.twitter.com/I7O5npfKNS
Fish Farmer magazine reported (9 November 2020) on the "streamlined regulation":
Scottish Salmon Watch warns that the devil is in the details and in the data!
The Devil is in the Data - why no published figures on the use of the toxic chemicals Azamethiphos, Deltamethrin, Hydrogen Peroxide & Imidacloprid via wellboats? @ScottishEPA @marinescotland @nature_scot @salmon_scottish @FergusEwingMSP @SSPOsays @scotgp https://t.co/ylOo17mBul pic.twitter.com/CDPHpSfBTX
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) November 10, 2020
SEPA's press release (9 November 2020) details:
Scottish Salmon Watch has previously expressed concern that the transfer of regulatory powers from Marine Scotland to SEPA has already resulted in more and more toxic chemicals slipping through the net.
Has @marinescotland opened the floodgates to licences to use the toxic chemicals Deltamethrin, Azamethiphos & Hydrogen Peroxide via wellboats at salmon farms before transfer of regulatory powers? @ScottishEPA https://t.co/JuFmxAsS8m @SSPOsays @SP_ECCLR #Toxic #Scottish #Salmon pic.twitter.com/VaDAgVWDJG
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) September 4, 2020
Well well well - the transfer of regulation for discharges of toxic chemicals from wellboats is laid before @ScotParl with @ScottishEPA taking over from @marinescotland in November subject to debate @SP_ECCLR https://t.co/CsksyKYtJj #Deltamethrin #Azamethiphos #HydrogenPeroxide pic.twitter.com/fX3NvhuGZ4
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) September 4, 2020
A press release issued by Scottish Salmon Watch in September 2020 included:
Why is Scottish Pollutant Release Inventory data on use of Azamethiphos & Deltamethrin via well boats still not published for 2019 when data on use of toxic chemicals via salmon farms is now available up to March 2020 via Scotland's Aquaculture? @ScottishEPA @marinescotland pic.twitter.com/8wrMq7yTkR
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) July 2, 2020
In August 2020, a fire on a well boat killed tens of thousands of farmed salmon (the operator Scottish Sea Farms has refused to disclose exact numbers).
Mass mortality at Scottish Sea Farms in Shetland: "A fire in wellboat engine room caused a total power failure resulting in no oxygen supply to fish held in the well. All fish held on the vessel died" @scotseafarms @marinescotland https://t.co/jI6ajOUOS9 @Shetnews @bbcshetland pic.twitter.com/2a3BHSnMDQ
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) October 29, 2020
All 32 Tonnes of baby salmon now confirmed dead after wellboat fire in August.
— Salmon Research (@salmonresearch) November 9, 2020
“All mortalities were taken to a local incinerator for disposal”:@FergusEwingMSP @Feorlean @MairiGougeon @strathearnrose https://t.co/6wtXfH2mPw
The licensing of wellboat discharges has attracted considerable attention during 2020 with Marine Scotland issuing dozens of 'Temporary Marine Licence Variations' to salmon farming companies.
The 'temporary' changes included 'Covid-19 Wellboat Variations':
Read more via "Under the Cloak of Coronavirus: SEPA open the floodgates to lobster-killing chemicals!"
The @SSPOsays, @ScottishEPA, @marinescotland and salmon farmers have been working on ways to keep salmon alive during COVID-19 with "due regard to the environment"🙄
— Salmon Research (@salmonresearch) April 8, 2020
Their answer, as always:
JUST PUMP MORE CHEMICALS INTO THE SEA!! https://t.co/p2UYcChQA8
It appears that salmon farming companies such as Mowi (Scotland's largest salmon farming company) were subject of temporary marine licence variations on 8 April, 16 April and 3 July 2020:
In July 2020, Marine Scotland published 'Temporary Marine Licence Variations' for salmon farming companies at salmon farms across Scotland:
A temporary marine licence variation for Mowi dated 3 July 2020 included:
The 'Schedule to Notification of Variation' dated 3 July 2020 included the statement that: "the Licensee must provide evidence to the Licensing Authority that plumes from wellboats at fish farm sites will not reach an active shellfish farm":
The document links to the NMPI map:
The 'Schedule to Notification of Variation' dated 3 July 2020 also included a list of shellfish farms:
Read list of shellfish farms in full online here
"Licensee must provide evidence that plumes from wellboats at fish farm sites will not reach an active shellfish farm" @marinescotland https://t.co/xHNLUqPp80
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) November 10, 2020
What about toxicity of Azamethiphos, Deltamethrin & Hydrogen Peroxide on creels, wild lobsters, scallops etc? @CreelScff pic.twitter.com/8GjBG2WOSS
In April 2020, Marine Scotland published further 'Temporary Marine Licence Variations' for salmon farming companies at salmon farms across Scotland
A temporary marine licence variation for Mowi dated 8 April 2020 included:
The temporary marine licence variation dated 8 April 2020 stated that: "This variation does not apply to licences for wellboat dishcarges at fish farm sites within 2.5 km of sites where there is growing for production taking place shellfish harvesting areas":
The document linked to a web-page at Food Standards Scotland:
Including:
The temporary marine licence variation dated 8 April 2020 ended by stating that "Licensees must provide confirmation that there is no growing of shellfish for production taking place within 2.5 km of the site at any shellfish harvesting areas":
In April 2020, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency opened the floodgates further to the use of toxic chemicals.
