It’s the end of the line for farmed salmon.

Salmon has become one of the most popular dishes in restaurants and at home, but its popularity has come at a cost for the environment, fish welfare and the health of the planet.

It’s time to take salmon off the menu

Off The Table - salmon on a hook

Get the facts

Salmon farms have huge environmental, sustainability and welfare issues.

The majority of salmon sold and served in the UK comes from Scotland. Fish are intensively farmed in submerged cages along the west coast and islands.

Off The Table - salmon farm

Impact on the environment

Open-net salmon farms are breeding grounds for parasites and disease; farms also discharge toxic chemicals and waste into the surrounding environment, impacting and killing a host of wildlife.

Find out more about the environmental issues.

Off The Table - salmon in a net

Undeniably unsustainable

Salmon farming relies on commercial trawling for feed. It can take much more than 1kg of wild fish to produce 1kg of farmed Scottish salmon. 90% of these wild fish could be eaten directly.

Find out more about the sustainability issues.

Off The Table - dumped farm salmon (photo: Corin Smith)

Unacceptably poor fish welfare

On average, over 1 in 4 Scottish farmed salmon die in the cages along our shores – the industry reported 16.5 million fish deaths in 2022 alone. Poorly managed disease, lice and water quality see fish eaten alive or suffocating before they reach our plates.

Find out more about the welfare issues.

Keeping up to date

Find out more about the latest news related to the campaign

Environment groups call out Soil Association’s ‘organic’ standard

More than 30 Scottish community groups, UK NGOs and international campaigning organisations have joined forces in calling on the charity Soil Association to stop certifying Scottish farmed salmon as ‘organic’.

Dead salmon

Leading chefs urge public to forgo smoked salmon this Christmas, as mortalities on Scotland’s salmon farms hit record highs

Top chefs and restaurants across the UK are urging consumers to forgo farmed salmon this Christmas, in a bid to curb the environmental and welfare “catastrophe” unfolding across the salmon farming industry in Scotland.

We know our customers want their food to be delicious – but more and more, they want to know it’s sustainable. That’s why we don’t serve farmed salmon at Wilsons.

Jan Ostle
Owner & Head Chef, Wilsons

Time is up for Scottish open net salmon farming

Off The Table - time is up graphic (abstract shape based on salmon cross-section with salmon farm net at centre)

The salmon farming industry is fundamentally unsustainable and wreaks havoc on ecosystems around the world.

It’s time to end it.