Footage reveals salmon suffocating on accredited farms supplying major British supermarkets
Campaigners argue that the findings show “systemic and extreme animal suffering”, sparking renewed calls for heightened industry oversight and the enactment of stronger legal protections for farmed fish. Currently there are no species-specific laws in place for farmed fish at the time of killing.
The drone recordings – captured throughout April, July and August 2024 on Loch Alsh; Fiunary, Sound of Mull; and Ardcastle, Loch Fyne – are operated by Mowi, Scottish Sea Farms and Bakkafrost, respectively. Fiunary is a known supplier to Marks & Spencer, which boasts on its website that ‘over 100% of our salmon and trout is certified to RSPCA Assured standards’, as well as Tesco, while Loch Alsh is a known supplier to Sainsbury’s. Two of the farms are RSPCA Assured; the other is Aquaculture Stewardship Council accredited.
In over a dozen incidents across the four-month period, salmon appearing to show signs of consciousness are left out of water for over one minute; one fish appears to suffocate for over three minutes. These instances of asphyxiation far surpass the RSPCA’s 15 second maximum allowance
Other findings, many of which also violate RSPCA regulations, include:
- A salmon beaten in the head by a worker;
- A salmon kicked along the boat floor by a worker;
- A live fish pushed beneath a pile of dead salmon;
- Lids closed on buckets containing moving fish;
- Live fish thrashing after they are collected by nets and suspended in the air while workers slowly walk around the sea cage;
- A salmon held by the tail and dunked head-first into a bucket of anesthetic by a worker.
The footage also includes recordings of dead so-called ‘cleaner-fish’, fish bred or captured from the wild that are widely used to eat the lice off of the farmed salmon. Approximately 52 million salmon are slaughtered for human consumption in the UK each year, with a further 17.4 million recorded to have died on Scottish salmon farms in 2023 due to lice infestations, disease outbreaks, warming or rough waters, and abrasive industry treatments.
We have submitted a formal complaint to the relevant authorities.
This is not one bad farm…
This is not the first time that Animal Equality UK has discovered fish suffocating on Scottish salmon farms. In January, we instructed law firm Advocates for Animals to submit a formal complaint to the Animal Plant and Health Agency after whistleblowers provided footage of a live fish suspended in a cage and left hanging in the air, thrashing and suffocating to death.
The complaint prompted a meeting between Government officials and representatives from the world’s largest salmon producer, Mowi. In a subsequent summary letter – obtained via a Freedom of Information request – it was stated that Mowi ‘advised during the meeting that all operatives are trained to euthanise any moribund [sick] fish brought to the surface at the time of morting’. Clearly, this latest footage puts the adequacy of that alleged training into question.
Abigail Penny, Executive Director of Animal Equality UK, says:
“Here we have proof of over a dozen fish desperately struggling in their final moments of life – it begs the question: what else happens when no-one is watching? No industry of this scale, causing mass suffering to millions of animals each year, should ever be left to its own devices and, evidently, the Scottish farmed salmon industry needs far greater scrutiny”.
Continuing, Abigail added:
“Committing to increased training or internal investigations is little more than lip-service when animals continue to suffocate to death on the industry’s watch. This isn’t a case of one bad worker, one bad farm, or even one bad company, this is a widespread issue that the Government must take seriously. It’s time that we, as consumers, take matters into our own hands and boycott Scottish farmed salmon”.
We are taking action!
This evidence proves that stronger legal protections for fish are not just necessary but urgent. The longer we wait, the more millions of these living, feeling individuals will suffer and die painful deaths in factory farms.
In September 2023, the Scottish Government released a report from the Animal Welfare Committee, an expert advisory body, addressing the welfare of farmed fish at slaughter. The report outlined several key recommendations, including mandatory stunning, increased inspections, CCTV surveillance in fish slaughterhouses, and monitoring the deaths of ‘cleaner-fish.’
It’s time these recommendations are put into practice, not just left on paper. It’s been over six months since the Parliamentary meeting we attended in January, where we urged the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) to provide a clear roadmap on when these measures would be implemented. Yet, we are still waiting for a response.
We need to hold them accountable. Join us in demanding stronger legal protections for fish now.
Try plant-based
And remember, you can make a significant impact by keeping salmon and all animal products off your plate.
Every year approximately 100 million fish die at the hands of the UK fish farming industry, if we take into account the fish that make it to slaughter and the ones who die before.
The UK aquaculture industry is desperate to grow its operations and profits – we cannot allow it. As consumers, we hold the power to stop this.
It’s never been easier to make compassionate choices with our diets, so why not start your plant-based journey today?
Protect Fish
Scientists confirm that fish feel pain and suffer. Protect these sensitive beings by choosing plant-based alternatives to animal food products.