Under the Cloak of #Coronavirus - SEPA open floodgates to lobster-killing chemicals! https://t.co/6AgXQXNlS2 @ScottishEPA Emamectin benzoate is so toxic to shellfish it should be banned not used at higher concentrations & at unlicensed sites @TerryAHearn @SSPOsays @marinescotland pic.twitter.com/4PVFfGl1NU
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) April 9, 2020
The Ferret reported (12 April 2020):
The Ferret has reported on the scandal dubbed 'Slicegate' since 2017:
A scientific paper published in September 2020 detailed environmental risks of Azamethiphos and Deltamethrin (toxic chemicals used via wellboats and on the farm via tarpaulins):
In other words:
In view of the toxicity of chemicals used on salmon farms to kill sea lice, the proposal to farm lobsters alongside farmed salmon seems lethal!
Read the full study published in Aquaculture Environment Interactions via: European lobsters utilise Atlantic salmon wastes in coastal integrated multi-trophic aquaculture systems
Read more via:
The Devil is in the Data - why no published figures on use of toxic chemicals via wellboats?
Imidacloprid Use in Scottish Salmon Farming?
Closing the Net on Salmon Farming's Use of Toxic Chemicals
Secret Salmon - On the Trail of Imidacloprid Use in Scotland!
Public Register of Toxic Chemicals Used in Scottish Salmon Farming?
Petition: "Stop Toxic Salmon Farm Chemicals Polluting Scottish Lochs"
Sunday Times: "Outlawed insecticide may be used on Scottish salmon"
Anyone for ASC-Certified Scottish Salmon Doused in Carcinogenic Formaldehyde?
Secret Trials: 'Royal' Salmon Doused with Bee-Killing Insecticide Imidacloprid?
More toxic pesticides to be used by salmon farmers
Under the Cloak of Coronavirus: SEPA open the floodgates to lobster-killing chemicals!
The Ferret: "Fish farm companies ‘bidding to use bee-harming pesticide’"
Revealed: Toxic Neonicotinoid Insecticide Used to 'CleanTreat' Lousy Salmon
Media Backgrounder: Chemically Embalmed Scottish Farmed Salmon
Cleaning Tox-Sick Scottish Salmon
Salmon farming giant Mowi probed over chemical use
Fish farming industry bids to relax limits on toxic pesticide
All is Not Well With Sick Scottish Salmon - unreported use of toxic chemicals via wellboats slips net
The Scottish Environment Pollution Agency - SEPA permits salmon farming to slip net
How the Scottish Government ‘nuanced’ away fish farm pesticide ban
Pesticide report suppressed after freedom of information warning
Scottish Government under fire for helping block pesticide ban
Revealed: secret role of US drug company in fish farm pesticide row
Ban on polluting pesticide dropped after complaint from fish farmers
Mapped: the 45 lochs polluted by fish farm pesticides
Salmon farming in crisis: 'We are seeing a chemical arms race in the seas'
The Sunday Times: "Salmon industry toxins soar by 1000 per cent"
Scottish Salmon's Lethal Legacy - Ten-fold Increase in Toxic Chemical Use in Ten Years
Scientific Backgrounder: Ecotoxicity & Chemical Resistance
Media Backgrounder: Scotland's 'Silent Spring' of the Sea
Daily Mail: "The toxic chemicals in farmed salmon straight from the loch"
Scottish Salmon Overdoses on Toxic Chemical
Scottish fish farmers use record amounts of parasite pesticides
Chemicals to control salmon parasites
Toxic Scottish Salmon - here's an application @salmon_scottish for use of the shellfish-killing chemicals Azamethiphos, Cypermethrin, Deltamethrin & Hydrogen Peroxide in Loch Carron https://t.co/iFEmKlykHc @marinescotland There's a fleet of wellboats to discharge toxic chemicals pic.twitter.com/rL1ONq507d
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) June 26, 2020
Track & trace which salmon farms are applying to discharge toxic chemicals such as Azamethiphos, Cypermethrin, Deltamethrin & Hydrogen Peroxide via https://t.co/vhQm1AgnYf @marinescotland @MowiScotlandLtd @GriegShetland @scotseafarms @salmon_scottish @SSPOsays @FergusEwingMSP pic.twitter.com/ZrbDBkBbdb
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) June 26, 2020
Read the dirt on 'Cleaning Tox-Sick Scottish Salmon' https://t.co/kaJhjYXHNi @WeAreBenchmark @FergusEwingMSP @SSPOsays @MowiScotlandLtd @ScottishEPA @marinescotland @scotgov @salmon_scottish @vmdgovuk @fishfarmermag @IntraFishNorge @undercur @salmonfarming1 @Salmon_Business pic.twitter.com/bDeAQvF4aj
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) December 29, 2019
Press Release: "The Scottish Environment Pollution Agency - SEPA Permits Salmon Farming to Slip Net" https://t.co/fnzDlnLnPq @scotgp @SSPOsays @fms_scotland @ScotSalmonTank @robedwards53 @MWilliamsHT @ScottishEPA @joe_crowley @ewangkennedy @coastchair @RussCheshire @Badabrach pic.twitter.com/Bvsmuxjc1N
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) April 17, 2018
The Devil is in the Data - why no published figures on use of toxic chemicals via wellboats?
The Devil is in the Data - why no published figures on the use of the toxic chemicals Azamethiphos, Deltamethrin, Hydrogen Peroxide & Imidacloprid via wellboats? @ScottishEPA @marinescotland @nature_scot @salmon_scottish @FergusEwingMSP @SSPOsays @scotgp https://t.co/ylOo17mBul pic.twitter.com/CDPHpSfBTX
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) November 10, 2020
Information disclosed by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) on 9 October 2020 sheds a little more light on the use of toxic chemicals via well boats but the waters are still exceedingly murky with a lack of published data in 2019 and 2020.
