Antibiotic use doubles on Scottish salmon farms in a year! 5.6 tonnes of Oxytetracycline & Florfenicol used in 2020 according to @vmdgovuk report published in November 2021 @ScotlandSalmon
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) December 9, 2021
Just say no to drugs, say no to Scottish pharmed salmon! @MowiScotlandLtd @GriegShetland pic.twitter.com/X4vB8A35GR
A Freedom of Information request disclosed by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (F0192000) reveals increasing use of antibiotics on marine salmon farms in Scotland spearheaded by Norwegian giant Mowi. Between 2015 and 2019 the use of Aquatet (Oxytetracycline) and Florocol (Florfenicol) increased 14-fold from 144kg to 2084kg (that's 2.1 tonnes)!
Antibiotic use on marine salmon farms in Scotland leapt like a disease-ridden fish from 144kg in 2015 to 2084kg in 2019. That's a 14-fold increase in 5 years with 2.1 tonnes of Oxytetracycline and Florfenicol used in 2019. Data obtained from @ScottishEPA by @SeafoodWatch pic.twitter.com/WsOJ8CVIJK
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) December 9, 2021
Norwegian giant Mowi accounted for 57% of the use of antibiotics (both Oxytetracycline and Florfenicol) between 2015 and 2019 with Grieg Seafood (who is being bought by Scottish Sea Farms) accounting for 34% and Cooke Aquaculture 8%. Both The Scottish Salmon Company and Scottish Sea Farms (who were recently rapped over the non-reporting of toxic chemicals) reported zero use of antibiotics on marine salmon farms between 2015 and 2019.
Norwegian giant @MowiScotlandLtd accounted for 57% of antibiotic use (Oxytetracycline & Florfenicol) between 2015 & 2019 with @GriegShetland accounting for 34% & @CookeScotland 8%. Zero antibiotic use was reported by @scotseafarms & @salmon_scottish @ScotlandSalmon @scotgov pic.twitter.com/wzt4TOq1fk
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) December 9, 2021
Did @scotseafarms & @salmon_scottish really use zero antibiotics between 2015 & 2019 or was it an administrative error? @ScotlandSalmon @vmdgovuk
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) December 9, 2021
Why does @MowiScotlandLtd & @GriegShetland use so much Oxytetracycline & Florfenicol? @ScottishEPA https://t.co/Q4qqxKbA8D pic.twitter.com/vpnwjoVkQf
Here's the data for 2015 to 2019 presented in Seafood Watch's report on salmon farming in Scotland published on Monday (6 December 2021):
Site specific data for 2020 and 2021 is not yet available (a cyber-attack on SEPA last year impacted operations) but the UK Veterinary Antibiotic Resistance and Sales Surveillance Report published in November 2021 (p49-51) details increasing use of antibiotics on salmon farms during 2020 (the Scottish Salmon Producers Organisation - renamed Salmon Scotland on 1 November 2021 - claimed that the use of antibiotics decreased in the freshwater phase of production whilst conceding an increase in the use of antibiotics on marine salmon farms):
The source data for Seafood Watch's analysis - which ranked Scottish salmon farming regions (Western Isles, Southwest & Northwest) as the worst in the world - is now published below and can be downloaded as an Excel spreadsheet via F0192000. Here's the largest users of Aquatet (Oxytetracycline) between 2015 and 2019 - the list is dominated by Marine Harvest/Mowi (Marine Harvest changed their name to Mowi on 1 January 2019 due to "negative consumer perception") who is responsible for 22 out of the 23 doses:
Here's the largest users of Florocol (Florfenicol) between 2015 and 2019 - with Marine Harvest/Mowi responsible for 39 of the 71 reported doses followed by Grieg Seafood (15), Cooke (12), Kames (4) and Loch Duart (1). By far the biggest dose of Florfenicol was by Mowi in Loch Duich - a Special Area of Conservation and a contentious site which Mowi claimed in 2019 would be closed down:
Download the Excel spreadsheet disclosed by SEPA online here
Whilst Mowi, Grieg Seafood, Kames, Loch Duart and Cooke all reported the use of antibiotics between 2015 and 2019, Scottish Sea Farms reported zero use on marine salmon farms (although use of antibiotics in freshwater hatcheries did occur). Seafood Source reported in May 2021:
Seafood Watch's report on samon farming in Scotland (6 December 2021) included:
The increase in the use of antibiotics detailed above does not appear to tally with an article published by Fish Farming Expert in November 2019:
The data presented by Seafood Watch - and disclosed by SEPA via F0192000 - does not include use of antibiotics in salmon hatcheries. For example, a Fish Health Inspectorate report for January 2020 detailed disease problems ("likely Flavobacterium" - the causative agent of Bacterial Cold Water Disease) at Landcatch's Ormsary Smolt Unit including use of the antibiotic Florfenicol (Floricol), the antimicrobial Bronopol (Cress) and the carcinogenic chemical Formalin.
