By Matt Palmer, Wildfish
On average, 1 in 4 farmed salmon die before harvest on Scottish salmon farms up and down the West coast and islands of Scotland.¹ As a nation of animal lovers, why is more not being done to protect these fish, and to reduce the harm this industry causes to our aquatic wildlife?
The urgent need to protect our wild and farmed fish
I qualified from the University of Liverpool in 2015 and went on to gain a master’s degree in Aquatic Veterinary Science at the University of Stirling. The Scottish salmon farming industry was a key area of focus during this course, leading me to concentrate my early veterinary career in the salmon farming industry. As my knowledge and experience grew, I became more aware of the welfare issues and environmental impacts of open-net salmon farming. The need to address these issues is urgent; sustainable food systems, without overt harm to aquatic ecosystems, must be developed to sustain our growing population.
As a vet, the animals – both farmed and wild – will always be at the forefront of my work.
Time to take farmed salmon off the menu
Promoted by the Scottish Government as a sustainable means of farming, it is my opinion that the welfare and mortality issues related to salmon farming are unacceptable.
An industry average mortality rate of nearly 25% would not be accepted in terrestrial farming practices, and it should not be accepted in aquaculture. The environmental, sustainability and welfare issues associated with open-net salmon farming urgently need to be addressed. The current status-quo cannot, nor should it, be sustained.
Working in collaboration with other like-minded NGOs, community groups and the hospitality sector we will be campaigning for an end to this intensive farming industry.
Join us in our campaign to take farmed salmon Off the table.
The continued decline of wild Atlantic salmon populations
Arguably the most iconic fish in our waters, the Atlantic salmon has experienced a 70% decline in population numbers over the last 20 years.²
The complexity of this fish’s lifecycle is such that survival rates in the wild are incredibly low; yet pressures on these fish mount, with the impacts of open-net salmon farming a notable cause of decline.
The industry’s justification of its mortality record by comparing the mortality rate of a domesticated species, exposed to very different pressures, to that of wild Atlantic salmon is inappropriate and misleading. The low survival rates reported in wild fish are indicative of the sheer complexity of the Atlantic salmon’s life cycle and highlight this iconic fish species as a poor candidate for intensive aquaculture. The threat to existence of wild Atlantic salmon should be reason enough to remove and reduce the multitude of pressures placed on wild salmon populations in Scotland.
To read more about these diseases and mortality issues in the Scottish salmon farming industry head over to our other article Freedom from pain, injury or disease – are farmed salmon’s welfare needs being met?
References
- Marine Scotland Directorate. (2021). Scottish Fish Farm Production Survey 2020, 3. Atlantic Salmon – Production. [cited 2022 Aug 25]. Available from: https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-fish-farm-production-survey-2020/pages/5/
- WildFish. (2022). About. The Crisis. Available from: https://wildfish.org/about/the-crisis/
