Another lousy day in Loch Carron - a Marine Protected Area - as a Hydrolicer arrives from Norway to torture thousands more lice-infested 'Scottish' salmon @salmon_scottish @Folketrygdfond @SSPOsays @MairiGougeon @nature_scot @ScottishEPA @MairiMcAllan https://t.co/h2Ej1rN1x6 pic.twitter.com/R305kksnA1
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) October 18, 2021
Here's the Norwegian-registered Hydro Pioneer on the war path in Loch Carron this morning (18 October 2021):
Salmon Business reported in September 2019:
Scottish Salmon Watch reported in June 2020:
REVEALED: Over Half a Million Salmon Tortured to Death by De-Licers! https://t.co/ItJDnGHzdB @marinescotland @FergusEwingMSP @scotgp @Animallawyersuk @MairiGougeon @ProfCMDwyer @MowiScotlandLtd @GriegShetland @scotseafarms @salmon_scottish @rspcaassured @ciwf @onekindtweet pic.twitter.com/Rwj3HSkxfo
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) June 10, 2020
A Scottish Parliamentary reply by Fergus Ewing in March 2020 revealed that over half a million (522,702) farmed salmon died shocking deaths due to the operation of the Thermolicer, Hydrolicer and Optilicer from 2016 to 2019. The Hydrolicer is the most lethal with 269,674 farmed salmon mortalities followed by the Thermolicer (177,601 deaths) and the Optlicer (75,427 deaths):
Here's the yearly breakdown of deaths each year due to the Thermolicer, Hydrolicer and Optilicer:
2016: 137,448
2017: 168,243
2018: 58,968
2019: 158,044
Total: 522,702
Over half a million (522,702) farmed salmon died shocking deaths due to the Hydrolicer (269,674 deaths), Thermolicer (177,601 deaths) & Optilicer (75,427 deaths) https://t.co/ItJDnGHzdB @FergusEwingMSP @GreenerScotland @scotgp @markruskell @MairiGougeon @ProfCMDwyer @SSPOsays pic.twitter.com/89o17zCUHD
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) June 10, 2020
Scottish Salmon Watch reported last month (24 September 2021):
"This is the scum - all the salmon fat polluting our waters," says Jamie Moyes in a video from West Strome salmon farm @salmon_scottish "Absolutely disgusting, stinking. Oh my God, it is thick. It is a toxic soup - it makes you sick the smell" @SSPOsays https://t.co/6VlzcwKJh5 pic.twitter.com/RffPTrp9eg
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) September 24, 2021
Video footage from The Scottish Salmon Company's West Strome salmon farm in Loch Carron has been shared with Police Scotland's Wildlife Crime Unit, the Animal & Plant Health Agency (APHA), the Scottish Government's Fish Health Inspectorate and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA).
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
SEPA wrote last month (23 September 2021) to Jamie Moyes that the Fish Health Inspectorate "have already attended the site":
Sent: Thursday, September 23, 2021 4:39:35 PM
To: jamie moyes <[email protected]>
Cc: MacPherson, Alison <[email protected]
Subject: RE: SEPA: Pollution event, Loch Carron
OFFICIAL – BUSINESS
Dear Mr Moyes,
On 13 September you contacted SEPA about concerns for material on the sea surface and in suspension as a result of discharges at the West Strome fish farm site in Loch Carron, where a moored vessel was operating and discharging. Your emails to Alison MacPherson included links to two videos, which your email indicates were recorded on 8 September 2021. You also state that a report had been submitted to SEPA on 5 September. Please advise how the 5 September report to SEPA was made and include any supporting information that you have, emails or screen grabs etc.
Since 13 September Stuart Baird, an Area Manager for SEPA, has tried to contact you by telephone to discuss this matter further. Contact details for Stuart were left by voicemail, but he has not received any response. He can be contacted on 07809 041899, or [email protected].
We have contacted the operators at Strome and they have advised on treatments undertaken at the site, which includes hydrolicer operations being undertaken on 4 to 8 September 2021 inclusive. Freshwater treatments took place on 5 and 6 September, and bath treatment on 5 September. We understand that around the time of these treatments there was a level of fish mortality at the site, however SEPA do not receive numbers on specific events, as this is reported to the Fish Health Inspectorate.
Regarding the material you observed on the sea surface and in suspension, hydrolicers use low pressure water jets to create turbulence that dislodges sea lice from the fish as they are drawn into a treatment chamber on the delousing vessel using pumps. The material observed is likely to have been residue from the physical treatment and foam which is generated when sea water containing organic matter is agitated. Foams and debris can occur naturally during storms when organic matter is agitated. In the West Strome case, the organic matter agitated by the treatment vessel will have been a combination of mucus and organic matter from the fish being treated in the hydrolicer and organic matter in the seawater pumped through the hydrolicer. The material you observed may have been influenced by the presence of dead fish in the cages, some of which may have passed through the hydrolicer, or by the presence of decomposing fish in the cage being agitated by the flow discharged by the hydrolicer. Given the nature of the material and its expected rapid dispersion, we have no reason to believe it posed a significant pollution risk, however we acknowledge that odour and discolouration was apparent in the area around the fish farm cage group.
Information on a dead fish falling from the net into the sea during loading of the vessel as observed in the video, was reported to the Fish Health Inspectorate, who have already attended the site to review the report. The email of 13 September 2021 @ 17:25 states that you have a video recording of salmon being pumped directly into the sea, however this is not shown or described in the two videos provided. If you do have video of this, please send this to us and we will forward it to the Fish health Inspectorate, as that is within their remit.
Kind regards,
Andrew Steel
Environment Protection Officer, e: [email protected], web:
SEPA on @salmon_scottish scum: "Hydrolicers use low pressure water jets to create turbulence that dislodges sea lice...the organic matter agitated by the treatment vessel will have been a combination of mucus & organic matter" https://t.co/6Vlzcx2k8D @ScottishEPA @TerryAHearn
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) September 24, 2021
The latest lice data is available via 'Scotland's Aquaculture' - with The Scottish Salmon Company's West Strome salmon farm ranked as the 10th highest for September 2021:
Lousy Scottish Salmon - check out which farms have the highest lice-infestation. Loch Duart top the September chart (i.e. worst) racking up an 'enforcement notice' @marinescotland @LochDuartSalmon with @MowiScotlandLtd @salmon_scottish & @GriegShetland https://t.co/sepjr13xkD pic.twitter.com/OEhZqmOmuI
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) October 18, 2021
Search the lice data online here
Read more via:
- Video Nasty: Scottish Salmon's Toxic Soup in Loch Carron!
- "Campaigners bring fresh abuse claims" (Fish Farmer)
- Press Release: "Secret Filming Exposes Welfare Abuse Inside Salmon Cages in Iceland & Scotland"
- Update on welfare inspection at The Scottish Salmon Company in Loch Carron?
- Winslet Film Exposes Salmon Farming's Titanic-Sized Secrets - in cinemas now!
- Videos of Mort Disposal by The Scottish Salmon Company - like a serial killer disposing of dead bodies before the police arrive!
- Breaking News: "Horror Videos Reveal Welfare Abuse Inside Scottish Salmon & Trout Cages"
- Videos of Welfare Abuse at The Scottish Salmon Company in Loch Carron (West Strome salmon farm)
- Photos of Welfare Abuse at The Scottish Salmon Company in Loch Carron (West Strome salmon farm)