Financial results for Q3 2022 published this week by the Norwegian-owned giants who have a stranglehold over 'Scottish' salmon farming lays bare the depth of the industry's mortality and disease problems. Today (10 November 2022), SalMar (co-owner of Norskott Havbruk/Scottish Sea Farms - Scotland's #2 salmon farmer) reported a 8,000 tonne shortfall in 2022.
Yesterday (9 November 2022) Scotland's #1 salmon farmer Mowi reported a 22% fall in salmon farming production in Scotland representing 14,400 tonnes.
On Tuesday (8 November 2022) Bakkafrost Scottish (formerly called The Scottish Salmon Company and Scotland's #3 salmon farmer just ahead of Canadian-owned Cooke Aquaculture) reported a 10,000 tonne black hole.
You don't have to be as brainy as Albert Einstein to work out that this represents a 32,400 tonne negative hit for salmon farming in Scotland or that 32,400 tonnes of lost production out of an annual production forecast this year as ca. 190,000 tonnes represents a significant loss.
These Norwegian-owned companies (Bakkafrost's largest shareholder is the Norwegian Government as represented by Folketrygdfondet; Mowi is controlled by Norway's richest man John Fredriksen via Geveran Trading with the Norwegian Government as the second largest shareholder; and Norskott Havbruk/Scottish Sea Farms which bought Grieg Seafood in Scotland last year is co-owned by Norwegian giants SalMar and Leroy Seafood) are Scotland's three largest salmon farming companies and together account for over 80% of 'Scottish' salmon farming production.
If other companies are experiencing the same level of problems - and it appears that Loch Duart (Scotland's #5 salmon farmer) is being ravaged in Loch Carnan - then the black hole could be more than 40,000 tonnes of lost salmon farming production this year.
We will have to wait until Autumn next year when the Scottish Government publishes production data for 2022 to find out the precise negative hit but a look at the 'Scottish Fish Farm Production Survey 2021' (published on 27 October 2022) highlights the huge loss:
However, the predicted fall from 205,393 tonnes of Scottish farmed salmon in 2021 to 189,693 tonnes in 2022 (that represents a 7.6% fall) does not tell the whole story. A look at the 'Scottish Fish Farm Production Survey 2020' (published in September 2021) gives a glimpse of the growing black hole which surprised industry forecasters. Note here that 236,000 tonnes was predicted in 2021 but only 205,393 tonnes was actually reported (a 13% shortfall in predicted vs actual production):
The rising level of losses points to the survival rate on salmon farms in Scotland - which currently stands at 74.4% (i.e. 25.6% mortality) - falling yet further this year.
Exactly how many farmed salmon die on salmon farms across Scotland each year has been unknown for the last decade since the industry lobbied against publication of mortality numbers arguing that disclosure would be 'commercially damaging'!
Einstein, Pythagoras, Tao as well as Matt Damon in the film 'Good Will Hunting' would all struggle to decipher the conundrum that is Scottish salmon's mortality problem.
Whilst we don't know the exact number of mortalities, the public can see the shocking scale of mass mortalities via data published by the Scottish Government, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency and Salmon Scotland.
The three companies - Mowi, Bakkafrost Scotland/The Scottish Salmon Company and Norskott Havbruk/Scottish Sea Farms - reporting huge losses this week have all experienced huge problems with diseases, lice infestation and viruses:
New mortality data for September 2022 published yesterday (9 November 2022) by Salmon Scotland suggests that the mortality problem is getting even worse:
Read more via:
8,000 tonne shortfall for Scottish Sea Farms (Norskott Havbruk) due to "biological challenges"!
Record Death Rates Plagues Salmon Farms Across Scotland!
Annus Horribilis Salmonis: Mowi's "Troublesome Year" in Scotland - 22% fall in production!
Bakkafrost's Scottish Salmon Nightmare Gets Worse with 10,000 Tonne Black Hole in Scotland!
Death Stalks Scottish Salmon - Rising Mortalities Plague RSPCA Assured & ASC-Certified Sites!
21% Mortality at Mowi's ASC-Certified & RSPCA Assured Marulaig Bay & Rum in ONE WEEK!!!
Abominable Salmon Certification - the Aquaculture Stewardship Council is Sponsoring Serial Killing in Scotland!
Scottish Scamon: Piscine Reovirus, skin lesions/boils & "hanging" salmon in Loch Creran (sold by M&S as "responsibly sourced" & certified via RSPCA Assured)!
RSPCA Assured Scottish Salmon Infested with 50 Lice, Poxvirus, Necrosis, Lesions & Myocarditis!
Salmon Hell on 'God's Island' - Mass Mortalities Pile Up (Again) at RSPCA Assured Bakkafrost off Isle of Gigha!
Greenwashing by the ASC - you can't polish a turd but you can roll it in glitter!
New Survey Lifts Lid on Falling Production & Rising Mortalities on 'Scottish' Salmon Farms!
Death Deflation: 13 Million Morts On Scottish Salmon Farms in 2021 - More Like 22 Million (& maybe 50 million if you add freshwater)!
Named & Shamed: The Most Deadly Salmon Farms in Scotland (as greenwashed as "responsible" via RSPCA Assured & the ASC)!
Halloween Comes Early at Deadly Scottish Salmon - mortalities pile up due to viral disease, fungus, gill infections & lice infestations!
Death Rates Soar at Salmon Farms (according to data published by Salmon Scotland)
Press Release: "Year of the Dead Salmon: Scottish Salmon Plagued by Mass Mortality Problems"
Media Backgrounder: Year of the Dead Salmon - Bakkafrost Scotland is the King of Death!
Fake News? Over 50% Mortality at RSPCA Assured Scottish Salmon Farms - how can supermarkets advertise it as "responsibly sourced"?
56% Mortality at RSPCA Assured Mowi (but don't worry, it's certified as "farmed responsibly" by the Aquaculture Stewardship Council)!
Exposed: 10 Million Morts at RSPCA Assured Mowi Since 2019!
Revealed: 30+ Million Dead Scottish Salmon Since 2017 - over 8 million morts reported last year & over half a million in first two weeks of 2022!!
Mowi's "Woes in Scotland" - Disease & Deaths Cause £5.6 Million Losses!
Over 80% Mortality at The Scottish Salmon Company!!!
ASC-Certified/Audited Mass Mortalities Pile Up at Lousy Mowi & Scottish Sea Farms!
New Mortality Data for Disease-Ridden Scottish Salmon - 700,000+ in the first two weeks of December!
Mass mortalities at ASC-certified Mowi!
Dead in the Water - Scottish Salmon's Mortality Mountain Piles Ever Higher in 2021!
Mass Mortalities - 66% in one month at The Scottish Salmon Company on the Isle of Gigha!
Lousy 'Scottish' Salmon - the most lice-infested salmon farms named & shamed!
Irresponsible Scottish Salmon Exposed: 'Scotland's Aquaculture' Publishes Data on Toxic Chemicals Use, Morts & Biomass Breaches
STV News: "Thousands of rotting salmon ‘stink out’ village after mass death at farm"
X-Rated Video: 90% Mortality at The Faroese/Norwegian 'Scottish' Salmon Company?!
Video Nasties of Dead Farmed Salmon Pile Up All Over the World!
Videos of Mort Disposal by The Scottish Salmon Company - like a serial killer disposing of dead bodies before the police arrive!
Demand for moratorium on new fish farms after mortality rates revealed
"The shocking death rates on Scotland's salmon farms revealed"
Rest Assured - the RSPCA has been captured, co-opted & corrupted by the Salmafia