Scottish Salmon Watch has asked SEPA and Marine Scotland why data on the use of toxic chemicals such as Azamethiphos, Deltamethrin, Hydrogen Peroxide and Imidacloprid via well boats is not publicly available.
During "streamlining" will you please publish data on the use of Azamethiphos, Deltamethrin, Hydrogen Peroxide & Imidacloprid via wellboats? Data for use on salmon farms is published up to July 2020 but wellboat data is still not available for 2019! https://t.co/ylOo17mBul pic.twitter.com/Pfq9fGygWd
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) November 10, 2020
The devil is in the data - and data on the use of toxic chemicals via wellboats is still lacking in full for 2019 and 2020 (even though toxic chemical use on salmon farms is already publicly available for the first six months of 2020). Data for 2018 and previous years is hidden away by SEPA and the Scottish Government with data on the use of Hydrogen Peroxide and the neonicotinoid Imidacloprid (which may have been trialled in Scotland in 2019 and 2020) is locked away behind Freedom of Information refusals.
Scotland's Aquaculture web-site is an excellent resource but data on the use of toxic chemicals via wellboats is not available.
Click on 'Fish Farm Monthly Biomass and Treatments' are you will read the devil in the detail - "This dataset does not include treatments carried out on wellboats. The full annual SPRI data returns inclusive of wellboat information can be found here":
Click on SEPA's Scottish Pollutant Release Inventory (SPRI) and you will discover that the little devils have still not disclosed all data for 2019 let alone 2020.
For example, if you search for the use of 'Azamethiphos' (a lobster-killing organophosphate) in 2019 you will find a series of salmon farms where data is N/A (Not Available):
If you search for the use of 'Deltamethrin' (another lobster-killing chemical) in 2019 you will find a series of salmon farms where data is N/A (Not Available):
At least data on the use of Azamethiphos and Deltamethrin is publicly available (even if the use via wellboats and use on salmon farms is not differentiated) - there exists no data on the use of Hydrogen Peroxide by salmon farms even though we know via FOI requests that use of this toxic chemical (shown by peer-reviewed science to impact on marine life including shellfish and seaweed) has sky-rocketed over the last decade.
SEPA's FOI disclosure (F0192092) detailed use of the toxic chemical Azamethiphos via wellboats during 2018 - here's the Top 10 biggest users of this toxic organophosphate:
Deltamethrin - a toxic chemical shown by a recent scientific paper to be "a significant risk to lobster larvae living near fish farms" - was used by the following sites in 2018 via wellboats.
SEPA's FOI disclosure (F0192092) also included:
Further information was disclosed in November 2019 by the Scottish Government via FOI-19-02442 - including well boat data disclosed via Dropbox:
Read more via:
Closing the Net on Salmon Farming's Use of Toxic Chemicals
Read press release and media backgrounder in full as a PDF online here
More via:
Download FOI review request to SG via wellboats 31 Aug 2020 refusal 2 Sept 2020
Addendum:
From: FOI Helpdesk <FOI.Mail@sepa.org.uk>
Date: Friday, October 9, 2020
Subject: SEPA Response - [F:0192092]
To: Salmonfarmingkills@gmail.com, foi@sepa.org.uk
If you are not satisfied with our response below, you have 40 working days from the date of this letter to request a formal review from SEPA at:
Access to Information
SEPA
Strathallan House
Castle Business Park
Stirling
FK9 4TZ
Email: foi@sepa.org.uk
If you are still not satisfied, you can appeal to the Scottish Information Commissioner.
www.itspublicknowledge.info/ap
Your unique reference number is F0192092. Please quote this in any future contact with us about your request.
Date: Tue, Oct 20, 2020 at 1:47 PM
Subject: Re: SEPA Response - [F:0192092]
To: FOI Helpdesk <FOI.Mail@sepa.org.uk>
From: Access to Information Enquiries <FOI.Mail@sepa.org.uk>
Date: Mon, Oct 26, 2020 at 4:15 PM
Subject: SEPA Response - [F:0192092]
To: Don Staniford <salmonfarmingkills@gmail.com>
Cc: Access to Information Enquiries <FOI.Mail@sepa.org.uk>
Thank you for your email relating to your recent request F0192092.
We passed your query to the relevant team who advise
The spreadsheet "Wellboats - Treatments 2018" was sent to SEPA by Marine Scotland.
SEPA extract the quantities of azamethiphos and deltamethrin, for the SPRI team.
SEPA created the spreadsheet “MCFF-Wellboat Treatments 2018”.
Salmosan is 50% azamethiphos so the 1.2kg of Salmosan in the "Wellboats - Treatments 2018" sheet equates to 0.6kg azamethiphos in the “MCFF-Wellboat Treatments 2018” sheet.
Grieg’s entry on the "Wellboats - Treatments 2018” totals 34640g of Salmosan. This equates to the 17.32kg entered for Grieg’s azamethiphos use in the “MCFF-Wellboat Treatments 2018” sheet.
We hope this is helpful
If you are not satisfied with our response previously provided for F0192092 you can request a formal review from SEPA at:
Access to Information
SEPA
Strathallan House
Castle Business Park
Stirling
FK9 4TZ
Email: foi@sepa.org.uk
If you are still not satisfied, you can appeal to the Scottish Information Commissioner.
www.itspublicknowledge.info/appeal
Your unique reference number is F0192092. Please quote this in any future contact with us about your request.