Anyone for disease-ridden Scottish salmon fresh from Landcatch marinaded in antibiotic & cancer-causing Formalin? https://t.co/rSvO6Hz6V7 @HGSalmonUK @salmon_scottish New 'Case Information' published today @marinescotland The horror of #Scottish #Salmon @ciwf @PETAUK @APHAgovuk pic.twitter.com/NWDVRGdb4Y
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) April 6, 2020
Carcinogenic chemical Formalin used "twice a week" @HGSalmonUK Ormsary Hatchery along with antibiotic Florocol. "Lesions" & "Fungus" with Flavobacterium & Infectious Pancreatic Necrosis virus. 54,629 mortalities reported @marinescotland due to "shock morts" & "deformities". pic.twitter.com/llYriEi2R7
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) October 6, 2020
Salmon Scotland report on their website:
The Global Alliance Against Industrial Aquaculture reported in February 2017:
The Press & Journal reported (20 February 2017):
Information disclosed by the Scottish Government in March 2017 via Freedom of Information (FoI/17/00293) detail use of antibiotics on cleaner fish:
The FOI reply above stemmed from a request filed by the Global Alliance Against Industrial Aquaculture in February 2017:
From: Don Staniford [mailto:salmonfarmingkills@gmail.com]
Sent: 07 February 2017 20:01
To: Central Enquiry Unit
Subject: FOI re. antiboitic use in cleaner fish (2013-2016)
Please provide information on the use of antibiotics in cleaner fish (2013-2016).
The 2015 fish farm production survey published in 2016 detailed a significant increase in the use of wrasse and lumpsucker fish: http://www.gov.scot/Resource/0050/00505162.pdf
Please note a recent article detailing increases in antibiotic use in cleanerfish farms in Norway:
Fish Farming Expert, 2 February 2017
An appetite for antibiotics
Juvenile wrasse.
A clear increase in the amount of antibiotics used in cleanerfish production has been reported in Norway, although levels used in salmon themselves remain very low.
Author: Magnus Petersen
So revealed Atle Lillehaug, of the Norwegian Veterinary Institute, at the Frisk Fisk conference in Bergen today.
“We’ve seen an increase in the number of printed prescriptions for cleanerfish, which appear to require drug treatments more frequently,” he said.
All use and prescription of drugs for farmed fish must be reported to the Food Safety Authority (FSA) through the Vetreg system. After this was adopted in 2011, these figures – which could be compared with reported sales figures from pharmaceutical wholesalers – have shown low antibiotic use in farmed salmon.
“Initially the numbers that were reported by the salmon industry and the sales figures were not quite consistent, but these discrepancies have now been ironed out,” said Lillehaug.
Lillehaug observed that two-thirds of all antibiotics in farmed fish in Norway were used on marine species, including cleanerfish, while cod, halibut, wolf fish and turbot all experienced a rise in the number of prescriptions for antibiotics issued since 2011 too, although the number of prescriptions does not necessarily equate to the volume of antibiotics used.
Figures from Vetreg show that the number of antibiotic prescriptions in 2011 was only 16, while it has increased steadily since, rising to 126 during 2016. This seems to have risen in line with the production of cleanerfish.
In 1987 about 50 tonnes of antibiotics were used by the country’s aquaculture industry, but by 2015 it had fallen to 217 kg, due to the introduction of vaccines, according to the researcher.
“Data from 2011-2015 show that have been between 30-50 prescriptions for the entire aquaculture industry – about a third for use in the marine phase and two-thirds in freshwater production,” he revealed.
However, in volume terms, salmon in the sea phase still use the most antibiotics – although this has fallen from just over 800 kg in 2012 to just over 100 kg in 2015.
When it comes to trout, Lillehaug says that there is practically no use of antibiotics.
http://www.fishfarmingexpert.com/news/an-appetite-for-antibiotics/
What are the comparative figures for Scotland from 2013 to 2016?
Please include data on antibiotic use in cleaner fish farms (wrasse and lumpsucker) and any correspondence on the use of antibiotics in cleaner fish farms.
Please consider this a request for information under the relevant Freedom of Information and Environmental Information Regulations including both the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 and the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (as well as any other new or other regulations which may be appropriate).
Please provide this information electronically via email.
Please acknowledge receipt of this FOI request.
Many thanks and I look forward to a response shortly.
Best fishes,
Don
Don Staniford
Director, Global Alliance Against Industrial Aquaculture (GAAIA): http://www.salmonfarmingkills.com
Read more via:
- Officially The Worst in the World: Scottish Salmon from the Western Isles!!!
- Global Boycott Vs Farmed Salmon - Avoid 19 regions including Scotland, Norway, Chile & Canada!
- Red Alert for Scottish Salmon: "Avoid" rating from Seafood Watch due to chemicals, diseases & escapes!
- Red Light for Scottish salmon: Scotland is ranked worst in the world
It's official - Scottish salmon is the worst in the world! According to a new assessment @SeafoodWatch salmon farmed in the Western Isles is ranked THE worst followed by Southwest & Northwest #Scotland @ScotlandSalmon @MowiScotlandLtd @scotseafarms @GriegShetland @salmon_scottish pic.twitter.com/p1c2Ck8O7t
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) December 7, 2021