Green Around the Gills : 29 November 2022

In a letter to Scottish Ministers (28 November 2022), $camon $cotland calls on the Scottish Government to come clean on the extent of PRV/HSMI in Scottish salmon farms (including hatcheries) and processing plants:

The letter showcases an analysis of Scottish Government 'Case Information' and 'Mortality Event Reports' published by the Fish Health Inspectorate which details PRV/HSMI at 37 salmon farms across Scotland since November 2017 (with many more cases reported since data became publicly available in 2013):

REVEALED: Data @scotgov shows 37 salmon farms across Scotland reported PRV/HSMI since November 2017: 14 Bakkafrost @Folketrygdfond; 10 @MowiScotlandLtd; 6 @scotseafarms; 4 @GriegShetland; 2 @LochDuartSalmon & 1 @CookeScotland https://t.co/TZgmqNv5VM @ScotlandSalmon @TavishScott pic.twitter.com/Wgad7GSCUh
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) November 29, 2022

The letter to Scottish Ministers concludes:

Mapped: Scottish salmon's disease-ridden & virus-laden salmon farms https://t.co/TZgmqNNf9U
What safeguards are in place to stop the spread of PRV/HSMI? @scotgov @marinescotland @ScottishEPA @ScotlandSalmon @MowiScotlandLtd @scotseafarms @GriegShetland @LochDuartSalmon pic.twitter.com/gaSWwtFTMy
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) November 29, 2022

Read the letter to Scottish Ministers online here

Read more via a press release (29 November 2022) online here

REVEALED: 'Case Information' published by @scotgov shows Mowi's Carradale salmon farm in Kilbrannan Sound tested positve for PRV-1 in August 2020 - 10 days before 48,834 salmon escaped into rivers up & down the West coast! #PRV #HSMI #Disease #Virus @ScotlandSalmon @TavishScott pic.twitter.com/M3ftFwPdHB
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) November 29, 2022

From: Don Staniford <salmonfarmingkills@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, Nov 28, 2022 at 10:22 AM
Subject: Letter & FOI to Scottish Ministers re. PRV/HSMI
To: <scottish.ministers@gov.scot>
Cc: <directormarinescotland@gov.scot>, <marinescotland@gov.scot>

Please pass on a letter to Scottish Ministers - including a FOI - on PRV/HSMI.

Download the letter dated 28 November 2022 online here (it can be emailed but it is 13 MB and may bounce).

The FOI part of the letter - at the end on p87 - includes:

Please consider this a formal request for information under the relevant FOI and Environmental Information regulations:

How many wild fish have been tested by the Scottish Government (including Marine Scotland Science) for PRV/HSMI since 1 January 2019?

How many farmed salmon in sea cages, freshwater lochs, hatcheries, harvesting stations and processing plants have been tested by the Scottish Government (including Marine Scotland Science) for PRV/HSMI since 1 January 2019?

Please provide an annual breakdown and provide documents (including photos) detailing testing, sampling, data analysis, scientific studies and any information pertaining to PRV/HSMI. Please provide copies of any Cabinet Briefings, internal memos, letters, correspondence with salmon farming companies and diagnostic testing companies and emails.

Please provide any information held by the Scottish Government on testing of farmed salmon and wild fish for PRV/HSMI – including any commercial testing carried out by salmon farming companies such as Mowi, Bakkafrost/The Scottish Salmon Company, Scottish Sea Farms (Norskott Havbruk), Grieg Seafood, Cooke Aquaculture, Loch Duart, Kames and Organic Sea Harvest as well as private diagnostic testing by companies such as Patogen and the Fish Vet Group.

In light of the recent science on PRV/HSMI from Canada, $camon $cotland urges the Scottish Government to reconsider and reverse previous refusals to disclose data on PRV/HSMI testing of farmed salmon.

Please provide the information electronically and please provide a receipt for this FOI request.

A formal reply to the concerns raised in this letter from Scottish Ministers would also be much appreciated.

Please let me know if you need a PDF copy (13 MB) emailed.