Regards
Cara Everitt
SEPA Access to Information team
Email: foi@sepa.org.uk
Tel: 01786 457700
Date: Thu, Oct 29, 2020 at 11:21 AM
Subject: FOI re. well boat use of chemicals by salmon farms in 2018, 2019 & 2020
To: <ceu@scotland.gsi.gov.uk>
Ask @ScottishEPA - or wait until 2022 for the data to be publicly posted via the Scottish Pollutant Release Inventory https://t.co/9hw8m1o4Wy
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) November 5, 2020
Some chemical data is posted online but not well boat use https://t.co/GlePzttr2G @marinescotland
11/09/2020
Take the Salmon Pledge - please join the boycott against farmed salmon!
Please take the pledge against farmed salmon! https://t.co/4aHyVQE5i0@TasmanianGreens @envirotas #SalmonPledge pic.twitter.com/W9kTXWF3Dy
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) November 7, 2020
Join Philip Lymbery, CEO of Compassion In World Farming & author of 'Farmageddon', in taking the pledge not to eat farmed salmon! https://t.co/4aHyVQVGGA @philip_ciwf @CIWF_EU @media_ciwf @onekindtweet @rspcaassured @SSPCA_Mike @SSPCA_Kirsteen @LynneUSneddon @Animallawyersuk pic.twitter.com/71XmOo9zAt
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) November 9, 2020
Please take the pledge not to eat farmed salmon!
Find out more reasons to boycott farmed salmon online here
Read more via:
Salmon Pledge Goes Wild Around the World!
5 shocking reasons not to buy farmed salmon
25 Reasons to Boycott Scottish Salmon
Over One Million Morts for Scottish Salmon in September 2020!
Over 1 Million dead salmon in September 2020! https://t.co/VWeqgu0zc6
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) November 9, 2020
Diseased Scottish salmon is piling up higher than Ben Nevis (Scotland's highest mountain)!@rspcaassured @salmon_scottish @LeroySeafood @GreenerScotland @scotgp @onekindtweet @ciwf @ProfCMDwyer @PETAUK pic.twitter.com/o0DqbHWApz
Data published by the Scottish Government on Friday (6 November 2020) details mass mortalities on salmon farms in Scotland up to the end of September 2020 and the dead bodies are piling up higher than Ben Nevis (Scotland's highest mountain)!
During the month of September 2020 there were 89 'Mortality Event Reports' totaling 1.1 million dead farmed salmon submitted by salmon farming companies in Scotland (note that just 6 companies - all foreign owned/controlled - account for 99% of 'Scottish' salmon farming production).
Since January 2017 from when the data is available a staggering 1,709 'Mortality Event Reports' have been submitted by salmon farming companies totaling 19.8 million dead farmed salmon (with 281 cases where numbers have still not been provided/disclosed or are listed as To Be Confirmed) dying from Amoebic Gill Disease, Proliferative Gill Disease, Fungus, Pancreas Disease, Cardiomyopathy Syndrome, Anaemia and other reasons.
Of the 89 'Mortality Event Reports' for September 2020 (6 cases have still to provide/disclose numbers), here's the worst 10 incidents headed by The Scottish Salmon Company with 83,413 dead salmon in Loch Langavat due to Fungus (with the fish treated with the carcinogenic chemical Formalin/Formaldehyde) closely followed by Grieg Seafood at Leinish in Loch Dunvegan on the Isle of Skye with 81,247 morts (both Loch Langavat and Leinish have multiple entries):
The disease-ridden Scottish Salmon Company accounted for 496,505 morts in September 2020 followed by Grieg Seafood with 318,600 morts, Mowi with 236,086 morts and Loch Duart with 35,556 (Scottish Sea Farms reported 6 mortality events in September 2020 but did not provide numbers with Cooke and RSPCA Assured Kames not reporting at all). Video footage of mass mortalities at Grieg Seafood on the Isle of Skye in September 2020 and at Mowi's Loch Torridon salmon farm in September 2020 graphically illustrates the shocking number of dead salmon:
It is unclear why Kames Fish Farming has not officially reported mass mortalities to the Scottish Government for September 2020 when video footage suggests welfare abuse and significant mortalities (the Scottish Environment Protection Agency has rated Kames as 'Poor' for non-compliance in terms of recording and reporting of toxic chemicals so perhaps it is standard practice for Kames not to fully disclose mass mortalities).
Fishy Figures - why has @kamesfishfarm not reported ANY mass mortalities during 2020 in Loch Tralaig (subject of a welfare abuse investigation @APHAgovuk)? https://t.co/VWeqgu0zc6@marinescotland @GreenerScotland @Feorlean @FergusEwingMSP @strathearnrose @ScottishEPA @SSPOsays pic.twitter.com/5zqAygq8Wx
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) November 9, 2020
Video footage and photos published by Corin Smith in October 2020 suggest that October could be even worse than September for mass mortalities on Scottish salmon farms.
“You can’t help a suffering animal once it’s dead”.https://t.co/eg8coVRiwe
— Salmon Research (@salmonresearch) November 5, 2020
A crime under the Animal Health & Welfare Act 2006, Animals & Wldlife Bill, and Welfare of Farmed Animals 2010.👇@strathearnrose @MairiGougeon @ChrisGPackham @claudiabeamish @markruskell @StaceyDooley pic.twitter.com/Bha0UocQ9Q
Remember that the 'Mortality Event Reports' published by the Scottish Government's Fish Health Inspectorate on a monthly basis only relate to mass mortality events and therefore do not capture all dead salmon.
Scottish Salmon Watch has written to the Scottish Government to explain why so many cases (281) still have incomplete data - including 'Mortality Events' with huge mortality rates (the first case at Loch Spelve - Scottish Sea Farms - details a cull of 199,124 and 177,588 morts but does not give a figure for total mortality).
