77% of Scottish salmon farms fail to meet the ASC's standard for certification - that's almost four out of every five sea sites exceeding 10% mortality! https://t.co/tPyBxvBlwJ
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) December 7, 2020
ASC-certified Scottish salmon is dead in the water!@ASC_aqua @Salmoskius @SSPOsays @ScotlandMowi pic.twitter.com/EInM56nTsM
Comments made by the CEO of the Aquaculture Stewardship Council on BBC Countryfile last night (6 December 2020) ruling out certification for salmon farms reporting more than 10% mortality represents a hammer-blow for the predominantly Norwegian-owned salmon farming industry in Scotland.
Watch Chris Ninnes, CEO of the Aquaculture Stewardship Council, on @BBCCountryfile hammer the nail in the coffin of Scottish salmon by demanding less than 10% mortality on @ASC_aqua certified farms - 77% of salmon farms cannot meet the mortality standard! @SSPOsays @ScotlandMowi pic.twitter.com/TZzuKoIXWB
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) December 8, 2020
Watch via BBC iplayer online here (salmon clip starts at 11 minutes 30 seconds)
The ASC's pledge to rule out certification for salmon farms reporting greater than 10% mortality leaves Mowi's commitment to 100% ASC-certification dead in the water along with dozens of other disease-ridden salmon farms across Scotland. Here's mortality data published by the Scottish Salmon Producers Organisation - with cumulative mortality over the full production cycle (in the sea-phase) for all salmon farms harvested out in the last year (November 2019 to October 2020):
Out of 96 salmon farms which harvested out over the last twelve months (November 2019 to October 2020) only 22 would pass muster with the ASC's 10% mortality standard and a staggering 74 would fail - that's a pass rate of just 23% with 77% of salmon farms failing to meet the ASC standard.
If you focus on the 28 Mowi salmon farms which harvested out over the last year (SSPO data for November 2019 to October 2020) only one salmon farm (Sconser Quarry) reported cumulative mortality at less than 10% - with an average mortality rate of 24.4% (that's a quarter of all Mowi's farmed salmon dying a horrible death).
Only one out of 28 salmon farms harvested @rspcaassured Mowi over the last year would have passed the @ASC_aqua mortality standard of 10% - the average mortality rate was a staggering 24.4% with 39% death rate at the aptly named Muck salmon farm @ScotlandMowi @MowiScotlandLtd pic.twitter.com/465g30A5KQ
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) December 7, 2020
Anyone who has visited Mowi's salmon farms will recognise the stench of mortality.
Chris Ninnes (CEO of the ASC) will have been inundated with phone calls today by irate salmon farmers and lobbyists shocked at his comments.
The Aquaculture Stewardship Council's commitment that 10%+ mortality will rule out certification @ASC_aqua would rule out @ScotlandMowi in Loch Ainort (Cairidh) & Linnhe (Gorsten) - not to mention most other salmon farms in Scotland! @SSPOsays @joe_crowleyhttps://t.co/zBalDqlabc pic.twitter.com/MifaIuRr1E
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) December 7, 2020
Chris Ninnes claims that @ASC_aqua standards demand less than 10% mortality on salmon farms @BBCCountryfile @joe_crowley https://t.co/C51W8wp9cz
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) December 7, 2020
So why is Glenfinnan salmon farm @ScotlandMowi with a mortality rate of 20% & 61,188 morts in one week in August still certified? pic.twitter.com/UtYmlg24Z8
26% mortality rate on Scottish salmon farms (in just the sea phase of production) - that means one in four RSPCA certified salmon are dying a horrible death! @rspcaassured @SSPOsays @marinescotland https://t.co/G4dXeILsTk @BBCCountryfile @joe_crowley @SalmonTroutCons @scotgp pic.twitter.com/4Nm8CV3fLA
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) December 7, 2020
As of today (7 December 2020), here's the salmon farms in Scotland currently certified, cancelled or under assessment by the ASC (all Mowi):
Mowi's Stulaigh salmon farm in Loch Eynort is currently undertaking an "initial audit" but this is a salmon farm with a mortality rate of 36.8% (the second highest of all Mowi salmon farms over the last year) and will a history of welfare abuse and infectious diseases.
No wonder Mowi did not want the public seeing photos!
Mowi: "the risk of people turning away from a healthy food such as salmon as a reaction to irresponsible use of photos for the sole purpose of creating fear in the consumer, is a risk to public health" https://t.co/u9Fk2kOkxz @MowiScotlandLtd @marinescotland @FergusEwingMSP pic.twitter.com/M3AyD3jMTm
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) October 24, 2019
Read more via "EXPOSED: Photo Disclosures Opens Floodgates to More Diseased & Deformed Scottish Salmon"
Anyone for ASC-certified Mowi salmon sourced from @rspcaassured Stulaigh in Loch Eynort? @ASC_aqua @ScotlandMowi https://t.co/kU4qj5KTYs
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) December 8, 2020
Disease-ridden with a mortality rate of 36.8% - that's over a third of the fish in the sea cages dying a cruel death! https://t.co/u9Fk2kOkxz pic.twitter.com/khdvYbclTJ
In 2013, WWF and Marine Harvest (who changed their name to Mowi in 2019 due to "negative consumer perception" in the name Marine Harvest) issued a joint press release pledging to be 100% ASC-certified by 2020.
