Disgusting salmon farming standards in Scotland have been described as “not fit for purpose”. Anglers suspect that disease and sea-lice ridden waste water from salmon farms is causing the decline of wild salmon in Scotland’s waters.

But right now neither the Scottish Environment Protection Agency nor the Scottish Government even tests waste water from salmon farms or processing plants for viruses and disease!

That’s where SumOfUs members come in. There’s a live inquiry into the Scottish farmed salmon industry happening -- and it’s our chance to force this issue into the spotlight. 

In Canada, campaigners have just won a review of hygiene at farmed salmon processing plants -- after footage went viral of virus-filled farmed salmon blood being dumped right into critical wild salmon migration routes. 

The companies supplying salmon to our supermarkets like Sainsbury’s and Tesco rake in millions every year. In fact, Scotland is one of the top three producers of farmed Atlantic salmon in the world! These intensive conditions mean farmed salmon are susceptible to disease and infestations -- in particular sea lice that attach themselves to and feed on salmon, killing many. 

A surge in these parasitic sea lice is disrupting salmon farms around the world. 

But without better national standards -- these companies will continue to get away with putting profit over the future of Scotland’s wildlife. Current treatment systems at Scottish salmon farms and processing plants are not designed to protect wild fish and they do not. That’s why we need better standards and better enforcement of these standards. 

A review of more than 100 scientific papers found that up to 50,000 wild salmon die as a result of the parasites in Norway -- and similar conditions in Scotland and Ireland meant that intensive salmon farming had a “general and pervasive negative effect”.

Better hygiene standards at Scotland’s salmon farms would go a long way in protecting our wild salmon populations and pristine coastal waters.

We know that SumOfUs members like you could have a big impact -- SumOfUs members in Canada were instrumental in pressuring the Canadian government to improve salmon farming regulations, and the British Columbia government to conduct an exhaustive review of fish processing plants.