A salmon farm has been accused of a “cover-up” after workers were filmed piling tons of dead fish into skips hours before a visit from MSPs to check on welfare standards.
Footage gathered by charity Equality UK shows the huge clean-up operation at Dunstaffnage salmon farm near Oban, run by M&S-supplying firm Scottish Sea Farms. Then later that same day, MSPs from Holyrood’s Rural Affairs Committee arrived on a boat for a fact-finding mission.
It comes as the committee is in the midst of an inquiry into the state of the industry, including scrutiny of fish health and environmental standards. In response to the claims, Scottish Sea Farms said its workers were carrying out routine, standard procedures which had nothing to do with the visit from MSPs.
The video produced by the animal welfare charity first shows multiple dead salmon and wrasse floating on the surface of the water in at-sea cages on Saturday, September 21. Two days later, early on the morning of the MSPs’ visit on Monday, September 23, workers at the Dunstaffnage facility were filmed using large nets to pull huge numbers of dead fish out of the water and dumping them into skips on their vessel for later disposal.
Around seven hours later on Monday afternoon, MSPs arrived and sailed out to the facility for a tour as part of the committee’s ongoing probe into the salmon industry. Immediately following Monday’s visit, a statement from Scottish Sea Farms said it had allowed the MSPs to “see for themselves what reality looks like and, therefore, form their own opinions as opposed to the various opinions they may have heard”.
Animal Equality UK said these claims now “bordered on the absurd”. Charity boss Abigail Penny blasted: “To remove tons of dead fish just hours before politicians arrive to investigate is outrageous and depicts a wholly inaccurate image of the industry.
“We urge the RAI Committee to see the industry for what it truly is: deceptive and deadly.”
The Scottish politicians who took part in the visit were committee convener Finlay Carson as well as fellow MSPs Arianne Burgess, Rhoda Grant, Emma Harper, Emma Roddick and Beatrice Wishart. The current follow-up inquiry into the salmon sector follows a 2018 parly probe which called for urgent action to address eco and animal welfare concerns around industrial fish farms.
It comes as the last two years have brought the highest ever premature mortalities on salmon farms, with more than 34million fish dying before they could reach people’s plates since 2022.
Ms Penny continued: “Given the unnatural conditions, sea lice and diseases run rampant on many Scottish salmon farms. So, while tragic, its unsurprising death rates reached an all-time high over recent years.
“The 2018 Committee already recognised these fatal flaws in the farming system and called for urgent action, but rather than effectively tackle these serious and pervasive issues, this latest move suggests that industry representatives would prefer to hide the truth instead.”
As part of a list of demands, Animal Equality UK is calling for a “thorough investigation of this possible cover-up” – as well as full industry transparency and a moratorium on new fish farms.
The Rural Affairs and Islands Committee said its final report will be published by the end of the year. A spokesman added: “We have heard concerns about fish mortality on salmon farms during the wide range of evidence taken throughout our inquiry and this footage raises further questions for the Committee.”
Scottish Green MSP Burgess, who was on the visit and serves on the committee, said: “I would be very concerned if these allegations are true. I hope that Scottish Sea Farms will explain the situation and what has happened.
“The salmon farming industry must always have sustainability and animal welfare at its heart.”
Scottish Sea Farms insisted MSPs had a “full and open” discussion with staff during their visit. In a statement, Dr Ralph Bickerdike, the firm’s head of fish health and welfare, added: “The footage clearly shows our Dunstaffnage farm team following the company’s Standard Operating Procedure with routine pen-side checks and regular moribund and mortality removal.
“Contrary to the claims made by Animal Equality UK, this is an essential part of our duty of care and something we do daily wherever conditions allow, whether we have a farm visit scheduled or not.” M&S was approached for comment.
Campaigners have long blamed poor animal welfare and overcrowding in sea cages for allowing disease and lice to spread.
But the industry claims it has high welfare standards – and blames climate change for bringing unprecedented challenges to salmon farming, such as swarms of parasitic micro-jellyfish killing fish.
Scottish farmed salmon was the UK’s top food export last year, bringing in nearly £600million in export sales to the country.
However, figures show production fell by around 36,000 tons in 2022 amid rocketing mortalities. A staggering total of 17.4million salmon deaths were recorded on farms last year, exceeding the record 17.2million mortalities logged in 2022.
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