Thanks,

Don Staniford

Director, $camon $cotland

Unsatisfactory Biosecurity: Disease Control 'Improvement' & 'Further Investigation' Required at Processing Plants Operated by Mowi & Loch Duart

Letter to Scottish Ministers: Please Close the Border to Imports of Salmon Ova, Parr & Smolts!

Iceland Still Importing Ova to 'Scottish' Salmon Farms Despite Disease Risks

Game Ova for Imports & Exports: Close the Borders to Stop the Spread of Diseases & Genetic Pollution!

Infectious Salmon Anaemia Reported at Landcatch’s Ormsary Hatchery in November – was ISA imported via infected salmon eggs (ova) from Iceland?

Stop the Scottish Salmondemic - please avoid disease-ridden farmed salmon like the proverbial plague!

ISA hits Scottish Sea Farms owner SalMar in Norway - how many hidden cases are lurking on salmon farms in Scotland?

Letter to Scottish Ministers calling for a ban on ova imports from Iceland

FOI Reveals Virus-Laden Salmon Slip Net & Into Scottish Waters

Norwegian Salmon Egg Exports Banned Due to Disease Risks

Game Ova for Scottish Salmon - Deadly disease delays egg imports from AquaGen in Norway

Deadly virus outbreak prompted fears over import of fish farm eggs to Scotland

Letter to Scottish Ministers: "Bio-security Protocols & Safety Precautions re. Ova Imports"

Salmondemic Plagues Scotland

Virus-Laden Farmed Salmon - FOI reveals over half of samples test positive for Piscine Reovirus

ADDENDUM:

From: Don Staniford <salmonfarmingkills@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, Nov 28, 2022 at 11:30 AM
Subject: PRV/HSMI risks to wild fish - FMS position/tests/science?
To: <general@fms.scot>

Please pass this email onto FMS's Aquaculture Interactions Officer and your scientific committee.

Does FMS have a policy position or press statement in relation to the risks of PRV/HSMI to wild fish (especially in relation to the mass escape of 48,834 PRV-infected farmed salmon from Mowi's Carradale salmon farm in August 2020)?

You should be aware of a recently published scientific paper:

‘Detection and phylogenetic assessment of PRV-1 via sampling of biological materials released from salmon farms in British Columbia’

Scientists in Canada collected biological samples adjacent to 56 marine net pens from five different companies and two farm salmon processing plants with 70% of samples testing positive for Piscine orthoreovirus-1 (PRV-1). This compares to Marine Scotland Science detecting PRV in 52% (399 out of 774 samples) of farmed salmon tested in 2018/2019.

$camon $cotland (formerly called Scottish Salmon Watch) today wrote to Scottish Ministers calling for testing of marine and freshwater salmon farms, hatcheries, harvesting stations and processing plants for PRV/HSMI - read our letter online here (see below for an email to Scottish Ministers which includes a FOI on testing for PRV/HSMI in wild fish).

Based on information published online by the Scottish Government's Fish Health Inspectorate, $camon $cotland identify 37 salmon farms across Scotland where PRV/HSMI has been detected since November 2017. These PRV/HSMI cases are detailed in a map (download online here) and include 14 Bakkafrost/The Scottish Salmon Company salmon farms; 10 Mowi; 6 Scottish Sea Farms; 4 Grieg Seafood, 2 Loch Duart and 1 Cooke Aquaculture; namely:

Bakkafrost/ The Scottish Salmon Company (Aird in Loch Sheildaig/Torridon)

Bakkafrost/ The Scottish Salmon Company (Ardcastle Bay in Loch Fyne)

Bakkafrost/ The Scottish Salmon Company (East Tarbert Bay in the Sound of Gigha)

Bakkafrost/ The Scottish Salmon Company (Lamlash Bay/St Molios, Isle of Arran)

Bakkafrost/ The Scottish Salmon Company (Loch Odhairn/Gravir, Isle of Lewis)

Bakkafrost/ The Scottish Salmon Company (Maragay Mor in Loch Uiskevagh, Uists)

