Big shout out to the pioneers of secret filming & all the brave warriors who dared lift the lid on disease-ridden salmon farming - the underwater filming with Go Pro cameras started @alex4salmon in 2016 has turned the tide! https://t.co/ozbDedwAG6 @seashepherd @CaptPaulWatson pic.twitter.com/S1PPpCd3X9
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) October 15, 2021
When Alexandra Morton pioneered secret filming inside salmon farms in 2016 I'd never even heard of a Go Pro camera - now five years later the Go Pro has dealt salmon farming the death blow in Canada and turned the tide against the disease-ridden industry in Scotland and Iceland. Alexandra Morton's 'Hard Evidence' was difficult to ignore when it was published in August 2016:
Further filming inside salmon farms published by Sea Shepherd Society in 2017 shocked the world:
Filming by Ernest Alfred and George Quocksister inside salmon farms across British Columbia in 2017 made waves in the global press and on social media.
In October 2017, CTV News broadcast horrific video footage shot inside salmon farms in British Columbia:
In 2017, Swedish film-maker Mikael Frödin swam out to a Grieg owned salmon farm in Altafjord armed with a Go Pro on an extendable pole.
His shocking footage of lice damage and welfare abuse was broadcast in 2018 on Swedish TV and on Norwegian TV.
"They're all sick, look at them," said Frödin as he filmed inside the Grieg salmon farm:
Frödin's footage featured in the 2019 film 'Artifishal'.
In Scotland, Inside Scottish Salmon Feedlots (Corin Smith) and Scottish Salmon Watch both started secret filming inside salmon farms in the Summer of 2018 (independently and initially unknown to each other). Gruesome video footage shot by Corin Smith inside a salmon farm in Loch Roag in August 2018 was broadcast by the BBC One Show and The Ferret in September 2018:
In 2019, Sea Shepherd Society published further video footage gathered by Go Pro cameras inserted into salmon farms in British Columbia - including by Pamela Anderson - which has helped turn the tide of public opinion and government policy against salmon farming:
In Scotland, STV News and The Ferret broadcast video footage filmed by Scottish Salmon Watch inside a salmon farm operated by The Scottish Salmon Company in Loch Shieldaig in June 2019.
In May 2019, BBC Panorama broadcast video footage shot inside and under salmon farms in Scotland (as well as wild salmon near salmon farms infested with lice).
In December 2020, BBC Countryfile exposed lice-infested and RSPCA Assured Scottish Sea Farms in Loch Creran (a 'Special Area of Conservation'):
This is what Scottish salmon has become.
— Salmon Scotland (@SalmonScotland) December 7, 2020
Why is anyone eating it?@FoodUnwrappedTV @GreggAWallace @JohnTorode1 @ChefTomKerridge @CorrigansFood @TomKitchin @GordonRamsay @raymond_blanc @NickNairn @michelrouxjr @marcuswareing @Alain_Ducasse1 @jc_novelli @ArpegeLive @ScottishSPCA pic.twitter.com/JwcMaeBhrO
Watch lice-infested 'Scottish' salmon on BBC Countryfile last night https://t.co/C51W8wp9cz Starts at 11 mins 30 secs@BBCCountryfile @joe_crowley @SSPOsays @marinescotland @SalmonTroutCons @AST_Salmon @tavishscott @scotseafarms @LeroySeafood @Folketrygdfond @rspcaassured pic.twitter.com/1rFihm3PL9
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) December 7, 2020
In May 2021, Italian TV used video footage shot inside farms to expose the underbelly of Scottish salmon on prime time:
The watershed moment for secret filming inside salmon farms came when 'Seaspiracy' was first aired on Netflix in March 2021 - with video footage shot by Corin Smith inside The Scottish Salmon Company's lice-infested salmon farm in Loch Roag featured for millions around the world to watch in horror.
The Sun reported (30 March 2021):
'Seaspiracy' quite literally lifted the lid on disease-ridden Scottish salmon when they climbed up a skip full of dead salmon at Mowi's RSPCA Assured and ASC-certified salmon farm at Gorsten in Loch Linnhe.
