Salmon deaths on Scotland’s fish farms double – but are jellyfish to blame?

A salmon farmed by the Loch Duart company in Sutherland, which uses lower than average density pens for its fish. Photograph: Murdo MacLeod/The Observer

Salmon deaths on fish farms in Scotland nearly doubled last year, official figures show, owing to growing levels of disease, parasites and jellyfish blooms. Campaigners have blamed overcrowding and called for a boycott.

Fish Health Inspectorate (FHI) data shows that nearly 15m salmon mortalities were reported by farms in Scotland from January to November 2022, the latest data available, compared with 8.58m in all of 2021 and 5.81m in 2020.