A leading animal welfare charity is demanding an “emergency summit” with Scottish ministers after 16.5million salmon died prematurely in farm pens last year.
Animal Equality chief Abigail Penny made the call after a joint letter from MSPs and MPs demanding a halt to a planned expansion of salmon farming which questioned the “long-term sustainability” of the sector. Last month, we revealed concerns from Holyrood politicians over the “horrendous” and “sky-high” mortality rates on salmon farms recorded in 2022 - nearly doubled from the year before.
Campaigners blame poor welfare standards, claiming overcrowding has allowed lice and disease to spread, however, industry chiefs have cited unprecedented swarms of parasitic micro-jellyfish thought to be linked to climate change. Scottish salmon is the UK’s top food export, with sales reaching nearly £600million last year and supporting thousands of Scots jobs.
Ms Penny told the Record: “16.5 million salmon died last year on farms in Scotland. Industry bosses are drawing on a raft of excuses to deflect from this latest crisis, but ultimately the industry has only itself to blame.
“It has been clear for years that millions of fish were dying on farms, yet salmon producers have done nothing meaningful to tackle the issue.”
She added: “We urge the Scottish Government to arrange for an emergency summit. MSPs must come together with aquatic animal experts and advocates to begin addressing the many challenges that the industry clearly cannot handle.
“We need swift and serious action.”
It follows a two-month animal cruelty expose by the Animal Equality charity at two salmon and trout slaughter sites along Scotland’s west coast, with footage showing some fish left to suffocate in an empty bucket and others not being stunned properly, even showing signs of consciousness after exiting the slaughter machine.
One operator claimed the images, from late 2022, were “outdated” and conditions had improved.
In a letter to SNP Rural Economy Secretary Mairi Gougeon last week, a cross-party group of politicians urged her to pause any expansion of the sector. The MSPs and MPs wrote: “Stocking densities on Scottish salmon farms do not appear to be acceptable, and we are not confident that this industry is equipped to combat the problems posed by climate change…
“We urge you to impose a moratorium on the expansion of the Scottish salmon farming industry until these issues are addressed.”
Salmon Scotland chief exec Tavish Scott said: “Naturally we’re disappointed that a small number of opposition MSPs are not supportive of Scotland’s top food export and the thousands of well-paid, year-round jobs in some of our most fragile rural and coastal communities.
“As we’ve repeatedly said, we’re happy for any MSP to come and visit a salmon farm to learn the facts and see for themselves how our hard-working salmon farmers care for their fish.”
A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: “We remain committed to maintaining high standards of fish health and welfare, and for mortality to be driven to the lowest possible levels.”
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