A leading animal welfare charity is demanding an “emergency summit” with Scottish ministers after 16.5million salmon died prematurely in farm pens last year.
Animal Equality chief Abigail Penny made the call after a joint letter from MSPs and MPs demanding a halt to a planned expansion of salmon farming which questioned the “long-term sustainability” of the sector. Last month, we revealed concerns from Holyrood politicians over the “horrendous” and “sky-high” mortality rates on salmon farms recorded in 2022 - nearly doubled from the year before.
Campaigners blame poor welfare standards, claiming overcrowding has allowed lice and disease to spread, however, industry chiefs have cited unprecedented swarms of parasitic micro-jellyfish thought to be linked to climate change. Scottish salmon is the UK’s top food export, with sales reaching nearly £600million last year and supporting thousands of Scots jobs.
