The Soil Association will no longer certify British salmon as organic.
The organic accreditation body published the decision today, saying the farmed fish industry’s environmental and welfare failings were to blame.
It will now work with the salmon sector to agree a timeline for withdrawing its logo from packs, with further updates to follow in the “coming weeks and months”.
This decision follows an extensive review from the Soil Association after its warning in May 2025 that it would withdraw from the salmon sector if “meaningful progress” was not made.
The review concluded that Soil Association standards have sparked positive change across the whole salmon farming industry, and that further improvement could be possible, but there was a lack of evidence that the standards were delivering good enough animal welfare and environmental outcomes, or that this could change fast enough, the charity said.
“While our standards ensure lower stocking rates and prohibit the most damaging chemical treatments, the evidence suggests that welfare and environmental outcomes are not sufficient for us to continue,” said Soil Association CEO Helen Browning.
Browning also cast doubt on whether the industry would be able to meet new welfare challenges, such as jellyfish blooms resulting from warming seas.
“The salmon industry is dynamic and profitable and may well be able to innovate to deal with these emerging challenges, but we were not confident that the issues were likely to be resolved within a suitable timeframe through our standards,” she continued.
Browning added: “When consumers see our logo on pack, they should be confident that organic principles are being safeguarded to the highest level possible within the constraints of a commercially viable system.
“This means being prepared to ask difficult questions, and this is a case where we must act on the evidence when we believe we can no longer provide that assurance.”
Following the announcement, Green Britain Foundation has called on Defra to end its inclusion of salmon as an organic product, for it to stop using Soil Association labelling on packaging now, and for the RSPCA Assured scheme to also stop certifying farmed salmon.
“This is a huge win for our campaign,” said Green Britain Foundation founder Dale Vince, who said the charity had “built a file of evidence so strong the Soil Association could not look away”.
“It takes courage to walk away from an industry this powerful,” he added. “The Soil Association has done the right thing. It has restored the integrity of the organic label and deserves real credit for that.”
A spokesperson for salmon industry body Salmon Scotland said it has been “assured by the UK government” that its farms would “continue to be assessed against organic standards with no loss of certification”.
“Consumers can therefore continue to buy Scottish organic salmon with confidence,” they added.
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