As further context, the European Union were notified back in 2013 by Ewan Kennedy of Save Seil Sound that salmon farming companies were flouting the law. “A local complaint to the European Commission over the poor regulation of the disposal of dead fish from salmon farms has forced the Scottish Government to rewrite the rules,” reported The Sunday Herald in April 2016. “For years the caged salmon industry has been allowed to dump diseased fish in landfill sites because of a loophole in public health law. But ministers have now had to close the loophole and oblige fish farm companies to dispose of dead fish in safer ways. From the start of 2016 salmon farms must abide by the rules introduced in the wake of the outbreak of mad cow disease (BSE) in the 1980s. The farms have to incinerate, sterilise or compost their wastes, and not just tip them into landfill sites.”
“Between August 2011 and June 2012 82,663 salmon deaths from disease were recorded at Ardmaddy fish farm in Seil Sound, Argyll,” continued Rob Edwards writing in The Sunday Herald in April 2016. “When the local environmental group, Save Seil Sound, asked what had happened to the resulting 257 tonnes of dead fish, no-one seemed to know. In 2013 the group lodged a formal complaint with the European Commission, which eventually responded last month. The response revealed that UK and Scottish authorities had changed the rules in order to avoid breaching European law, and incurring a fine.”
So why have Scottish Ministers failed for nearly two decades to force Whiteshore Cockles to comply with EU law? And why has an EU derogation granted for only 6 months been permitted to last for 5 years?
“The authorities have turned a blind eye to the continued dumping of diseased farmed salmon in landfill for well over a decade,” said Staniford. “Scotland’s secret salmon graveyard stinks to high heaven & must be shut down now” @thetimes@GreenerScotlandhttps://t.co/PUxDL1BKl1
Call out to creative types - can anyone please spoof the @ScotlandSalmon logo? Please change Salmon to $camon so it reads $camon $cotland. And change the Scottish flag to a Norwegian one - and maybe sprinkle some sea lice on the fatty flesh & use dripping blood red writing? pic.twitter.com/zpO3zL288g
Public consultation on a spoof logo for @ScotlandSalmon (the lobby group for salmon farming in Scotland). Please vote now for a new logo for Scamon Scotland - a new group set up to oppose 'Scottish' salmon which is 99% owned/controlled by foreign companies https://t.co/mUbsnaFHp4pic.twitter.com/rgcQknXDMk
Scottish Salmon Watch can reveal that the use of toxic chemicals at salmon farms in Scotland has more than doubled since 2018 - when the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) had planned to ban the use of Emamectin benzoate (SLICE) and restrict the use of Deltamethrin and Azamethiphos to one dose per growth cycle.
Since January 2018 (data up to September 2021) there's been a staggering 1,735 doses of toxic chemicals (Deltamethrin, Azamethiphos and Emamectin benzoate) including 868 doses of Emamectin benzoate which SEPA scientists recommended banning in 2018!
Since 2018 there's been a staggering 1,735 doses of shellfish-killing toxic chemicals (Deltamethrin, Azamethiphos & Emamectin) including 868 doses of Emamectin which scientists @ScottishEPA recommended banning in 2016 (with a two-year phase out)! https://t.co/TAE9KRYcZvpic.twitter.com/JQWbipHHcR
Even without data for Q4 2021 (October to December) which is expected to be published in March, the use of toxic chemicals (Azamethiphos, Deltamethrin and Emamectin benzoate) on salmon farms in Scotland has almost doubled since 2018 with the use of Emamectin benzoate already on a par with 2018 use (the date when SEPA proposed a ban) and the use of Deltamethrin (shown by recent scientific research to be lethal to lobsters up to 39km away!) already significantly higher than in previous years:
Norwegian-owned Grieg Seafood (bought by Scottish Sea Farms in 2021) reported 14 doses of toxic chemicals since September 2018 including three doses of Emamectin benzoate between January and July 2021:
Such repeated use of Emamectin benzoate (SLICE) continued despite a paper co-authored by scientists working at SEPA published in Science of the Total Environment in June 2019 detailing statistically significant impacts on benthic communities even at low concentrations:
Mowi's ASC-certified salmon farm at MacLeans Nose in Loch Sunart has reported a crustacean-killing 23 doses of toxic chemicals since January 2018 including the triple whammy of Azamethiphos, Deltamethrin and Emamectin benzoate use in August 2021 and 10 doses of toxic chemicals in the first nine months of 2021:
Mowi's RSPCA Assured Loch Greshornish salmon farm has reported a staggering 23 doses of toxic chemicals since February 2018 including four doses of Emamectin benzoate in 2021 (data up to September) and a 10-month period between October 2019 and July 2020 which saw Mowi use the lobster-killing organophosphate Azamethiphos over 9 months (just March 2020 was missing):
Mowi's Grey Horse Channel salmon farm (another site currently being audited by the Aquaculture Stewardship Council) has reported a staggering 20 doses of toxic chenicals since May 2019 including doses of both Emamectin benzoate and Azamethiphos in September 2021 with doses of Azamethiphos used in May, June, August and September 2021 with Emamectin benzoate used in July 2021:
Mowi's Groatay salmon farm (yet another site currently being audited by the Aquaculture Stewardship Council) has reported 19 doses of toxic chemicals including Azamethiphos use in May, June, August and September 2021 with the use of Emamectin benzoate in May, July and September 2021:
Kames Bay fish farm - operated by Kames Fish Farming in Loch Melfort - has reported 21 doses of toxic chemicals since January 2018 including doses of both Azamethiphos and Emamectin benzoate in Juy 2021 and doses of both Azamethiphos and Deltamethrin in January and March 2021. A staggering 16 doses of the lobster-killing organophosphate Azamethiphos have been used since January 2018 (Kames Bay is licensed by SEPA for salmon, halibut and trout):
When Scottish Salmon Watch visited Kames in September 2021 and September 2020 we discovered mass mortalities:
Mowi's Port Na Moine fish farm in Loch Craignish - understood to be operated by Kames Fish Farming as an informal exchange for Mowi operating a Kames-owned site at SW Shuna - has reported an eye-popping 24 doses of toxic chemicals since February 2018 including 16 doses of Azamethiphos (the site is licensed by SEPA for both salmon and trout but is understood to be currently farming rainbow trout):
Kames Fish Farming's Rubh an Trilleachain salmon farm in Shuna Sound - operated by Mowi as SW Shuna as an informal exchange for Kames Fish Farming operating Port Na Moine in Loch Craignish - reported 11 doses of toxic chemicals between March 2019 and December 2020:
Kames Fish Farming's Shuna Castle fish farm - licensed by SEPA for salmon and trout - has reported a stomach-churning 21 doses of toxic chemicals including 8 doses during the first 9 months of 2021:
Scallastle Bay salmon farm - operated by Scottish Sea Farms (Norskott Havbruk) in the Sound of Mull - has reported 13 doses of toxic chemicals since August 2018 with four doses of crustacean-killing Emamectin benzoate in the first nine months of 2021 and five doses between March and November 2019:
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/ylOo17mBulpic.twitter.com/Pfq9fGygWd
Some data on toxic chemical use via wellboats has been extracted via Freedom of Information. 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.
Peer-reviewed scientific research over the last few decades has provided a weight of evidence proving lethal impacts of Emamectin benzoate, Azamethiphos and Deltamethrin on shellfish and sediment-dwelling marine life.
The use of toxic chemicals on salmon pharms does not merely have environmental impacts but there are also health concerns. The Ferret reported (13 August 2020):
The escalating chemical warfare on salmon farms - dubbed the 'Silent Spring of the Sea' - has been going on for decades as salmon pharmers fight an unwinnable war against sea lice. The Ferret reported in October 2020:
Ten-fold Increase in Toxic Chemical Use in Ten Years!
Exclusive data obtained from the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) reveals that the use of toxic chemicals on Scottish salmon farms is now ten times higher than a decade ago. Fifteen years of data (2002-2016) obtained via Freedom of Information (FOI) by the Global Alliance Against Industrial Aquaculture (GAAIA) reveals that nearly 4,000 kg of Azamethiphos, Cypermethrin, Deltamethrin, Emamectin benzoate and Teflubenzuron has been used on Scottish farmed salmon in over 8,400 separate chemical treatments since 2002.