At one point in the documentary, footage obtained from a Highland fish farm shows what appears to be thousands of dead salmon in a tanker with a stench described by @iamalitabrizi as “horrifying” @heraldscotland @CaitlinHutchie @seaspiracy @SSPOsays https://t.co/0rPBVt4FHV
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) April 1, 2021
Norwegian salmon giant Mowi has reacted to Netflix's 'Seaspiracy' by publishing videos claiming to show healthy farmed salmon at their @rspcaassured @ASC_aqua salmon farm in Loch Linnhe which featured in @seaspiracy @ScotlandMowi @SSPOsays @iamalitabrizi https://t.co/DXJ6gnAUgl pic.twitter.com/Xf0W4GGlQg
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) April 16, 2021
Video footage shot inside nearly two dozen salmon farms across Scotland was published by Compassion in World Farming in March 2021 - the whole world was now watching the horrors inside salmon farms.
When Seaspiracy published video footage shot inside Mowi's lice-infested RSPCA Assured salmon farms in July 2021 it racked up over one million views on Instagram:
Seaspiracy's video shocker on @rspcaassured Scottish salmon @MowiScotlandLtd is approaching 1 million views - and has over 36,000 likes! @seaspiracy https://t.co/I80mzoym6j
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) August 4, 2021
Please boycott Scottish salmon! #Boycott #Scottish #Salmon pic.twitter.com/iagrnIMjFM
Now over one million views for a video nasty of Mowi's lice-infested Scottish salmon! @seaspiracy @instagram https://t.co/I80mzoym6j@marinescotland @APHAgovuk @rspcaassured @ciwf
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) August 21, 2021
The camera never lies (unlike salmon farmers)! @SSPOsays @MowiScotlandLtd @SSPCA_Kirsteen pic.twitter.com/zGuhz1LQTS
Patagonia Tweeted:
Bad for animal welfare and destructive for the environment. Today is a good day to end open net-cage salmon farming. https://t.co/F23KC8tX6i
— Patagonia (@patagonia) August 3, 2021
Nothing to see here - just a farmed salmon missing half its face. All perfectly normal in the world of "responsibly sourced" salmon. Move along now #SalMar #Arnarlax #ArcticFish #NorwayRoyalSalmon #Iceland https://t.co/X0oVELF61d pic.twitter.com/vyyofcaJzu
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) August 30, 2021
Here's photos from the secret filming:
A quick dip of the GoPro in a salmon feedlot - by Against The Current Iceland.
— Salmon Scotland (@SalmonScotland) August 13, 2021
Look familiar?
Note lice infested, diseased lumpfish. It’s not just salmon that are dying in these cages.@SSPOsays @MairiMcAllan @_KateForbes @HamishMacdonell pic.twitter.com/9lmr643fXs
The shocking video footage featured on Icelandic TV:
And in Icelandic newspapers:
The secret filming was carried out by Veiga Grétarsdóttir who kayaks out to salmon farms:
Follow Veiga on Facebook's 'Against the Current Iceland':
Veiga posted an update on Facebook on 17 September 2021:
Photos of dead salmon belly up on the surface of a farm in Iceland https://t.co/xxmozhpBmm
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) September 17, 2021
"It has taken them up to one and half hour to pump up dead fish from each net pen, this needs to be stopped right away" says Veiga Grétarsdóttir of 'Against the Current Iceland' #Iceland pic.twitter.com/pw18FwoILJ
In September 2021, on the back of secret filming in Iceland and Scotland, campaigners called for open net salmon cages to be closed down.
Secret Filming Exposes Welfare Abuse Inside Salmon Cages in Iceland & Scotland - Go Pro cameras lift the lid on the horrors of factory fish farming! https://t.co/ve4uKy26l1
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) September 18, 2021
Campaigners are calling on open pen salmon farms to be closed down in the wake of horrific video footage pic.twitter.com/KLObWLqf1Y
Campaigners are calling on open pen salmon farms to be closed down in the wake of horrific video footage shot inside salmon farms in Iceland & Scotland
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) September 18, 2021
“Factory fish farming is a welfare nightmare which must be closed down now,” said Don Staniford https://t.co/ve4uKy26l1
Secret filming inside salmon and Steelhead trout farms in September 2021 exposed horrific welfare abuse and mass mortalities.
