Drone recordings during April, July and August 2024 have captured ‘systemic and extreme animal suffering’ at three Scottish farms owned by Mowi, Scottish Sea Farms and Bakkafrost.
The farms respectively supply Marks & Spencer, Tesco and Sainsbury’s with two being RSPCA-assured and the other accredited by the Aquaculture Stewardship Council.
“Here we have proof of over a dozen fish desperately struggling in their final moments of life,” said Abigail Penny, executive director of Animal Equality UK.
“It begs the question – what else happens when no-one is watching?
“No industry of this scale, causing mass suffering to millions of animals each year, should ever be left to its own devices and, evidently, the Scottish farmed salmon industry needs far greater scrutiny”.
In more than a dozen incidents across the four-month period, salmon appearing to show signs of consciousness are left out of water for over one minute, far surpassing the RSPCA’s 15 second maximum allowance.
The footage shows other mistreatment such as salmon being beaten and kicked and evidence of dead cleaner fish. Animal Equality UK says it has made a complaint to the relevant authorites.
This is not the first time that the campaign group has discovered fish suffocating on Scottish salmon farms, it says, with a previous complaint prompting a meeting between government officials and representatives from Mowi.
“Committing to increased training or internal investigations is little more than lip-service when animals continue to suffocate to death on the industry’s watch,” continued Penny.
“This isn’t a case of one bad worker, one bad farm, or even one bad company, this is a widespread issue that the government must take seriously.
“It’s time that we, as consumers, take matters into our own hands and boycott Scottish farmed salmon.”