The data obtained from SEPA in December 2016 (made available as a 7MB Excel spreadsheet with over 54,000 lines of data entries - download summary online here) reveals that:
467 kg of Azamethiphos, Cypermethrin, Deltamethrin, Emamectin benzoate and Teflubenzuron is expected to be used in 2016 compared to 45 kg in 2006 (39 kg was used in 2005 compared to 367 kg in 2015)
In the last decade (2006-2016), whilst salmon farming production increased only 35% (up from 131,847 tonnes in 2006 to 177,857 tonnes in 2016) the use of toxic chemicals increased a whopping 932%
Since 2002, a staggering 3,990 kg of Azamethiphos, Cypermethrin, Deltamethrin, Emamectin benzoate and Teflubenzuron has been used on Scottish salmon farms (Azamethiphos accounted for 2,036 kg representing 51%; Teflubenzuron accounting for 920 kg representing 23%; Emamectin benzoate accounting for 792 kg representing 20%; Deltamethrin accounting for 125 kg representing 3%; and Cypermethrin accounting for 118 kg representing 3%)
Since 2002, Scottish farmed salmon has been subjected to a total of 8,416 separate chemical treatments (with Emamectin benzoate responsible for 3,831; Deltamethrin responsible for 1901; Cypermethrin responsible for 1330; Azamethiphos responsible for 1313 and Teflubenzuron responsible for 41)
The sudden departure of the chief executive of the Scottish Environment Protection Agency leaves a lot of questions hanging: was Terry A'Hearn guilty of misconduct against colleagues like alleged bully Fergus Ewing; was his misconduct in relation to his dealings with big business or perhaps Terry's dealings with cybercrime and the 'Dark Web' led him down a wrong path?
"You don’t make the world a better place by doing the wrong thing, by burying your head in the sand,” said SEPA's former boss in an interview with FutureScot in October 2021. But a closer examination of Terry A'Hearn's policy - and key decisions - in relation to salmon farming show that SEPA has done some very wrong things indeed and has buried its head in the toxic sediments under salmon farms.
In December 2017, The Ferret reported how SEPA "has been repeatedly wined and dined by the fish farming, whisky and power industries, prompting questions to be raised about its impartiality" including two dinners involving Terry A'Hearn and the salmon farming lobby.
It seems that private dinners are the preferred way that the Salmafia conduct their unsavoury cartel business. Salmon Business reported in March 2021:
"SalMar’s Witzøe attended a dinner meeting with Lerøy’s [CEO] Beltestad, during which they discussed a pricing model for their salmon based on NASDAQ spot prices. Witzøe & Beltestad were communicating with Jim Gallagher of [Scottish Sea Farms] via email" https://t.co/L8nWLUsVURpic.twitter.com/EDV4nIOF2w
Terry A'Hearn's private meetings and dinners with the Salmafia paid off in August 2016 when SEPA was poised to issue a media release announcing a ban on the shellfish-killing chemical Emamectin benzoate (SLICE). Emails disclosed via FOI reveal how intense lobbying by the 'Scottish' salmon farming industry, the chemical giant Merck and their fishy friends inside the Scottish Government forced SEPA into a u-turn with Terry A'Hearn making key policy decisions to stave off a ban:
So instead of banning SLICE (Emamectin benzoate), SEPA not only refrained from issuing a media release announcing a ban but they also buried the Scottish Aquaculture Research Forum report! The Ferret reported in March 2017:
Whilst Terry A'Hearn was having a private dinner with the Salmafia in April 2016, a document disclosed via FOI reveals that SEPA had drawn up a 'Tactical Assessment' to ban SLICE (Emamectin benzoate):
Shamefully, the Scottish Aquaculture Research Forum report which was 'published' in August 2016 was buried and is still not publicly available (you can download a copy online here):
Another scientific paper published in Science of the Total Environment in February 2019 had raised red flags to the use of SLICE (Emamectin benzoate) as well as other sea lice chemicals used by salmon pharmers including Deltamethrin, Azamethiphos and Hydrogen Peroxide:
Terry A'Hearn's reign as Scotland's environmental lapdog not only ignored the weight of scientific evidence on the toxicity of Emamectin benzoate (SLICE) but he also ignored the results of SEPA's own environmental surveys. The front page of The Sunday Herald reported in February 2017:
Here's the table of lochs contaminated with toxic chemicals including Emamectin benzoate (SLICE) and Teflubenzuron (Calicide):
The chemical contamination of sediments under salmon farms has been happening unseen for decades. The Guardian reported in May 2013 that Marine Harvest (renamed Mowi in 2019) had exceeded pollution limits in Loch Shell by a staggering 450 times!
Back in 2009, Rob Edwards reported how Marine Harvest's Ben Hadfield (now boss of Mowi Scotland) "apologised for offering to reward officials at Scotland’s environment watchdog with smoked salmon for giving the go-ahead for a new toxic pesticide in record time".