Loch Duart has 9 mortality events with numbers not provided; Cooke has 4; Kames Fish Farming only two and Grieg Seafood only one. However, Mowi/Marine Harvest has 23 mortality events with numbers not provided; The Scottish Salmon Company has 106 events with missing numbers and Scottish Sea Farms has a staggering 140 mortality events with numbers not provided.
Out of 1709 'Mortality Events' published since 2017 there are still 281 cases with missing figures (16%) @salmon_scottish has 106 & @scotseafarms has 140 with numbers not disclosed https://t.co/VWeqgu0zc6
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) November 9, 2020
Why? @marinescotland @SSPOsays @MairiGougeon @FergusEwingMSP @scotgov pic.twitter.com/oSMwgKgCMf
In 2013, lobbying from the Scottish salmon farming industry stopped data on numbers of mortalities being reported publicly as it was deemed "commercially damaging".
If you're looking for data on numbers of @rspcaassured dead farmed salmon in Scotland they don't exist - in 2013 @SSPOsays lobbied @ScottishEPA not to disclose mortalities as it was deemed commercially damaging! https://t.co/cDEyvS04dO @strathearnrose @salmon_scottish @scotgp pic.twitter.com/FICRbrpGXJ
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) September 2, 2020
Read more via:
- Survival of the Unhealthiest Scottish Salmon - New data reveals shocking mortality rates!
- Disease Breaks Mowi's Heart in Scotland
- Dead in the Water - New Data Reveals Mass Mortalities & Disease on Scottish Salmon Farms
- The Ferret: "Farmed salmon deaths from disease reach record high"
- REVEALED: Over Half a Million Salmon Tortured to Death by De-Licers!
- Mort Update (Jan 2020): 239,333 dead salmon via 30 'Mortality Event Reports'
- The Killing Farms - Scottish Salmon's Horror Story Continues!
- Update: Mass Mortalities Piling Up at Scottish Salmon
- Update: Mortalities & Disease Decimating Scottish Salmon
- Solving Scottish Salmon's Multi-Million Mortality Problem
- Media Backgrounder: Disease-Ridden Scottish Salmon is Dead in the Water
- Scottish Salmon's Mort Mountain Piles Ever Higher in 2019
- Media Backgrounder: Scottish Salmon's Mort Mountain - leaping to record levels in 2018?
- BBC Radio Shetland grills Scottish Salmon Producers on "damning" report
It begs the question: are the surviving fish fit for human consumption?
— Salmon Social Distancer (@Salmoncon) November 9, 2020
Maybe @scotfoodjames @JulieHL @tavishscott @Feorlean @FSScot could answer this before the public find out? https://t.co/D2UTjS5Z6h
Addendum:
Date: Mon, Nov 9, 2020 at 9:54 AM
Subject: FOI re. mortaltities at Loch Tralaig (Kames Fish Farming) since 1 January 2017
To: <ceu@scotland.gsi.gov.uk>
Date: Mon, Nov 9, 2020 at 11:18 AM
Subject: Missing mortality numbers for Scottish salmon?
To: <directormarinescotland@gov.scot>, <scottish.ministers@gov.scot>, Beamish C (Claudia), MSP <Claudia.Beamish.msp@parliament.scot>, Ruskell M (Mark), MSP <Mark.Ruskell.msp@parliament.scot>, Gougeon M (Mairi), MSP <Mairi.Gougeon.msp@parliament.scot>, MSP <Roseanna.Cunningham.msp@parliament.scot>, MSP <Gillian.Martin.msp@parliament.scot>, MSP <Alex.Rowley.msp@parliament.scot>
Please look at the data yourself but by our calculation 281 cases reported since January 2017 still have incomplete data - including 'Mortality Events' with huge mortality rates. The first case cited below (Loch Spelve, Scottish Sea Farms) details in 'Action taken by FHI' a cull of 199,124 and 177,588 morts but does not give a figure for total mortality. Other cases provide zero information at all on numbers:
Of the 1709 'Mortality Event Reports' published since 1 January 2017 there are still 281 cases with missing figures - that's 16% of cases where numbers are not provided, not disclosed or are to be confirmed.
Scottish Salmon Watch fully recognises that the 'Mortality Event Reports' published by the Scottish Government's Fish Health Inspectorate on a monthly basis only relate to mass mortality events and therefore do not capture all dead salmon.
However, it appears that some companies are routinely providing less information than others. According to the data published on Friday 6 November 2020 by the Scottish Government, Mowi/Marine Harvest has 23 mortality events with numbers not provided; The Scottish Salmon Company has 106 events with missing numbers and Scottish Sea Farms has a staggering 140 mortality events with numbers not provided. At the other end of the spectrum, Loch Duart has 9 mortality events with numbers not provided; Cooke has 4; Kames Fish Farming only two and Grieg Seafood only one.
This could be explained away as merely a function of the size of the company (i.e. smaller companies will obviously report less) but there does seem to be a culture of non-disclosure at Scottish Sea Farms and The Scottish Salmon Company (smaller companies than Mowi for instance).
Would it be possible for the Scottish Government to chase up the missing numbers (especially in relation to Scottish Sea Farms and The Scottish Salmon Company)?
It was only in February 2018 via the Scottish Parliament's salmon farming inquiry that the SSPO pledged to publish reports on mortalities. Read via: Holyrood: "Salmon producers agree to publish reports on fish deaths"
Surely it is important for transparency and public disclosure for the data published by the Scottish Government to be accurate and complete?
Scottish Salmon Watch appreciates that salmon farming companies may not always know with 100% certainty the exact number of morts but if 15% of their stock is dying, for example, then surely they have a rough indication of their losses (I am sure they are duty-bound to report such financial losses to their shareholders and the Norwegian stock exchange)?