Breaking News: "Horror Videos Reveal Welfare Abuse Inside Scottish Salmon & Trout Cages" https://t.co/T4hSvF6HHZ @salmon_scottish @kamesfishfarm @SSPOsays @rspcaassured @Try_Lochlander @SaumonLabel#Boycott #Scottish #Salmon #Trout pic.twitter.com/T3yUbxbrb3
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) September 12, 2021
Here's what to expect if The Scottish Salmon Company is allowed to expand on Arran! @salmon_scottish @North_Ayrshire @ArranCoast @ArranEco @arranbanner @marinescotland @scotgov @ScotGovNetZero @SSPOsays @Folketrygdfond https://t.co/T4hSvF6HHZ#Scottish #Scamon #Bakkafrost pic.twitter.com/jwwWq69VSg
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) September 12, 2021
Viewers can see more secret filming video footage in the Kate Winslet-narrated film 'Eating Our Way to Extinction' now streaming on Amazon, AppleTV, You Tube and iTunes:
"The buzz kill of the week is this densely researched documentary that’s narrated by Kate Winslet and will probably make it impossible to ever again eat sushi or steak in good conscience (farmed salmon is off my menu!)" https://t.co/AJpbDpsCdb @thetimes @EatingOur #eowte
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) September 17, 2021
"The undersea filming of the scabby, misshapen salmon, like piscine extras in ‘The Walking Dead’, was enough to put anyone off eating farmed fish again" https://t.co/0GMN0sOgWm @RT_com @EatingOur https://t.co/dMmm9IyVy9 @SealifeA https://t.co/wuf45aa8BM pic.twitter.com/grZoeegrNj
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) September 21, 2021
"The filmmakers secretly visit a salmon farm in Scotland, where they are shown the awful reality of aquaculture for themselves. It will put you off eating salmon for life" https://t.co/s5f57fx6mE @M_Star_Online @EatingOur #eowte #eating2extinction #Boycott #Scottish #Salmon
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) September 16, 2021
So five years after Alexandra Morton so bravely stuck her telescopic pole into the lice-infested waters of a salmon cage it is the Go Pro camera who has taken centre stage in the global battle against salmon farming.
“I am part of the #resistance movement against #extinction. The movement spans the globe. We are a force of nature. Like a #river, we well up, slip around, bore through and dive under obstacles. We don’t stop.
— alexandramorton (@alex4salmon) March 29, 2021
This is not the time to give up.”https://t.co/B4s9d8lWIt .
When I go into battle - armed with my trusty old Go Pro and £8.99p telescopic pole - it is the inspirational Alexandra Morton who has shown the way.
"The more I know … the less I can step away from this battle," said @alex4salmon "I just have to see it through" @CBCRadioCanada @cbcasithappens @CBCNews https://t.co/R4GHrfqO40
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) April 6, 2021
"I wish the rest of Canada or BC could see what we witnessed here today," said Millie Willie as she joined Alexandra Morton on one of her filming expeditions in 2016.
"We need to step up now and do something. This is really hard to take and I just wish that other people could see what I'm seeing. We need to do something about these fish farms before it's too late."
In August 2016, Millie Willie (then a band councilor and now the newly elected Chief of the Musgamagw Dzawada’enuxw First Nation) told the foreign-owned salmon farms they were trespassing on the unceded territory of her people. "You're here illegally," she said. "The next one will be an eviction notice if you don't get out, ok? This is just the beginning."
"From what I could see from here made me absolutely sick," said Ernest Alfred. "And I think the general public needs to know what's going on out here. Disgusting".
"They have no right to be here - they've never had persmission," said Millie Willie. "If you will see what I see today you'll feel the same way - all of Canada would feel the same way."
Business in Vancouver reported in August 2016:
In 2017, when First Nations occupied salmon farms in British Columbia the Go Pro camera was proudly displayed as one of their most powerful weapons.
CBC News reported in August 2017:
During the 'occupation' of salmon farms in 2017 and 2018, further video footage was captured by Go Pro cameras inside salmon farms - here's George Quocksister and Ernest Alfred armed with Go Pro cameras mounted on a fishing rod and a telescopic pole.
