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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Environment
Sophie Kevany

More than 1m farmed salmon die at supplier to leading UK retailers

farmed salmon swimming on the west coast of scotland
Mass deaths of farmed salmon are a growing problem, say campaigners. Photograph: David Sandison/Alamy

More than a million dead fish, the biggest mass die-off of farmed salmon in Scotland in a decade, have been recorded at a farm belonging to the UK’s largest supplier.

The deaths at two adjacent Mowi Scotland sites in Loch Seaforth on the Outer Hebrides – licensed as one farm by the Scottish government – rose to just over a million during the year-and-a-half production cycle that it usually takes to raise a salmon in seawater, and which in this case began in spring 2023. Mowi supplies salmon to retailers including Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Asda and Ocado. Many of its farms, including those in the Hebrides, are certified under the RSPCA Assured label, which guarantees higher animal welfare standards.

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