The issue of mass mortalities on salmon farms is an ongoing one which Scottish Salmon Watch is focusing on - more details via:
Over One Million Morts for Scottish Salmon in September 2020!
Survival of the Unhealthiest Scottish Salmon - New data reveals shocking mortality rates!
Yours sincerely,
Don Staniford
Director, Scottish Salmon Watch
11/06/2020
Survival of the Unhealthiest Scottish Salmon - New data reveals shocking mortality rates!
Shocking Scottish Salmon: 78.3% mortality rate reported at Grieg Seafood's Leinish salmon farm on the Isle of Skye - four out of five @rspcaassured fish died a horrible death! @GriegShetland @SSPOsays @onekindtweet https://t.co/a3w08wp8bt@KateForbesMSP @Ianblackford_MP @WHFP1 pic.twitter.com/wzA2j4E6CD
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) November 6, 2020
Data published by the Scottish Salmon Producers Organisation - which represents the six foreign-owned companies who together account for 99% of 'Scottish' salmon farming production - paints a shocking picture of diseased and dead Scottish salmon with a staggering 78.3% mortality at Grieg Seafood's Leinish salmon farm in Loch Dunvegan on the Isle of Skye.
Watch gruesome video footage of mortalities at Grieg Seafood's disease-ridden operations in Loch Dunvegan on the Isle of Skye:
Here's the worst mortality rates at most of Scotland's salmon farms during July 2020 (not all salmon farming companies - e.g. Kames - are members of the SSPO):
Data on the number of mortalities on Scottish salmon farms has not been published since 2012 following lobbying by the SSPO who argued that disclosure would be "commercially damaging".
If you're looking for data on numbers of @rspcaassured dead farmed salmon in Scotland they don't exist - in 2013 @SSPOsays lobbied @ScottishEPA not to disclose mortalities as it was deemed commercially damaging! https://t.co/cDEyvS04dO @strathearnrose @salmon_scottish @scotgp pic.twitter.com/FICRbrpGXJ
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) September 2, 2020
The Sunday Herald reported in October 2013:
Read more via:
The Camera Never Lies About Scottish Salmon!
Disease Breaks Mowi's Heart in Scotland
Dead in the Water - New Data Reveals Mass Mortalities & Disease on Scottish Salmon Farms
Skye's the Limit for Disease-Ridden Scottish Salmon!
Disease & Mortalities Plague Scottish Salmon
Grieg Seafood reports Heart & Skeletal Muscle Inflammation (Piscine Reovirus) in Loch Dunvegan on Skye https://t.co/JQz2K2rsoL @GriegShetland @SSPOsays @marinescotland @APHAgovuk @IainNaHoe @WHFP1 @ScotSalmonTank @KateForbesMSP https://t.co/jDOzHQZvkB @FergusEwingMSP @scotgp pic.twitter.com/7yQPhqifS4
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) September 21, 2020
RSPCA Assured Mowi tops the mortality charts with a 17.4% monthly death rate in July at Stulaigh in Loch Eynort & 28.7% overall mortality in Loch Greshornish on Skye https://t.co/a3w08wp8bt @SSPOsays @MowiScotlandLtd @GriegShetland @salmon_scottish @rspcaassured @KateForbesMSP pic.twitter.com/wWrVYNxUrS
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) September 2, 2020
"No Unauthorised Access - Keep 15m Away" warn Scottish Salmon Company. Nothing to See Here (Honest)!
Scottish salmon farms warn the public to keep 15 metres away but the public have an inalienable right to navigate the public waters where salmon farms operate*. Scottish Salmon Watch honestly believes that it is in the public interest to expose ongoing welfare abuse including breaches of the Animal Health & Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006.
"No Unauthorised Access - Keep 15m Away" warn The Scottish Salmon Company. Nothing to See Here (Honest)! https://t.co/MI8Ui8POaf@salmon_scottish @Folketrygdfond pic.twitter.com/ZUD7Cnaywb
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) November 6, 2020
When salmon farming companies claim to operate in a "biosecure" manner it ignores the fact that virus-laden farmed salmon imported as eggs (ova) from overseas is slipping untested into Scottish waters. If the Scottish Government and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency will not close the net then 'Citizen Science' and secret filming with Go Pro cameras can hopefully expose the scale of disease-ridden salmon farming.
Mr Staniford, an award-winning campaigner & author, hailed it as ‘watershed victory’. "Police Scotland has effectively reinforced the legality of filming at salmon farms. Salmon farms cannot keep the public out of public waters" https://t.co/Uenouv8FBV @obantimes @policescotland
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) October 19, 2020
When Scottish Salmon Watch visited The Scottish Salmon Company's disease-ridden salmon farm at Quarry Point in Loch Fyne on 8 September 2020 we found dead salmon floating on the surface of one of the cages.
The dead salmon contrasts with the glossy marketing by the Faroese/Norwegian-owned Scottish Salmon Company (previously controlled by a Ukrainian banker via an anonymous bank account registered at the Swiss stock exchange).
Earlier that week, Scottish Salmon Watch saw workers at The Scottish Salmon Company's nearby salmon farm at Ardcastle collecting dead salmon floating on the surface of the cages (you can see a worker inside the cage in a green boat fishing out morts).
When Scottish Salmon Watch asked workers for disease details of the dead salmon at Quarry Point they ignored the question and turned their back on the welfare of their stock.
During filming at Quarry Point salmon farm in September 2020, Scottish Salmon Watch recorded the constant noise pollution of Acoustic Deterrent Devices - believed to be in breach of European law and shown by peer-reviewed science to impact on cetaceans.