In 2016, Marine Harvest pledged to have 100% of their salmon farms ASC-certified by 2020.
In May 2020, Mowi quietly moved the goalposts from 2020 to 2025.
Read more via:
BBC Countryfile features lice-infested RSPCA Assured salmon!
Dead in the Water - New Data Reveals Mass Mortalities & Disease on Scottish Salmon Farms
Anyone for ASC-Certified Scottish Salmon Doused in Carcinogenic Formaldehyde?
ASC-Certified Shellfish Killers (not to mention seals, diseases, lice, pollution etc)
EXPOSED: Scottish Salmon's Sustainability Scam
WWF Greenwashes Marine Harvest
The Abominable Salmon Council - Buyer Beware!
Pepé Le Pew Loves Farmed Salmon!
"The most rigorous standards in the world" claims @ASC_aqua on @BBCCountryfile "an organisation who encorages responsible practices" claims @joe_crowley https://t.co/C51W8wp9cz
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) December 7, 2020
Errr so why does the ASC condone the use of carcinogenic Formaldehyde @ScotlandMowi in Loch Lochy? pic.twitter.com/4DhmVkFqFl
Anyone for "responsibly certified" Scottish salmon doused in carcinogenic chemical, battered to death, ridden with infectious diseases, served with a side of slaughtered seal & lashings of lice? https://t.co/eY2gaWV3eD @ASC_aqua @MowiScotlandLtd @FergusEwingMSP @rspcaassured pic.twitter.com/lljHE7UyBn
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) June 3, 2020
Addendum:
Date: Mon, Dec 7, 2020 at 2:06 PM
Subject: Glenfinnan certification now rescinded?
To: Bertrand Charron <[email protected]>, Info <[email protected]>, Chris Ninnes <[email protected]>
From: Don Staniford <[email protected]>
Date: Mon, Dec 7, 2020 at 2:41 PM
Subject: Re: Glenfinnan certification now rescinded?
To: Bertrand Charron <[email protected]
Date: Tue, Dec 8, 2020 at 8:11 AM
Subject: Mowi's Stulaigh - 36.8% mortality with welfare abuse
To: Chris Ninnes <[email protected]>, Bertrand Charron <[email protected]>, Info <[email protected]>
How can the ASC seriously consider certifying Mowi's Stulaigh salmon farm?
From: Bertrand Charron <[email protected]>
Date: Tue, Dec 8, 2020 at 2:30 PM
Subject: RE: Glenfinnan certification now rescinded?
To: Don Staniford <[email protected]>
Hi Don,
Thank you for your interest in, and support of, the ASC !
Please find below elements of reply to your question:
è « In view of Mowi's mortality rate at 20% at their ASC-certified Glenfinnan salmon farm, when will the ASC be rescinding certification? »
Firstly, it is important to stress that in order to maintain its independent position the ASC is not the one which ‘grants’ or ‘rescinds’ certification. Certificates are issued by an independent conformity assessment body (CAB). The CAB, or certifier, carries out the assessment of the farms and decides whether they meet the necessary requirements to become ASC certified, and also carries out ongoing ‘surveillance audits’ during the certification period to ensure ongoing compliance. This practice is referred to as third party certification and it is widely recognised as the highest level of independent assessment. ASC manages the Programme and is the ‘standard setter’; and all audit reports are transparently made available to the public via the ASC website. ASC thus does not generally comment on the specific performance of individual farms.
Regarding your comment regarding specific mortality rates, please do note that the ASC Salmon Standard sets several requirements, notably as per indicators 5.1.5, 5.1.6 and 5.1.7 [see excerpt below]. The ‘10%’ maximum mortality rate in a farm’s most recent production cycle refers to “viral disease-related mortality”* [5.1.5] and not to overall mortalities if other non-viral causes have been explained/specified. The latter could include predators, bacterial, algal-bloom, stress –related etc. mortalities. [* “Viral disease-related mortality count shall include unspecified and unexplained mortality as it could be related to viral disease.”]
Furthermore, and in all cases, ASC-certified salmon farms have to demonstrate to auditors (as per 5.1.7) that they have a “farm-specific mortalities reduction programme that includes defined annual targets for reductions in mortalities and reductions in unexplained mortalities”.
Should you want to learn more about the ASC Salmon Standard and its precise/specific requirements, I would kindly suggest that you read in full the document which can be found here: https://www.asc-aqua.org/what-we-do/our-standards/farm-standards/the-salmon-standard/
Best regards,
Bertrand Charron
Science & Sustainability Communications Manager
Web: www.asc-aqua.org
On Twitter: @ASC_aqua
Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC)
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