SEPA's fast-tracking of toxic chemicals has continued - even the use of Emamectin benzoate (SLICE) which would have been banned back in 2018 if Terry A'Hearn had been heeded the warnings of SEPA's own scientists. Scottish Salmon Watch reported in April 2020:
So instead of listening to the science - and heeding the warnings of SEPA's team of scientific advisers - Terry A'Hearn has presided over a period of escalating toxic chemical use by salmon pharming companies and relaxed rules on salmon farms. For example, surveys of chemical contamination under salmon farms completely stopped in July 2020 (at least according to the latest data published online):
The logical response to The Sunday Herald's front page article in February 2017 naming and shaming SEPA for allowing chemical contamination of sediments under salmon farms would have been to increase sampling. Yet the data published online via Scotland's Aquaculture (supplied by SEPA) shows that only 20 surveys were carried out in 2020 (zero in 2021 and zero in 2022) compared to 84 in 2019; 78 in 2018; 104 in 2017; 96 in 2016; and 107 in 2015 (the year Terry A'Hearn joined SEPA as chief executive).
It is difficult to escape the conclusion that SEPA has actively conspired and colluded with the salmon farming industry to evade regulatory oversight and environmental scrutiny. That SEPA's chief officer for compliance - and key person in charge of the regulation of salmon farming - left to join the Salmafia in 2018 raised eyebrows and red flags. The Ferret reported in September 2018:
Another Mowi registered fish farm site - Port na Moine - actually reported 20 doses of toxic chemicals between January 2019 and June 2021 but it is understood to be a rainbow trout farm operated by Kames Fish Farming (an unofficial switch has taken place with a Kames site at SW Shuna/Rubh an Trilleachain operated by Mowi in return).
Other Mowi salmon farms reporting over a dozen doses of toxic chemicals between January 2019 and June 2021 include MacLeans Nose in Loch Sunart (17), Grey Horse Channel (16), North Shore East & West in Loch Erisort (15), Tabhaigh in Loch Erisort (13), Soay Sound in West Loch Tarbert (13), Sconser Quarry (13), Maol Ban in Loch Ainort (13), Invasion Bay in Loch Sunart (13), Creag an Sagairt West in Loch Hourn (13) and Camus Glas in Loch Sunart (13):
Other Mowi salmon farms - all certified as 'welfare friendly' via the discredited RSPCA Assured label - using multiple 'treatments' of toxic chemicals between January 2019 and June 2021 include Poll na Gille (11), Bagn Dail nan Ceann/Bay of the Dead Heads (11), Muck (10) and Colonsay (10):
The use of toxic chemicals on salmon pharms does not merely have environmental impacts but there are also health concerns. The Ferret reported (13 August 2020):
This is not the first time The Scottish Salmon Company has been caught out overdosing on Emamectin benzoate in Loch Roag. The Daily Mail reported in March 2017:
Emamectin contamination of Scottish farmed salmon has now occurred at least eight times with other cases reported by the VMD in 2012 (Scottish Salmon Company), 2010 (Lakeland Marine), 2009 (Skelda Salmon), 2006 (Scottish Sea Farms) and 2005 (Marine Harvest).
According to SEPA's 'Scottish Pollutant Release Inventory', Emamectin benzoate "is a pesticide which works by interfering with nerve impulses in the body" and "exposure to Emamectin benzoate may also cause tremors".
Can you please comment on the suggestion that Terry A'Hearn has left SEPA to join Salmon Scotland, Mowi, Scottish Sea Farms or another salmon farming company (following Anne Anderson's departure in 2018 - and those of Ewan Gillespie and Stephen Macintyre)?
Judged by Terry's policies and decisions since he took over 2015, a cynic might suggest that he was in the pocket of the Salmafia since the very beginning.
Any information on Terry's departure would be much appreciated. If you want to put any specific documents on the Dark Web then please pass on a weblink or email anonymously to [email protected]
The news that Terry A'Hearn has quit as boss of the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) leaves serious question marks hanging over Scotland's environmental lapdog.