Bakkafrost/ The Scottish Salmon Company (Portree/Torvaig in Sound of Raasay, Isle of Skye)

Bakkafrost/ The Scottish Salmon Company (Portree Outer in Sound of Raasay, Isle of Skye)

Bakkafrost/ The Scottish Salmon Company (Plocrapol in East Loch Tarbert, Isle of Harris)

Bakkafrost/ The Scottish Salmon Company (Reibinish in East Loch Tarbert, Isle of Harris)

Bakkafrost/ The Scottish Salmon Company (Scadabay in Loch Grosebay, Isle of Harris)

Bakkafrost/ The Scottish Salmon Company (Sgeir Dughall in Loch Torridon)

Bakkafrost/ The Scottish Salmon Company (Taranaish in Loch Roag, Isle of Lewis)

Bakkafrost/ The Scottish Salmon Company (Tarbert South in Loch Fyne)

Cooke Aquaculture (Lyrawa Bay in Scapa Flow, Orkney Islands)

Grieg Seafood (Cole Deep in Gon Firth, Shetland)

Grieg Seafood (Gob Na Hoe in Loch Dunvegan, Isle of Skye)

Grieg Seafood (Leinish Bay in Loch Dunvegan, Isle of Skye)

Grieg Seafood (North Voe in Linga Sound, Shetland)

Loch Duart (Loch Laxford, Sutherland)

Loch Duart (Lochmaddy, North Uist)

Mowi (Ardintoul in Loch Alsh)

Mowi (Cairidh in Loch Ainort, Isle of Skye)

Mowi (Eilean Grianain/Carradale in Kilbrannan Sound)

Mowi (Greshornish in Loch Snizort, Isle of Skye)

Mowi (Kingairloch in Loch a Choire/Loch Linnhe)

Mowi (North Shore in Loch Erisort, Isle of Lewis)

Mowi (Sconser Quarry in Caol Mor, Isle of Skye)

Mowi (Sron in Loch Alsh)

Mowi (Stulaigh in Loch Eynort, South Uist)

Mowi (Tabhaigh in Loch Erisort, Isle of Lewis)

Scottish Sea Farms (Bight of Foraness in Swinnister Voe, Shetland)

Scottish Sea Farms (Bloody Bay in the Sound of Mull, Isle of Mull)

Scottish Sea Farms (Loch Creran)

Scottish Sea Farms (Lismore North, Loch Linnhe)

Scottish Sea Farms (Nevis C in Loch Nevis)

Scottish Sea Farms (Shuna in Loch Linnhe)

Many more PRV/HSMI positive cases are reported by the Scottish Government's Fish Health Inspectorate via 'Case Information' archived for 2013-2017 (some cases are identified in $camon $cotland's letter to Scottish Ministers).

The letter also cites a Fish Health Inspectorate report in August 2020 for Mowi's Carradale salmon farm in Kilbrannan Sound which reported 12/12 samples of farmed salmon testing positive by Patogen for PRV-1 (the causative agent of HSMI) on 10 August 2020 (ten days before the escape of 48,834 farmed salmon). There is no record of PRV/HSMI testing of wild salmon following the mass escape – including escapees caught in the River Leven, River Stinchar, River Doon and the River Girvan. If FMS did any testing or is aware of any please pass on.

In September 2019, Scottish Salmon Watch published photos of disease-ridden wild salmon – tested by Scottish Government inspectors for infectious diseases – and asked: “Are Farms Spreading Infectious Diseases, Pathogens & Viruses to Wild Fish?”

The letter cites a Fish Health Inspectorate report in June 2021 which detailed the testing of 90 juvenile wild salmon caught in the River Forss - all were negative for PRV. A further 5 samples of wild salmon caught in the River Divie (River Findhorn) in May 2022 were tested by the Fish Health Inspectorate - all were negative for PRV. Other 'Case Information' published by the Scottish Government also details testing of wild salmon for PRV.

