Inspectors have no concerns about dead salmon at the fish farm

Government inspectors say they have no concerns about the number of dead salmon removed from a fish farm just hours before the MSPs’ visit.

Members of the Scottish Parliament’s Rural Affairs Committee visited the Dunstaffnage fish farm near Oban on Monday 25 September on a reconnaissance mission.

Animal Equality UK accused the fish farm operator of painting a “wholly inaccurate” picture of the industry, but Scottish Sea Farms insisted the footage showed “routine” operations.

Members of the fish health inspection now have told committee members The removal of dead fish is a “recognized aspect of animal husbandry”.

The committee is conducting a follow-up inquiry into how the sector has changed since a damning 2018 report raised environmental concerns.

Following the release of the footage of dead and dying fish being removed, a spokesman for the committee said it had heard concerns about fish mortality in salmon farms during its investigation, adding that the footage raised further questions for the committee.

BBC Scotland News understands the removal of the fish was not discussed with MSPs on September 25.

Animal Equality UK accused the industry of trying to hide “the truth” about parasites and diseases.

But Scottish Sea Farms, which operates the site, insisted the footage showed teams following standard operating procedures and regularly removing dead or dying fish.

It said the number of fish removed each time varied between enclosures and from day to day.

But it insisted that a mass mortality event had “categorically not” occurred.

The watchdog has written to the parliamentary committee saying 1,082kg of biomass was removed from the site on the day the images were taken, but said the mortality rate was not above voluntary reporting limits.

It said: “The FHI has no concerns about the routine death removal procedure carried out in the video footage.”

On Tuesday, Dr. Ralph Bickerdike, head of fish health and animal welfare at Scottish Sea Farms, said: “The fish health inspectorate’s response reinforces what we said clearly to the BBC last week: that the footage shows our farm team doing their duty. “We are taking care of this by “We quickly remove any bad fish or decayed animals, which we do every morning when conditions permit.”

Abigail Penny, chief executive of Animal Equality UK, said: “The public outcry at the sight of these images speaks for itself.”

“Containers filled to the brim with dead animals tell a story that percentages on a page cannot. The fact that this doesn’t even cause regulators to bat an eyelid is deeply disturbing.”

“If this continues as usual, MSPs will have to ask themselves whether this is an industry that Scotland should continue to support.”

Scottish salmon is the UK’s largest food export, worth £578 million in 2022.

But the number of fish deaths on farms has increased. Last year a record 17 million salmon deaths were reported in Scotland.

Warm ocean temperatures have led to a significant increase in microjellyfish, which are harming farmed salmon.

Additionally, there have long been concerns about parasitic sea lice and the use of chemical treatments in open waters.

In 2018, Holyrood’s environment committee concluded that Scotland’s marine ecosystem had suffered “irreparable damage” from the expansion of fish farming.

A report by regulator Sepa in the same year found that almost one in five salmon farms in Scotland were failing to meet legal environmental standards.

Another report from the Scottish Parliament’s Rural Economy Committee made 65 recommendations for improvement but did not support a moratorium on new fish farms.

The current investigation examines the extent to which these recommendations have been implemented.