Why did @TerryAHearn quit @ScottishEPA? https://t.co/jdUfmAitxh "Following conduct allegations, Terry A’Hearn has stepped down and left his position. SEPA has a clear Code of Conduct and takes conduct allegations very seriously indeed"
"Like a watchdog without bark or bite, SEPA is bending over backwards to accommodate the relentless expansion of salmon farming," I said in a press release in January 2017. "SEPA is cravenly kowtowing to the Scottish Government's reckless plan to double aquaculture by 2030. The answer to the industry's growing problems is blowing in the wind - decrease not increase production. Yet SEPA is deaf, blind and dumb to environmental concerns."
How SEPA has been wined and dined by the salmon farming lobby - as well as other industries - has been reported extensively by The Ferret. Here's an article by Rob Edwards in December 2017:
It would have been interesting to be a fly on the wall in Terry A'Hearn's dinner meetings with the Salmafia in November 2015 and April 2016. What we do know - extracted via Freedom of Information and exposed by Rob Edwards at The Ferret and The Sunday Herald - provides a tantalising glimpse into how Scotland's environmental watchdog became lobotomized. The Ferret has reported on the scandal dubbed 'Slicegate' since 2017:
Anne Anderson's slap-up dinner and smoked salmon breakfast was so satisfying that she left SEPA to join the Scottish Salmon Producers Organisation. The Ferret reported in September 2018:
The Scottish Environment Protection Agency has agreed to relax restrictions on the weight and duration of salmon in cages to help fish farms cope with #coronavirus staff shortages - but critics warn this will cause more pollution.https://t.co/qHtuhqSL0F
Discharges from fish farms of two sea lice pesticides known to harm marine wildlife rose in 2019, reversing declines in earlier years.https://t.co/O9ujdzd5lw
Moves by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency to help the #salmon farming industry cope with #Brexit business losses are a "dereliction of duty", say campaigners.https://t.co/IoVSkN0pn5
RUV in Iceland reported earlier today (21 January 2022) that ISA-hit Laxar has a hole in one of their salmon cages which is now being investigated by the Icelandic authorities for an escape:
“Marine Scotland Science does not undertake routine testing on ova to screen for the presence of aquatic animal pathogens” admitted @scotgov in a FOI disclosure this week. 93 million salmon ova were imported into salmon farms in Scotland in 2020 & 2021!https://t.co/0CFJz9EkPOpic.twitter.com/xAcPOpHNgn
Norwegian-owned Laxar - hit by Infectious Salmon Anaemia in #Iceland - sources salmon eggs (ova) from Stofnfiskur (Benchmark) @WeAreBenchmark Since 2016, 'Scottish' salmon farms have imported 110.6 million ova from Stofnfiskur (Benchmark). Will @scotgov now close the border? pic.twitter.com/xOJO5tuUv2
Loch Duart, Organic Sea Harvest, Scottish Sea Farms & Scottish Salmon Co imported 14 million ova from Iceland & Norway via Landcatch's Ormsary Hatchery since 2016 - how many 'Scottish' farmed salmon have tested positive for ISA? @ScotlandSalmon@salmon_scottish@LochDuartSalmonpic.twitter.com/GFyS1BdUxY
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 Campaigners are calling on open pen salmon farms to be closed down in the wake of horrific video footage pic.twitter.com/KLObWLqf1Y
Following Scottish Salmon Watch's intervention on Monday (17 January 2021), The Pished Fish has quickly deleted their false marketing and deceptive advertising claims of "sustainable" and "sustainably sourced" Scottish salmon!
National Geographic: “It’s a toxic industry” says Don Staniford, director of the environmental activism group Scottish Salmon Watch, who regularly sneaks onto Scottish salmon farms, including some owned by Mowi, to record video of dead and dying salmon" https://t.co/McmY9IY6nMpic.twitter.com/yJrTarmFG2
Data published by the Scottish Government last week (12 January 2022) shows that mass mortalities at salmon farms in Scotland exceeded 700,000 in December alone (data only published until mid December) - here's the largest 'Mass Mortality Events' reported to the Fish Health Inspectorate by salmon farming companies (headed by The Scottish Salmon Company and Mowi) including 44,328 morts at ASC-audited Camus Glas (Mowi):
Data on mass mortalities reported by the Scottish Government's Fish Health Inspectorate last month (15 December 2021) revealed that The Scottish Salmon Company's Druimyeon Bay and neighbouring East Tarbert Bay salmon farm off the Isle of Gigha reported 328,122 dead salmon via 11 'Mortality Event Reports' in 2021 (data up to early November):
Meet the mort transporters for sick @salmon_scottish & @MowiScotlandLtd - M/S Bakkanes & Aqua Scotia (Viking Caledonia) are death boats (called 'wellboats' but should be called 'sickboats') taking millions of dead fish killed by diseases, viruses, parasites etc @ScotlandSalmonpic.twitter.com/DR7jRAfbec
Scottish Salmon Watch has asked The Pished Fish - sold via Waitrose over Xmas as 'Sozzled Santa' - to justify their marketing claims over "sustainably sourced" Scottish salmon "from the best sustainable producers":
From: Don Staniford<[email protected]> Date: Mon, Jan 17, 2022 at 7:24 AM Subject: "Sustainable" claims of Pished Fish's Scottish salmon - can you please provide evidence? To: <[email protected]>
James,
Scottish Salmon Watch has been alerted to false claims by The Pished Fish on your website; namely the claim that your Scottish salmon is "sustainably sourced" via https://www.thepishedfish.com
If you can give details within the next 10 days that would be great. Scottish Salmon Watch has been asked to investigate this issue by a concerned supporter. Hopefully a change of wording will avoid an unnecessary and unsavoury case to advertising/trading standards re. deceptive marketing.
