Crammed together in cages, plagued by disease and parasites, covered in lesions -- and served as ‘sustainable’ sushi?
The truth about Scottish salmon farming is far, far uglier than its wholesome marketing suggests. Under pressure from thousands of SumOfUs members like you, regulators promised they’d prevent further suffering. But, as shocking new video footage of sick and injured salmon in a farm near Loch Shieldaig proves, they’re not acting fast enough.
We can’t afford to keep waiting, especially with the summer sea warming up making disease levels rise. Right now, no one really knows the extent of the problems in the industry, but together, we can push the Scottish government to take urgent action. Starting with immediate emergency inspections of the country’s salmon farms.
Tell Marine Scotland to conduct immediate, unannounced on-the-spot inspections of all Scottish salmon farms to assess fish welfare.
The incriminating video footage was taken at a fish farm operated by the Scottish Salmon Company -- which supplies Co-op supermarkets -- and claims to “take the welfare of [our] stock extremely seriously”. Yet according to our partners at Scottish Salmon Watch, the damage shown in the video “occurred over a sustained period”.
For years, we’ve known that Scottish salmon cultivation is as horrific as battery farming. Up and down the coast, intensive farms -- many owned by Norwegian megacorporations who enjoy far laxer standards here than at home -- subject the fish to dirty water, cramped cages, and sea lice which feed on their open wounds.
Clearly salmon producers can’t be trusted to regulate themselves, but the government still hasn’t cracked down on them. Luckily, amazing SumOfUs members like you are here to make sure they do.
Tell Marine Scotland to save fish from suffering and inspect salmon farms right now!
Last year, over 33,000 of us came together to demand better hygiene on salmon farms, making headlines and pressuring the authorities into promising stricter standards for waste pollution and sea lice control. With our combined people power, we can force regulators into taking drastic action on behalf of the millions of fish who have been injured or sickened by this industry.
More information
STV. 19 June 2019.
BBC. 21 April 2018.
The Ferret. 13 June 2019.