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
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.
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.
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.
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
Grotesque footage emerges from certified Scottish salmon farm as new report questions whether consumers are being misled by certification bodies and supermarkets
New report finds salmon farms are certified by leading bodies despite substantial issues.
New WildFish report – Breaching the limits – exposes high sea lice levels on Scottish salmon farms in 2022
A new report from WildFish has found that the Scottish salmon and trout farming industry is allowing parasitic sea lice …
Award winning chefs join the Off the table campaign
In October last year, we launched Off the table – calling on chefs and restaurants to take farmed salmon off …
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
The salmon farming industry is fundamentally unsustainable and wreaks havoc on ecosystems around the world.
It’s time to end it.