As context, Scottish Salmon Watch has taken cases to Trading & Advertising Standards in the past re. misleading salmon products:
I understand that you visit Billingsgate market to select your "sustainable" Scottish salmon. Scottish Salmon Watch has visited Billingsgate market too and has found deformed Scottish salmon on sale: https://vimeo.com/306809454
In November 2021, French TV (France 5) featured shocking video footage shot inside salmon farms in Scotland which portrayed Scottish salmon as far from responsible and sustainable:
In conclusion, which companies and farms does The Pished Fish source Scottish salmon from? And upon what evidence does The Pished Fish base the marketing claims on your website that the Scottish salmon is "sustainably sourced"?
A swift reply to substantiate your claims or an amendment to your website would be much appreciated.
The Pished Fish has been sold (according to their website) in "some of the finest food-halls in the world, including Fortnum and Mason and Selfridges":
National Geographic: “It’s a toxic industry” says Don Staniford, director of the environmental activism group Scottish Salmon Watch, who regularly sneaks onto Scottish salmon farms, including some owned by Mowi, to record video of dead and dying salmon" https://t.co/McmY9IY6nMpic.twitter.com/yJrTarmFG2
Imported salmon ova (eggs) "are all tested for a plethora of diseases" claims @HGSalmonUK in this week's @argyllshiread Meanwhile, @scotgov admit that "Marine Scotland Science does not undertake routine testing on ova to screen for the presence of aquatic animal pathogens" pic.twitter.com/k32aZDfHa6
Today (16 January 2022), Scottish Salmon Watch wrote to the Scottish Government and Hendrix/Landcatch asking for the test results from all the ova tested for a "plethora of diseases" as claimed by Hendrix Genetics UK in this week's Argyllshire Advertiser.
Mr van den Berg's claims that all ova are tested for a plethora of diseases is not backed up by the published evidence via the Fish Health Inspectorate's 'Case Information; for example. Here's details of an inspection report of 5 million ova at Landcatch's Ormsary Hatchery 'inspected' in January 2018 (Case 2018-0013, p73-81) with the admission in a letter from Marine Scotland Science dated 19 January 2018 that "no samples were taken for disease analysis":
In order to ground-truth the claims by Hendrix/Landcatch in the Argyllshire Advertiser could the Scottish Government please therefore provide information on testing of salmon ova (including imported, 'home-grown' ova and ova tested for export) for diseases, pathogens, bacteria, viruses (indeed the whole "plethora of diseases" referred to by Hendrix Landcatch) since 1 January 2018.
Please include emails, test results, photos, sampling, data, Excel spreadsheets and any other information relating to testing of ova for a plethora of diseases since 1 January 2018.
If the Scottish Government has no data on testing by Marine Scotland Science or other Scottish Government agencies - as suggested previously - then please include data conducted via private contracts or at least include emails, letters and any other information relating to the testing of ova for diseases. Please include any Cabinet Briefings, correspondence with Hendrix/Landcatch and any other salmon farming interests.
As Scottish Salmon Watch pointed out in a letter to Scottish Ministers in February 2020, there is an "optional service" to screen ova for PRV (and presumably a "plethora of diseases"):
Please include any information relating to this "optional service of screening" for PRV and any other diseases, pathogens and viruses in salmon ova.
Please consider this a formal request for information under the relevant FOI and Environmental Information regulations.
