BBC broadcaster Chris Packham has said that fish farming must end immediately as he claims it is a “social and environmental disaster” following alleged footage of “dead fish being buried” in the Outer Hebrides.
The veteran TV presenter’s comments come after footage surfaced on Thursday of a fish firm allegedly “burying” dead and diseased salmon on a beach in North Uist – four months after it became illegal to do so in Scotland.
Whiteshore Cockles had been carrying out the practice legally due to an exemption from the Scottish Government.
The exemption was on the basis that they were building a fish waste dryer, a machine which breaks down dead salmon with heat turning them into fish oil and fishmeal, which is seen as a sustainable solution for the disposal of fish mortalities.
However, this exemption came to an end on January 31, 2024, and it became illegal to bury deceased salmon.
Footage shared to ITV by Ecotricity, a green energy company and environmental campaigner, showed the company was still burying dead fish in May with lorries dumping huge amounts of salmon into sand pits.
Packham (below), who is president of the RSPCA, shared the investigation on social media and called for an end to the “suffering” of farmed fish.
He said: “Salmon farming continues to be a monstrosity, a social and environmental disaster that must come to an end immediately.”
He has called for farmed salmon to be “taken off our tables for good”.
“The suffering extends beyond these lice-infested, aquatic prisons to the surrounding ecosystems and wild marine life to the human communities both locally and globally,” he claimed.
According to The Times, the campaigners who were recording the practice were allegedly threatened and pursued by one of the owners of Whiteshore Cockles and two other men.
The Times also reports Police Scotland confirmed they attended the scene and issued recorded police warnings to three men, in connection with threatening and abusive behaviour.
Officers allegedly also issued “conditional offers for road traffic offences” due to the three men blocking the campaigners exit with cars and a tractor.
The campaigner's footage of the dead fish burying reportedly prompted an investigation by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa).
A spokesperson for the environment regulator said: “Sepa was advised by Whiteshore Cockles that any mortalities that were not being processed by the permitted facility, as part of the commissioning process, were being transported to mainland treatment facilities for disposal.
“Sepa is concerned by the information presented and is now investigating with public partners with responsibilities for this activity.”
Ecotricity, who are owned by environmental activist Dale Vince, told ITV they had huge concerns about the Uist site, due to waste spilling on the beach and a lack of control measures in place.
They added that their footage shows that Whiteshore Cockles are breaking the law by continuing the practice.
When approached by The National about the footage one of the owners of the family-run business, Angus Macdonald, declined to comment.
However when asked if the burying of dead fish was still going on by ITV, Angus previously said: “It’s not happening at all.”