Surely someone on inside track at @marinescotland & @nature_scot has the bottle to affirm to @GreenerScotland @NicolaSturgeon @strathearnrose that unlicensed use of ADDs in aquaculture is contrary to European Protected Species legislation and completely immoral? pic.twitter.com/yfQQZhjaI8
— david nairn (@ClydePorpoise) October 12, 2020
When salmon farming companies warn the public to stay away from their feedlots it is difficult not to have an unhealthy degree of scepticism.
The manner in which salmon farming companies have desperately tried to prevent filming and sampling near salmon farms is comical.
And deadly serious in equal measure.
Caught on Camera - Mowi's Reckless Breaches of Health & Safety in Loch Alsh! https://t.co/0nvWGe0MkQ Complaint vs @MowiScotlandLtd filed with @H_S_E & @MCA_media Who's policing salmon farms? @policescotland @marinescotland @APHAgovuk @CrownEstateScot @ScottishEPA @HumzaYousaf pic.twitter.com/f4oClqkpiA
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) November 15, 2019
That is a deliberate and very dangerous act. It's the most apalling seamanship and I'm contacting the MCA Office in Paisley directly about it. Somebody needs to lose their license over this and I'll do my best to ensure that happens. https://t.co/d7FccSdimN
— Niall McKillop (@Badabrach) October 5, 2020
Read more via Letter to Police Scotland re. violence & hostility by salmon farmers blocking filming
Whether you laugh or cry, it is crystal clear from video footage and photographs accessed via Freed0m of Information that the salmon farming industry is hiding serious problems which they do not want the public seeing.
Photos slipped out last month @marinescotland provide yet more damning evidence of welfare abuse on salmon farms - please boycott Scottish salmon! https://t.co/bp2h3Rylag @salmon_scottish @Try_Lochlander @Folketrygdfond @GreenerScotland @scotgp @coopuk @rspcaassured @SSPCA_Mike pic.twitter.com/Sngg29WYTp
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) November 4, 2020
The Scottish Salmon Company was caught selling deformed fish at Billingsgate Market in London by French TV in 2018:
Here's video footage of mass mortalities at Quarry Point in 2019 filmed by Inside Scottish Salmon Feedlot's Corin Smith:
Data published by the Scottish Government's Fish Health Inspectorate details mass mortalities at Quarry Point in 2019 with mortality rates up to 33%.
Corin Smith exposed shocking welfare abuse at The Scottish Salmon Company's salmon farm at Vacasay in Loch Roag in 2018 - leading to media exposure on BBC Panorama and the BBC One Show:
Here's what Scottish Salmon Watch found in 2018 when we visited The Scottish Salmon Company's Quarry Point salmon farm:
When Scottish Salmon Watch filmed at The Scottish Salmon Company's salmon farm at Strone Point in Loch Striven in July 2020 the video footage showed disease-ridden fish:
Secret Filming Inside The Scottish Salmon Company in Loch Striven - the King of Fish does not deserve to wear "death crowns"! https://t.co/HVsMv2SPxK @salmon_scottish @Folketrygdfond @SSPOsays @ciwf @onekindtweet @HSIUKorg @PETAUK @FishEG4A @group_fish
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) August 4, 2020
Read more via "Secret Filming Lifts Lid on Sickening Scottish Salmon"
If we had visited Loch Striven a month later then we would have uncovered mass mortalities on a shocking scale - including over 100,000 morts in one week at The Scottish Salmon Company's salmon farm at Sgian Dubh and 79,000 in one week at Strone Point.
"Environmental Insult": 79,381 dead farmed salmon (32.8% mortality) in one week in August at one farm (Strone Point) in Loch Striven @salmon_scottish
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) November 3, 2020
Scottish salmon is an insult to the environment! @marinescotland @coopuk @SSPOsays @Try_Lochlander @Folketrygdfond @LidlGB pic.twitter.com/uxXLVH27VQ
Revealed: 102,344 dead salmon (40% mortality) in one week at one farm @salmon_scottish in August https://t.co/AsVyIRDGip
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) November 3, 2020
Please boycott Scottish salmon! @coopuk @Try_Lochlander @sainsburys @LidlGB @waitrose @marksandspencer @Morrisons @asda @Tesco https://t.co/FpKosacuJq pic.twitter.com/NEsA57HP99
Secret filming in September 2020 revealed dead cleaner fish and salmon at The Scottish Salmon Company's processing plant at Toward (the site where a whistleblower leaked photos back in 2018).
Read more via "Dead in the Water - New Data Reveals Mass Mortalities & Disease on Scottish Salmon Farms"
But when we filmed at The Scottish Salmon Company's Sgian Dubh salmon farm on 6 September 2020 most of the diseased salmon had been harvested out and the remaining large fish (which may have breached their biomass limits) were being kept alive via oxygen pumped into the cages.
Filming at The Scottish Salmon Company's salmon farm in Loch Shieldaig in June 2019 led to a welfare complaint and media exposure via The Ferret and STV News.
Read more via "Ground-Truthing Disease-Ridden Scottish Salmon"
Prior to filming at salmon farms, Scottish Salmon Watch follows a strict bio-security protocol recommended by the Scottish Government.
Read more via "Biosecurity Precautions for Filming Salmon Farms"
During 2020, Scottish Salmon Watch has also visited salmon farms operated by Norwegian giants Mowi, Scottish Sea Farms and Grieg Seafood (despite repeated legal threats).
