Faroese salmon farming giant Bakkafrost has been accused of misleading regulators after dead and diseased fish were found at a ‘fallowed’ Scottish farm.
Animal Equality UK claimed, after an investigation, that the business had misled authorities about the true status of its Loch Torridon site.
Some salmon had been found with their “whole face area eaten or fungus all over them”, while investigators also found instances of dead fish “floating and rotting” at the site. The farm had previously supplied fish into Tesco.
Animal Equality said the supplier had “provided false information” over its claim the site had been out of use, citing how it had said in correspondence with the Scottish government’s Fish Health Inspectorate and the Animal Plant Health Agency that just five fish had been found and subsequently euthanised by the supplier.
But in reality, far more fish had remained in the out of use farm, with its own covert recordings allegedly showing workers beating at least 24 salmon “to death” in a single cage.
Animal Equality UK also accused Bakkafrost of misreporting sea lice counts at the farm, even after being given the chance to correct the record by the inspectorate.
“Bakkafrost provided false information to regulators in relation to this incident – not once, but twice,” claimed Animal Equality UK executive director Abigail Penny. “Whether that’s down to incompetence or deliberate deception, neither is reassuring.”
Responding to the allegations, a spokesperson for Bakkafrost Scotland said: “Last year, a very small number of fish were identified at our site on Loch Torridon, which had been declared fallow.
“We acted immediately to remove the fish, working with the relevant authorities,” he added. “Following this, we undertook a comprehensive review of our procedures and implemented enhanced controls to ensure this does not happen again.”
Animal Equality UK said the incident was one of several cases that have emerged after Scottish salmon farms had been declared fallow.
It comes, however, after former cabinet secretary rural affairs, land reform and islands Mairi Gougeon stated the FHI was “not aware of other incidents of non-reporting of sea lice counts where sites have been incorrectly declared fallow while fish are still held on site”, in response to a written parliamentary question on 20 March.
But the charity identified at least two further cases: one at Grey Horse Channel Outer in 2022, and another at Ardcastle in 2025. Pointing to low numbers of unannounced inspections, rising non-compliance findings, limited enforcement action on welfare complaints and increasing environmental breaches, the charity said Scottish regulators were failing to enforce standards effectively.
“And the Scottish government calls this world-class regulation,” Penny continued. “Pull on any thread and the whole thing unravels.”
She added: “The Scottish government simply cannot continue to act as though nothing is wrong here – we need to put the brakes on this industry’s expansion.”
Responding to Animal Welfare UK’s allegations, a Scottish government spokesman said Scottish salmon farming was a “highly regulated sector and subject to robust controls on planning, environmental impacts and fish health, with enforcement action where needed”.
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