Footage of disfigured salmon exposed on Scottish fish farms linked to supermarket suppliers

Animal Equality has released footage and images showing severely injured, deformed, and diseased salmon on three Scottish salmon farms linked to suppliers of major UK supermarkets. The salmon are shown to have visible deformities, open wounds and advanced parasite damage.

Over several months, Animal Equality investigated three Scottish salmon farms, where we discovered fish suffering from lice, wounds, and blindness:

• Scalpay farm, operated by Mowi and a supplier to Sainbury’s
• Kerrera B farm, operated by Scottish Sea Farms, and a supplier to Marks & Spencer
• Shuna Point, operated by Scottish Sea Farms, and a supplier to Marks & Spencer

Complaints about fish health, parasites and high mortalities have mounted in recent years. Between January and October 2025, more than 10 million farmed salmon are reported to have died on farms, never reaching the slaughterhouse.

Animal Equality sounds the alarm

The farmed fish are evidently afflicted with severe sea lice infestations, skin lesions, fin erosion and other visible harm, conditions typically linked to intensive farming practices and environmental stressors such as crowding in cages, disease and warming waters. 

Nearly a quarter of salmon farms breach the industry’s own lice rules. Sick and helpless fish are caged in filthy waters teeming with lice. Parasites cling to their bodies, literally eating away at the salmon. Would anyone really want to put that on their plate?

—Abigail Penny, Executive Director of Animal Equality UK

We submitted a formal complaint and are calling for urgent reform of industry practices and regulatory standards.

Calls for greater transparency

The emergence of these disturbing images comes amid broader calls for greater transparency within the Scottish salmon farming industry. 

A Scottish Parliamentary inquiry earlier this year urged the Scottish Government to accelerate reforms addressing mortality reporting, environmental monitoring and regulatory conditions, expressing concern over the industry’s ‘long-term viability’.

Unless swift changes are made, and the industry’s expansion is halted, the ongoing crisis on salmon farms is at risk of further worsening.

Join us, demand a halt to all new Scottish salmon farms:

We, the undersigned, are deeply concerned about the state of the salmon farming industry in Scotland.

The Scottish salmon industry is facing a growing crisis. For years, salmon on farms have been dying in their droves. In 2022, a staggering 16.7 million farmed fish died before reaching the slaughterhouse.

These deaths occur for a number of reasons. Crowded underwater cages can act as a hotbed for flesh-eating lice infestations and infectious disease outbreaks, causing fish to die as a result. Farmed salmon are also challenged by predation, rising water temperatures, rough weather conditions, and rough treatments performed by the industry.

Undercover investigative footage and publicly-available data, obtained by Animal Equality and fellow animal protection organisations, offers clear evidence of these alarming issues and the pervasive impact that this industry is having on animals, local communities and the environment.

The Scottish salmon industry is set to grow exponentially over the coming years; there is a real risk that as the industry grows, so will its associated issues. Scottish salmon farming is cruel and unsustainable; without immediate action, many millions more fish risk perishing on farms.

For the animals, the environment, and the people of Scotland, we join Animal Equality UK in calling on the Scottish Government to take action and hold the salmon industry accountable. The Scottish Government must halt industry expansion and cease granting planning permissions for new fish farming facilities in Scotland.

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