In September 2020, Scottish Salmon Watch exposed welfare abuse at Kames Fish Farming in Loch Tralaig:
Secret Filming Exposes Welfare Abuse at RSPCA Assured Kames @kamesfishfarm @rspcaassured @MairiGougeon @APHAgovuk @ProfCMDwyer @LynneUSneddon @Animallawyersuk @SSPCA_Mike @SSPOsays @GreenerScotland @SaveOurLochs @andrholder @obantimes @strathearnrose https://t.co/Dtc6rSKG1L pic.twitter.com/7VEmiyUsUA
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) September 24, 2020
In July 2020, Scottish Salmon Watch filmed at a salmon farm operated by Norwegian-owned Scottish Sea Farms at Fiunary in the Sound of Mull - leaving when the manager of the salmon farm came out in his boat.
If you have doubts about RSPCA Assured Scottish salmon then here's some photos from inspections by the Scottish Government's Fish Health Inspectorate:
In view of the shocking state of Scottish salmon it is not surprising that lawyers for The Scottish Salmon Company and Scottish Sea Farms threatened legal action against disclosure (unsuccessfully as it turned out). The Ferret reported in August 2018:
Here's some close ups of the gruesome photos which lawyers representing Scottish Sea Farms argued would expose the company to "reputational damage":
Read more via "EXPOSED: Photo Disclosures Opens Floodgates to More Diseased & Deformed Scottish Salmon"
Data on mass mortalities, infectious diseases and welfare problems is also published regularly by the Scottish Government's Fish Health Inspectorate and the Scottish Salmon Producers Organisation.
2.52 million dead farmed salmon in 233 'Mortality Events' during the first six months of 2020. This has been a catastrophic summer for Scotland's fish farms. Our seas are getting warmer. Expect more of this to come. Tens of thousands of these fish are killed by disease treatments https://t.co/NwCaDvhKG9
— John Aitchison (@JohnAitchison1) September 21, 2020
RSPCA Assured Mowi tops the mortality charts with a 17.4% monthly death rate in July at Stulaigh in Loch Eynort & 28.7% overall mortality in Loch Greshornish on Skye https://t.co/a3w08wp8bt @SSPOsays @MowiScotlandLtd @GriegShetland @salmon_scottish @rspcaassured @KateForbesMSP pic.twitter.com/wWrVYNxUrS
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) September 2, 2020
Mortalities during 2020 are staggering and could be the worst on record !
Now wonder lawyers representing salmon farmers are getting twitchy.
Mowi Scotland: "will be forced to take further action unless you co-operate with its requests & desist from further unauthorised access....no choice but to take steps to protect the Company’s Sites, and its rights in relation thereto, through the courts" https://t.co/TRIgbdBz1q pic.twitter.com/PNZpWmva3f
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) September 25, 2020
Scottish Salmon Watch will not be intimidated by legal threats and will continue to shine a light on the deadly world of Mowi & other salmon farming companies operating in Scotland https://t.co/TRIgbdBz1q @ScotlandMowi @MowiScotlandLtd @AbdnConsidine
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) September 25, 2020
Read more via:
- Video Nasty: Death Threat & Assault by Salmon Farmer for Questioning Use of Carcinogenic Chemicals at Kames!
- The Camera Never Lies About Scottish Salmon!
- Welfare Warning for Scottish Salmon - stormy waters & prolonged periods of pain forecast!
- Herald: "Scottish salmon found in ‘sickening’ conditions across Scotland as sea lice problem escalates"
- Video Exposes Welfare Abuse at RSPCA Assured salmon farm sourced by M&S 'Lochmuir'
- Letter to Police Scotland re. violence & hostility by salmon farmers blocking filming
- Oban Times: "Police apologise to fish farm welfare campaigner"
- Ongoing Welfare Abuse & Unnecessary Suffering on Salmon Farms - Why No Prosecutions?
- The Ferret: "Police apologise to anti-fish farm campaigner over access"
- Policing Scottish Salmon: Landmark Victory for Surveillance of Fish Farms
- Mowi's Legal Threat Over Filming
- Lithgow Baron Warned by Police for Threatening Behaviour Over Filming at Hendrix Genetics
- Hendrix Boss Plays It Heavy Like Jimmy!
- Salmondemic Plagues Scotland
- Salmon Farmer Charged by Police Scotland for Assault Over Filming of Carcinogenic Chemicals!
- Assault at Kames Over Use of Carcinogenic Chemicals on Scottish Salmon!!
- Verbal Abuse by Salmon Farming Proponent Prompts Police Scotland Warning
- Prisoner Cell Block Salmon - Secret Filming Exposes Cruelty of Caged Fish Farming!
- The 'Sealicehunter' - the Washing Machine for Dirty Scottish salmon
- Policing Scottish Salmon - Police Scotland Acting as Private Security for Scottish Sea Farms?
- Video Nasties - Disease-Ridden Scottish Salmon & Toxic Soup!
- Complaint re. MOWI's reckless behaviour & subsequent fatality in Loch Alsh
- "Leave Our Farms Alone" Demand Mowi. Here's What They're Hiding & Why Mowi Want the Public to Keep Away!
- Fighting Mowi's Legal Action Over Filming at Salmon Farms
- Caught on Camera - Mowi's Reckless Breaches of Health & Safety in Loch Alsh
- Welfare Abuse at Scottish Salmon Farms - Why No Legal Enforcement Or Prosecutions?
- The Fish Pharm Menace - Mowi is Like a Bad Movie (& Dick Dastardly)!
- Protest "Poses Serious Risk to Our Salmon" Claim Scottish Sea Farms - Who's Calling Who "Dangerous"?
- Police Scotland acted as ‘private security’ for fish farm, claims campaigner
- Police Scotland Acting as Private Security Enforcement for Norwegian-Owned Scottish Sea Farms?
* Read more online here
Includes:
A Scottish Law Commission report was published in 2003:
Including:
Walford v David 1989 S.L.T. 876 included:
Read also Walford vs David (1987) online here
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