Scottish farmed salmon industry using loopholes to cover up harm, report alleges

The report says companies are risking the health of populations of wild Atlantic salmon. Photograph: Michael C York/AP

The Scottish farmed salmon industry is using loopholes to cover up evidence of environmental harm, poor animal welfare and high levels of disease, an investigation has found.

Using open data, investigators from the charity WildFish allege salmon farms are avoiding mandatory reporting of sea lice prevalence in fish to cover up the scale of parasite infestations, which in some cases are more than 20 times those stipulated in the industry’s own code of good practice.