A government inquiry into Scotland’s salmon-farming industry has criticized its mortality levels, but salmon-farming groups have pushed back against what they say is unfair treatment compared to other forms of animal farming.
Scotland performed its first inquiry into the nation's salmon-farming industry in 2018, and the original report from the Rural Economy and Connectivity Committee (RECC) considered mortality levels “too high in general across the sector,” stating that “it is very concerned to note the extremely high mortality rates at particular sites.”
A recently released follow-up inquiry found that remains the case, despite significant industry investments in fish welfare and other areas.
Between June and October 2024, a new inquiry led by a Rural Affairs and Islands (RAI) Committee took evidence from a range of regulators, stakeholders, fish farm producers and the Scottish government. It also received written submissions and launched fact-finding visits to salmon-farming sites and marine research facilities.
Among the report’s 65 recommendations was a call for regulators to be given powers and practical actions to use in the event of high mortality levels and for a process to be put in place that “allows robust intervention by regulators when serious fish mortality events occur.” Those regulations could include an appropriate mechanism to limit or close down production until causes are addressed.
The new report identified statistics which recorded mortality rates as high as 80 percent at individual farms. The committee said it was “strongly of the view” that "no expansion should be permitted at sites which report high or significantly increased levels of mortalities until these are addressed to the satisfaction of the appropriate regulatory bodies.”
Accepting that while there are “multiple and complex causes of mortality in farmed fish” and that “unpredictable, acute environmental events” such as algal blooms and micro-jellyfish in 2022 and 2023 caused mass mortalities at some sites which are not within the control of the industry, the new report from RAI states the committee is “disappointed ...
