Scottish salmon farms breaching welfare standards
Serious welfare issues have been exposed in Scotland’s salmon farms.
A number of welfare breaches including mass mortality, sea lice infestations, disease and escapes have been tracked by animal charity OneKind.
There are over 250 Atlantic salmon farms in Scotland which produced 35 million salmon in 2016.
However a report by the charity shows that death rates are extremely high with 10m salmon dying on seawater sites in 2016. This is estimated to have increased to 11m in 2017.
Escapes are also common with 300,000 fish escaping from salmon farms in 2017.
The report also reveals that sea lice infestations and disease are rife on salmon farms. For example, over 100,000 salmon died of amoebic gill disease over a period of 10 weeks in 2016, 68,265 died from cardiomyopathy syndrome (which affects the heart muscle of fish) in 2016, and an estimated 27,000 salmon died from infectious salmon anaemia on one site in 2018.
OneKind Director Harry Huyton said: “In the excitement generated by the promise of growth in the salmon farming industry, the lives of the fish and other animals affected by the farms are too often forgotten.
“Mass mortality, sea lice infestations and disease have become endemic to the industry. There is no doubt that animal welfare is seriously compromised, and urgent and radical action is needed if the suffering is to end.”
Salmon farming also impacts the welfare of other animals as seals are shot in large numbers trying to breach the fish farms’ netting.
Crustaceans are also damaged by chemicals, and the industry has also been linked to a decline in wild salmon and trout numbers.
Huyton continued: “The aquaculture industry backed by the Scottish Government plans to double the value of the salmon industry to the Scottish economy by 2030. However, we’re calling for a moratorium on further growth until it can be shown that farmed salmon have good lives that are worth living.”
