CHRIS Packham has penned an open letter to a restaurant chain challenging them over their use of farmed salmon.
Last month, the BBC presenter and naturalist called on Wagamama to remove farmed salmon from its menus, branding the product an “environmental disaster”.
A petition urging the brand – which sells Japanese-inspired Asian food at more than 170 locations in the UK – to remove farmed salmon from their kitchens received more than 100,000 signatures.
It states that the use of fish meal from West Africa in European salmon farms was “putting millions of people at risk of malnutrition” due to the plundering of local fish populations along the African coast.
Wagamama did not respond directly either Packham, the environmental charity WildFish Scotland or campaign group Feedback who promoted the petition.
However, they did release a statement responding to the claims made by the group – noting that they would be moving away from sourcing Norwegian farmed salmon.
Yet the open letter signed by Packham, WildFish and Feedback continues to challenge Wagamama’s claims and continued use of farmed salmon.
“We are relieved to hear that you will be moving away from sourcing Norwegian salmon, given the industry’s clear reliance on fishmeal and fish oil sourced from West Africa and other vulnerable fisheries,” it read.
“However, your proposed position to instead source farmed salmon from Scotland does not address our concerns, or those of the over 100,000 people who signed our petition.
“We regret that we still have not had any response from you to these concerns.
“Wagamama claimed that their salmon comes from Norwegian and Scottish suppliers that do not use feed from West Africa.
“Please could you provide a list of the Norwegian and Scottish companies that you have been sourcing from.
“We found in our Blue Empire report that the four big feed producers – MOWI, Skretting, Cargill and BioMar – supply close to 100% of the feed used in Norwegian salmon farming.
“All of them source fish oil from West Africa.”
The letter also takes issue with another Wagamama promise to only use Scottish salmon from RSPCA-approved farms.
“The vast majority of Scottish salmon farming is RSPCA-approved, yet there are many welfare and wider issues still endemic to Scottish salmon farming,” it states.
“As set out by WildFish in its report, Responsibly Farmed?, the RSPCA Assured standard, which claims to be welfare-led, sets no maximum mortality threshold limit; despite mortality being a recognised indicator for welfare performance.
“Consequently, Scottish farms reporting as many as 74% of fish dying in a single month are still covered by the RSPCA Assured scheme.
“The number of fish deaths on Scottish salmon farms has increased dramatically in recent years, doubling between 2021 and 2022, and hitting a record high in 2023 of 16.5 million farmed salmon dying prematurely on the farms.”
The authors state that they will be escalating their concerns to Apollo Management Group, the US private equity group which owns Wagamama.
Salmon farming has faced criticism in Scotland following reports of high mortality rates in many farms and concerns about its impact on the surrounding environment as well as native salmon populations.
Figures show that between January and November 2022, there were nearly 15 million salmon mortalities in Scotland.
The Canadian province of British Columbia recently promised to ban the practice following outcry from First Nations people and environmental campaigners.
A Wagamama spokesperson said: “Sustainability is at the heart of everything we do at Wagamama, including how we source from and work with our suppliers, which is why all our salmon is sustainably sourced from Scottish and Norwegian fisheries that do not use feed from West Africa.
“These fisheries are accredited by GlobalG.A.P., the world’s leading standard for seafood farmed with care. They set strict requirements for responsible seafood farming that require producers to farm with care for fish, the environment and the people on and around the farm.
“We regularly ensure that all our suppliers adhere to our strict sourcing policy, as well as conducting routine audits and site visits to verify compliance, traceability and transparency.
“Our current procurement process means that by the end of 2024, all future Wagamama salmon will be sourced only from Scottish fisheries which are in addition RSPCA accredited.
“At Wagamama, we believe in continual improvement and are always looking to expand our sustainability goals. The part we must play as a brand is extremely important and the small decisions we make can create big change and whilst progress takes time, it begins with all of us.”
Jessica Sinclair Taylor, deputy director of Feedback, said: “Wagamama’s move to Scottish farmed salmon does nothing to address the huge and systemic problems within the toxic salmon farming industry.
“Like their Norwegian counterparts, this is an industry plagued with mass mortalities, wasteful feeding practices and an over-reliance on flawed certifications.
“If Wagamama is truly serious about ‘treading more lightly on the earth’, it must take farmed salmon off the menu now.”