"I felt really powerful with a mandate and a responsibility to report and show these images to people - my people, my families - that these fish are really sick," said Ernest Alfred in a video report published by Sea Shepherd Society in August 2017. "These fish are polluting the environment that we call home. The images that came out of that farm are horrifying."
"After I got off the Noola farm I snuck off to the bow of the Martin Sheen and I just cried," said Ernest Alfred. "I had this incredible sadness."
"From afar we could see the fish were sluggish and from the water and bottom samples we could see the area was really dirty," said the R/V Martin Sheen in a Facebook post in August 2017. "The smell was pungent. On the sight of such a tragedy in his territorial waterways Hereditary Chief George set foot on the salmon farm to document the condition of those fish living in the pens."
Fuelled by secret filming footage, now the tide is turning against salmon farming in Scotland with Salmon & Trout Conservation announcing a policy shift just this week against open net cage salmon farming.
Join us and say no to open-net #salmonfarming in Scotland. In the face of the Scottish Government's encouragement of the salmon farming industry, we will now oppose the continued operation of all open-net salmon farms. Pledge your support https://t.co/v7J2BlkfmX pic.twitter.com/JOA9k0nRwH
— Salmon & Trout Conservation (@SalmonTroutCons) October 13, 2021
And a boycott of Scottish salmon - 99.9% of 'Scottish' salmon on sale in supermarkets is farmed not wild - is gathering momentum across the UK.
Climavore spawns boycott of farmed salmon across the UK - take the pledge not to eat Scottish salmon today! https://t.co/zLYzqghPIh @SSPOsays @MowiScotlandLtd @sainsburys @LidlGB @salmon_scottish @scotseafarms @Tesco @asda @Morrisons @marksandspencer @waitrose @coopuk https://t.co/tc9TA0Xwsw pic.twitter.com/sRRiW4utBk
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) October 12, 2021
In British Columbia, fuelled by shocking video footage and the power of First Nations occupying salmon farms, open net cages are dead in the water with a phase out by 2025 championed by the Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
'Global Salmon Farming Resistance' is here to stay.
The global push-back against ocean-based salmonid farming is gaining momentum: "We urge you to join the growing number of countries that have said ‘no’ to open net-pen aquaculture" (letter sent today by Global Salmon Farm Resistance) https://t.co/GU3OLgRkt8 @alex4salmon pic.twitter.com/io1Qk97Tuo
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) September 17, 2021
And the global boycott of farmed salmon will never go away!
Friends don't let friends eat farmed salmon - please make a video pledge today! https://t.co/4aHyVQVGGA#SalmonPledge #Boycott #Farmed #Salmon pic.twitter.com/cuPmMCXLlW
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) April 5, 2021
Read more via:
Video Nasties of Dead Farmed Salmon Pile Up All Over the World!
Backgrounder: Secret Filming Exposes the Welfare Nightmare of Factory Fish Farming
The Go Pro Camera Never Lies (Unlike Salmon Farmers)
Video Nasties of Dead Farmed Salmon Pile Up All Over the World! https://t.co/J2Y7MiNXnE @ClayoquotAction @CermaqCan @ClayoquotFriend @claybiotrust @CCUNESCO @BCSalmonFarmers @Cermaq @WesterlyNews
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) October 14, 2021
Wanted: Whistleblowers of the world - do you have any video footage of farmed salmon 'morts' being dumped in pits or skips, floating inside feedlots or dead at the bottom of nets? https://t.co/AfqxVJajJC pic.twitter.com/CIoQpXEsZG
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) October 14, 2021
The Go Pro Camera Never Lies (Unlike Salmon Farmers) https://t.co/v7uJHswcNK @wildfirstcanada @TryVeg @ciwf @peta @patagonia @SalmonFeedlots @SalmonTroutCons @joe_crowley @andrholder @alex4salmon @ClayoquotAction @NMF_tweet @ArranCoast @SeaShepherdSSCS @CaptPaulWatson @SealifeA pic.twitter.com/yozFwED9Xe
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) October 15, 2019