Please provide the information electronically - if the data set is simply too large to include all the ova tested for a plethora of diseases then please Zip the huge files.
Please provide a receipt for this FOI request.
Thanks,
Don Staniford
Director, Scottish Salmon Watch
“Marine Scotland Science does not undertake routine testing on ova to screen for the presence of aquatic animal pathogens” admitted @scotgov in a FOI disclosure this week. 93 million salmon ova were imported into salmon farms in Scotland in 2020 & 2021!https://t.co/0CFJz9EkPOpic.twitter.com/xAcPOpHNgn
Landcatch's general manager Jarl van den Berg objected to Scottish Salmon Watch taking samples of salmon hatchery effluents being discharged onto a public beach on Loch Caolisport in Argyll.
Scottish Salmon Watch asked Police Scotland to give the 29-year old a warning rather than file a formal complaint that may have led to an assault charge.
Scottish Salmon Watch also reported on Friday (14 January 2022) that the Scottish Government does not test imported ova (or smolts for that matter) for infectious diseases, pathogens or viruses!
“Marine Scotland Science does not undertake routine testing on ova to screen for the presence of aquatic animal pathogens” admitted @scotgov in a FOI disclosure this week. 93 million salmon ova were imported into salmon farms in Scotland in 2020 & 2021!https://t.co/0CFJz9EkPOpic.twitter.com/xAcPOpHNgn
Scottish Salmon Watch today (16 January 2022) wrote to the Scottish Government and Hendrix/Landcatch asking for the test results from all the ova tested for a "plethora of diseases" (as claimed by Jarl van den Berg at Hendrix Genetics UK):
Mr van den Berg's claims that all ova are tested for a plethora of diseases is not backed up by the published evidence via the Fish Health Inspectorate's 'Case Information; for example. Here's details of an inspection report of 5 million ova at Landcatch's Ormsary Hatchery 'inspected' in January 2018 (Case 2018-0013, p73-81) with the admission in a letter from Marine Scotland Science dated 19 January 2018 that "no samples were taken for disease analysis":
In order to ground-truth the claims by Hendrix/Landcatch in the Argyllshire Advertiser could the Scottish Government please therefore provide information on testing of salmon ova (including imported, 'home-grown' ova and ova tested for export) for diseases, pathogens, bacteria, viruses (indeed the whole "plethora of diseases" referred to by Hendrix Landcatch) since 1 January 2018.
Please include emails, test results, photos, sampling, data, Excel spreadsheets and any other information relating to testing of ova for a plethora of diseases since 1 January 2018.
If the Scottish Government has no data on testing by Marine Scotland Science or other Scottish Government agencies - as suggested previously - then please include data conducted via private contracts or at least include emails, letters and any other information relating to the testing of ova for diseases. Please include any Cabinet Briefings, correspondence with Hendrix/Landcatch and any other salmon farming interests.
As Scottish Salmon Watch pointed out in a letter to Scottish Ministers in February 2020, there is an "optional service" to screen ova for PRV (and presumably a "plethora of diseases"):
Please include any information relating to this "optional service of screening" for PRV and any other diseases, pathogens and viruses in salmon ova.
Please consider this a formal request for information under the relevant FOI and Environmental Information regulations.
Please provide the information electronically - if the data set is simply too large to include all the ova tested for a plethora of diseases then please Zip the huge files.
