Mowi has hit back at anti-salmon farming activists after footage showing “diseased” fish at one of its Scottish sites was released.
The Norwegian salmon giant said it was “disgusted” by NGO Abolish Salmon Farming, which filmed alleged blind and diseased fish at Mowi’s Ardessie-based broodstock plant on 26 April.
ASF director Jamie Moyes called the conditions “devastating”, with the salmon “trapped in a system of exploitation” but the business said Moyes was “twisting this for his own gain”, adding that the footage “misrepresent[s] salmon farming and mislead[s] the public”.
Mowi said it was “common” for wild and farmed salmon to develop snout and eye damage during the final stages of their life and noted the stocking density was 1% fish to 99% seawater.
“At the time we believe this footage was captured, there were 17,354 salmon at our farm in Ardessie,” a Mowi spokeswoman said. “The heavily edited footage repeatedly shows a few damaged salmon which are in the process of being humanely culled, and this in no way represents the salmon population.”
The salmon at the Ardessie facility come from Mowi farms across Scotland, according to the company. They go there to mature over a period of six to eight months, with the fish then being selected for broodstock or harvesting.
“Our fish health welfare and biology director, Professor Herve Migaud, carried out a health screening last week,” the spokeswoman said. “As a result of this inspection, only 12 moribund salmon were identified, removed and culled humanely under veterinary supervision.
“The overall health of the salmon was deemed as excellent, and no evidence of any viral or bacterial infection was found.”
The business said it was confident in the health of its broodstock, though it acknowledged it was “inevitable that some fish within a population of tens of thousands will become unwell”.
While salmon continues to be the UK’s highest-value food export, the sector has found its existence threatened by animal welfare, climate and sustainability concerns. The Scottish Parliament’s Rural Affairs & Islands Committee warned its future could be at risk without further action on welfare and sustainability in a letter to cabinet secretary for Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands Mairi Gougeon in March.
After seeing the footage, activist group Scottish Salmon Watch filed a welfare and fish health complaint to Police Scotland, RSPCA Assured, APHA and Marine Scotland on 30 April.
“A more comprehensive investigation lasting several hours and involving multiple cameras may well uncover even more welfare abuse, injuries, deformities and lice damage,” Scottish Salmon Watch director Don Staniford said. “Sampling of the farmed fish held on site at Ardessie will surely confirm multiple disease, parasite, virus and bacterial issues at Mowi/Wester Ross Fisheries.”
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