MSPs have demanded an urgent inquest into salmon farming in Scotland after a staggering 15million caged fish died last year. Labour, the Greens and the Tories hit out at the “horrendous” and “alarming” official figures - nearly twice the 2021 total.
Campaigners claim this could be an underestimate and that as many as one in four farmed salmon may be dying, blaming overcrowding leading to poor welfare, disease and lice. Industry insiders have instead cited swarms of micro-jellyfish for the high mortality rate in 2022.
It comes after a wide-ranging Holyrood inquiry in 2018 called for tougher regulations for the Scots salmon sector, which produces Britain’s biggest food export.
Labour MSP Colin Smyth blasted: "The SNP have ignored warning after warning about salmon farming and their failure to regulate it properly has had dire consequences. Environmental factors will always play a role but these latest figures on mortality are horrendous and totally unacceptable.
"Four years on from parliamentary inquiries flagging up these problems, the SNP-Green Government are failing to take enough action to enforce proper environmental and animal welfare standards in this sector.
"Scotland's reputation for world class produce and sustainable farming must be protected. The Scottish Government must take urgent action to ensure fish farming is held to the highest standards."
The Greens - now in a power-sharing deal with the SNP at Holyrood - previously called for a halt to new fish farms. The party’s rural affairs spokeswoman Ariana Burgess said: “These figures are very alarming. They were already shockingly high, and now they are getting worse. We have to ask why so many fish are dying and why we are continuing to let it happen.”
She added: “If more people could see what was being done to salmon in cages then they would be up in arms. This kind of suffering should not be normalised. This requires an urgent response. We need action.”
The Scottish Conservatives warned salmon deaths were "spiralling out of control". Shadow rural affairs secretary Rachael Hamilton added: “These figures should prompt a robust discussion among all interested stakeholders about the future of the industry going forward to ensure the number of deaths can urgently be reduced.”
Anti-salmon farming campaigner Don Staniford has claimed the true mortality rate could be as high as 25 per cent, saying: “If ramblers saw one in four cows or sheep dead in a field they’d be horrified.” Salmon Scotland said the sector "already meets the highest global environmental and welfare standards".
Tavish Scott, the industry body's chief executive, said: “Like other farmers we’ve experienced environmental challenges that are beyond our control, particularly since the autumn. We have been open and transparent about the issues we’ve faced and what we’re doing to overcome them.
“We are keen to engage with MSPs who are genuinely interested in working with us to support the 12,500 jobs in every Scottish constituency that depend on our sector.”
The Scottish Government said its upcoming aquaculture strategy would "place a priority on maintaining and improving farmed fish health".
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