“Marine Scotland Science does not undertake routine testing on ova to screen for the presence of aquatic animal pathogens” admitted @scotgov in a FOI disclosure this week. 93 million salmon ova were imported into salmon farms in Scotland in 2020 & 2021!https://t.co/0CFJz9EkPOpic.twitter.com/xAcPOpHNgn
Data on mass mortalities reported by the Scottish Government's Fish Health Inspectorate last month (15 December 2021) reveals that The Scottish Salmon Company's Druimyeon Bay and neighbouring East Tarbert Bay salmon farm off the Isle of Gigha reported 328,122 dead salmon via 11 'Mortalitiy Event Reports' in 2021 (data up to early November):
Sea lice data published by the Scottish Government (data up to late December 2021) reveal persistent breaches of lice limits by The Scottish Salmon Company at Portree, Portree Outer, Druimyeon Bay and East Tarbert Bay during 2021 (despite repeated use of mechanical and chemical treatments):
Inspections of The Scottish Salmon Company's East Tarbert Bay salmon farm off the Isle of Gigha on 13 October 2021 and West Strome salmon farm in Loch Carron (which received fish from Portree Outer in January 2021) on 16 September are still 'awaiting publication' (to be published soon online here). Inside Scottish Salmon Feedlots published the shocking video footage from the Isle of Gigha on Friday (15 October 2021):
Intrafish report: "Notification of Bakkafrost fine of 67 million creates complications - the warning comes as a result of a possible violation of the Animal Welfare Act". Bakkafrost was notified of the fine (£7.7 million) by the Prime Minister's office https://t.co/eDFgAvPi9dpic.twitter.com/HK4t4RYBzL
In November 2021, it was revealed that the former chief executive of The Scottish Government had hired a private investigator to spy on campaigners. The Herald reported (27 November 2021):
'Case Information' published last week (6 January 2022) by the Scottish Government exposes the horrors of salmon farms operated by RSPCA Assured Norwegian giant Mowi - including 117,414 dead lumpfish (49% mortality), lice infestation, use of the toxic chemicals Hydrogen peroxide and Azamethiphos, Amoebic Gill Disease, Heart & Skeletal Muscle Inflammation, Yersinia (Black Death), Cardiomyopathy syndrome, Infectious Pancreatic Necrosis virus and Salmonid alphavirus.
Here's a Fish Health Inspectorate report (Cases 20210390-20210430) detailing an inspection of Mowi's North Shore salmon farm in Loch Erisort on 20 October 2021:
Mmmmm - who's for some 'healthy' Mowi salmon fresh from Loch Erisort (shamefully certified - along with all Mowi's salmon farming production - as welfare friendly via RSPCA Assured)?
Mass mortalities at salmon farms already certified as "responsibly farmed" by the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) and at sites currently being audited for ASC-certification shows how ASC certification of Scottish salmon is dead in the water.
However, the scale of mortalities at Scottish Sea Farms in Toyness is much more than officially reported to the Scottish Government's Fish Health Inspectorate. 'Case Information' published by the Scottish Government's Fish Health Inspectorate last week (6 January 2022) details 102,146 mortalities in a four week week period (Weeks 39 to 42: i.e. 27 September to 24 October 2021) at ASC-audited Toyness salmon farm operated by Norwegian-owned Scottish Sea Farms (Norskott Havbruk) as reported by an inspection dated 26 October 2021. 'Heart failure', 'impaired respiration', infestation rates of 3-4 lice per fish sampled, epitheliocysts (associated with Chlamydia), Amoebic Gill Disease, Complex Gill Issues, hepatic necrosis and salmon gill poxvirus were cited in the Fish Health Inspectorate's report (Cases 20210431-20210458; pp 49-71):
Note that the missing mortality data for Week 39 is 27,400:
EXPOSED: Mowi's ASC-certified salmon farm off the Isle of Rum experienced 160,000 morts with anaemic "fish bleeding out during lice counts" in a four week period in Sept/Oct 2021 @marinescotland - how can @ASC_aqua still certify @MowiScotlandLtd as "farmed responsibly"? pic.twitter.com/GIaw6leVuh
Here's mortality data published by Salmon Scotland (download via https://www.salmonscotland.co.uk/reports) which blows out the water ASC certification for a raft of Mowi salmon farms due to mortality rates well above 10%:
Moreover, the recent mortality rate in October 2021 at Caolas a Deas West, Caolas a Deas East, Greanem and Grey Horse Channel raise red flags (cummulative mortality data will not be available until harvest but the data suggests a mortality rate well above the ASC's 10% threshold):
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@ScotlandMowipic.twitter.com/TZzuKoIXWB
Download press release and backgrounder in full online here
Loch Duart, Organic Sea Harvest, Scottish Sea Farms & Scottish Salmon Co imported 14 million ova from Iceland & Norway via Landcatch's Ormsary Hatchery since 2016 - how many 'Scottish' farmed salmon have tested positive for ISA? @ScotlandSalmon@salmon_scottish@LochDuartSalmonpic.twitter.com/GFyS1BdUxY
Got a piece in the @TheSTMagazine today, about the eradication of a wild fish and the eradication of a culture. Photos by the fantastic @germanocean, who has documented the netsmen for decades. pic.twitter.com/IVBI5D3nhQ
Today we visited scientists near Fort William looking at the problems facing the wild #salmon population to find out why numbers are decreasing at an alarming rate. pic.twitter.com/0ySpwqpf1t
