BREAKING NEWS from Scotland's Killing Farms!
Read a press release and media backgrounder online via "Lethal Scottish Farmed Salmon: Serial Seal Killers Named & Shamed!"
Scotland’s
seal killing salmon farms are finally named and shamed following a
Freedom of Information disclosure forced on the Scottish Government by the
Scottish Information Commissioner. The
damning data reveals that over half of the salmon farms in Scotland killed seals
as a ‘last resort’ even though only 13% of sites have predator nets installed!
The
worst offenders are the Norwegian-owned companies Hjaltland (Grieg Seafood),
Scottish Sea Farms (Leroy/Salmar), Marine Harvest (Meridian/Morpol) and the
Scottish Salmon Company. GAAIA is now
writing to retailers and the U.S. Government urging a boycott of
‘seal-unfriendly’ farmed salmon.
FOI
data disclosed late yesterday
(7 May) reveals that salmon farms in Orkney & the North Coast, Shetland,
Western Isles and on the West Coast of Scotland killed a total of 346 seals (93
common seals and 253 grey seals). During
2011 and the first six months of 2012, 112 different salmon farms killed at
least one seal – representing 52% of the 215 active
salmon farms
in Scotland. Fifteen salmon farms
accounted for over a third (37%) of the killings – with the ‘Seven Deadliest
Salmon Farms’ accounting for a quarter of all killings:
18
seals killed – Hjaltland: Lax Firth, Shetland (#333)
14
seals killed – Scottish Sea Farms: Veantrow Bay, Orkney (#860)
14
seals killed – Lakeland Marine (Meridian): Loch Melfort, West Scotland (#629)
13
seals killed – Scottish Salmon Company: Loch Roag, Western Isles (#752)
11
seals killed – Scottish Sea Farms: Bring Head, Scapa Flow, Orkney (#1023)
10
seals killed – Marine Harvest: Loch Sunart, West Scotland (#413)
8
seals killed – Northern Isles Salmon (Meridian): Rousay Sound, Orkney (#645)
Download
the data online now for 2011
and 2012
and other documents via "Lethal Scottish Farmed Salmon: Serial Seal Killers Named & Shamed!"
The disclosure comes despite over 12 months of complaints, refusals and delays
from both the Scottish Salmon Producers Organisation (SSPO) and the Scottish
Government. In December 2012, the SSPO
wrote to the Scottish Government claiming that the release of the names of the
seal-killing salmon farms would “have a direct impact on the market success of
their products” (read the SSPO’s letter in full online
here).
In
January 2013, the Scottish Information Commissioner delayed
disclosure
to investigate a complaint of death
threats.
Back in June
2012 (following the original FOI request in April
2012 filed by GAAIA) the Scottish Government named
the salmon farming companies killing seals but refused to name the specific
sites leading to an appeal to the Scottish
Information Commissioner. Thanks to rulings in November
2012 and April
2013 upholding freedom of information the general
public now know the identity of the salmon farms across Scotland slaughtering
seals.
GAAIA
also published damning data (obtained from Marine Scotland in March 2013 via another FOI request)
naming all 169 salmon farm sites in Scotland WITHOUT predator nets (download data online here). The Scottish Government admitted in a FOI
reply in September
2012 that 87% of Scottish salmon farms do not even have predator nets – explaining
that installing predator nets “requires employing extra trained staff and
regular net maintenance and cleaning which costs money and eats into profit
margins”. Another FOI reply from the
Scottish Government in March 2013 detailed the 47 salmon farms with predator nets – although only
37 sites were operational and only 25 sites used the predator nets continuously
(12 sites kept the nets in storage).
Faced
with a barrage
of bad publicity in British Columbia, Marine Harvest Canada installed
predator nets at a cost of $250,000 per farm
but Marine Harvest and other companies have continued to cut corners in
Scotland. If the 169 salmon farms without predator nets
in Scotland installed predator nets it would cost the salmon farming industry £27
million ($42.5 million).
Following
yesterday’s FOI reply the Scottish Government immediately posted new data on
Scotland’s seal killers online (read 2012 seal
killings online here; read 2011 seal
killings online here).
Today,
GAAIA wrote once again to all
supermarkets asking them to stop sourcing farmed salmon from all seal-killing
salmon farms in Scotland urging a boycott of
‘seal-unfriendly’ farmed salmon (read the letter online here). A letter was also sent today (8 May) to the US Department of Commerce repeating the call to ban
seal-unfriendly Scottish farmed salmon under the Marine Mammal Protection
Act (read the letter online here).
Read
more background via “Victory for
Freedom of Information - Seal Killers in Scotland Named & Shamed by 7 May!”
More
details via “The Killing
Farms”
and “Killer Panda”
Read a press release and media backgrounder online via Lethal Scottish Farmed Salmon: Serial Seal Killers Named & Shamed!