Whilst ca. 100 wild salmon appear to have been tested by the Scottish Government's Fish Health Inspectorate since June 2021 (you are welcome to trawl through all the 'Case Information' for yourself to get the exact number - online here), it seems that less than a dozen farmed salmon are tested each year by the Scottish Government. Instead, private diagnostic companies (including Patogen based in Dunstaffnage and the Fish Vet Group in Inverness) and in-house company vets are carrying out PRV/HSMI testing. The private testing is often referenced - but not included in full - via 'Case Information' published online by the Scottish Government. More detailed information on the 399 PRV-positive tests detected by Marine Scotland Science in farmed salmon in 2018/2019 (as disclosed by the Scottish Government via FOI) was refused due to "commercial confidentiality".

You can find out more context and information in our letter to Scottish Ministers online here.

Suffice to say that $camon $cotland have serious concerns at the lack of Scottish Government testing - including in freshwater farms, hatcheries, harvesting stations, processing plants and via imported ova.

As I wrote to Scottish Ministers:

"The disease dangers of importing ova – whether they are sourced from Norway, Iceland or Ireland – represents all too real a risk for wild fish and it beggars belief that imported ova remains untested for PRV, ISA and other viruses, pathogens and diseases. Government surveillance of PRV/HSMI inside sea cages, freshwater smolt farms, hatcheries and processing plants (including waste effluents and waste biological material) must close the net on the disease-ridden, virus-laden and lice-infested salmon farming sector in Scotland. The protection of commercial confidentiality and the business interests of foreign-owned companies (who control 99% of ‘Scottish’ salmon farming production) cannot be allowed to take precedence over Scotland’s iconic wild salmon.”

More background on this issue is published via:

Piscine Reovirus Ravages Scottish Salmon Farms - please follow the science in Canada & investigate the risks to wild fish in Scotland!

Going Down the Drain: Photos of Mowi's blood water treatment at "highly offensive & polluting" processing plant in Fort William

Unsatisfactory Biosecurity: Disease Control 'Improvement' & 'Further Investigation' Required at Processing Plants Operated by Mowi & Loch Duart

Heart & Pancreas Disease Ravage Scottish Salmon (according to new Marine Scotland Science report)

FOI Reveals Virus-Laden Salmon Slip Net & Into Scottish Waters

Virus-Laden Farmed Salmon - FOI reveals over half of samples test positive for Piscine Reovirus

A press release referencing $camon $cotland's concerns and letter to Scottish Ministers is also available online here (Embargoed until tomorrow).

If you have any queries I am on 07771 541826.

Best fishes,

Don

From: Don Staniford <salmonfarmingkills@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, Nov 29, 2022 at 7:55 AM
Subject: PRV/HSMI cases on salmon farms in Scotland?
To: <eann.munro@gov.scot>

Dr Munro,

I was reading your April 2021 presentation at TriNation in which you report (based on data sourced from Salmon Scotland) that there were only two cases of HSMI in 2020 and zero in 2019: http://trination.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Munro_Scotland-Trinations-meeting.pdf

Why were the reports of HSMI (and PRV) - published via the Scottish Government's 'Case Information' and 'Mortality Event Reports' - ignored?

The data may be difficult to extract (it's almost as if someone has deliberately hidden it) but it's all there to see - $camon $cotland counted 37 PRV/HSMI cases over the last five years (since November 2017) and many more detailed via the 2013-2017 FHI 'Case Information'.

And the FHI 'Case Information' cites numerous HSMI/PRV cases of private commercial diagnostic testing by Patogen and the Fish Vet Group on behalf of salmon farming companies. Surely, Marine Scotland Science has access to that database?

A FOI disclosure by Marine Scotland Science in June 2019 showed that PRV was detected in 52% (399 out of 774 samples tested) of farmed salmon.

Anyway, here's a map of the 37 PRV/HSMI positives reported by the Scottish Government since November 2017:

PRV map #5 including Shetland and Orkney with title

The 37 PRV/HSMI positive cases since November 2017 include 14 sites operated by Bakkafrost/The Scottish Salmon Company; 10 Mowi; 6 Scottish Sea Farms; 4 Grieg Seafood, 2 Loch Duart and 1 Cooke Aquaculture site: