Greenwash Alert: The ASC's New 'Salmon Standard' (Version 1.4) Rolls Out on 1st February!

The Aquaculture Stewardship Council's new 'Salmon Standard' (Version 1.4) becomes effective on 1 February 2023.

Greenwash Alert: The ASC's New 'Salmon Standard' (Version 1.4) Rolls Out on 1st February! @ASC_aqua https://t.co/9OJsJ3KjlQ #Greenwashing #Toxic #Salmon #Pharming pic.twitter.com/XDeaW0x69P

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) January 23, 2023

As greenwashing schemes go, the ASC's 'Salmon Standard' is up there with the best (i.e. the worst).

The ASC – dubbed the 'Abominable Salmon Council' – is the spawn of the devil: an unholy alliance between WWF and the $almafia (as represented by Mowi/Marine Harvest, Nutreco and other salmon farming interests) with over 30 salmon farms in Scotland already greenwashed and another 17 salmon farms waiting in the wings for their coats of green paint.

The ASC – dubbed the Abominable Salmon Council – is the spawn of the devil: an unholy alliance between WWF & the $almafia (as represented by Mowi/Marine Harvest, Nutreco & other salmon farming interests) @ASC_aqua @MowiScotlandLtd @WWF @Nutreco @sainsburys https://t.co/9OJsJ3JLwi pic.twitter.com/LSvdyQiMoe

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) January 23, 2023

The Ferret reported (20 January 2023):

"ASC certification is not worth the paper it is written on, and instead merely facilitates industry greenwash" said Rachel Mulrenan @WildFishCons @FerretScot https://t.co/iE8hglwAD3 @ASC_aqua "seems to have been captured by the fish farming industry" @CCNScotland @fms_scotland

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) January 20, 2023

You can read the ASC's new 'Salmon Standard' (Version 1.4) in full online here – if you print it off please remember to recycle all 103 pages.

The ASC's 'Salmon Standard' (Version 1.4) includes:

Mowi's ASC-certified salmon farm at Groatay in North Uist may be in the firing line here.

Which is more likely: a) Mowi killing a seal illegally? or b) a loose bullet casing staying on the Groatay salmon farm in stormy North Uist waters for over 4 years?https://t.co/GGy9YBZKHZ @MowiScotlandLtd @marinescotland @ScotlandSalmon @PoliceScotland @rspcaassured @FerretScot pic.twitter.com/93cx1eyANJ

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) December 1, 2022

Norwegian giant Scottish Sea Farms may also struggle to follow the regulations. The Ferret reported in December 2021:

The ASC's 'Salmon Standard' (Version 1.4) includes a prohibition on the use of ADDs (another area where the salmon farming industry has struggled to comply with the law):

A great result! 🎊

Last week a case brought to @EnvStanScot by CCN over the unlawful use of ADDs 📢on salmon farms has led to a de-facto ban on these devices.

ADDs emit high frequency pulses which disturb ceteaceans🐬🐋#CommunityAction https://t.co/SE6Y4ozd7R

— Coastal Communities Network (CCN) (@CCNScotland) August 9, 2022

The Ferret reported in October 2022:

Scottish Salmon Watch reported in March 2021:

Photo Exclusive: Seals 'Executed' by Scottish Salmon https://t.co/88Kn1lZwpx @SSPOsays @salmon_scottish @scotseafarms @strandings @marinescotland @NOAA @RuralPolicySRUC @SRUC @rspcaassured @SSPCA_Mike @SSPCA_Kirsteen @RSPCAChris @Try_Lochlander @coopuk @marksandspencer @Tesco pic.twitter.com/XDimhpTbXi

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) March 8, 2021

The ASC's 'Salmon Standard' (Version 1.4) allows escapes – even giving salmon farms a free pass if the escape incident was "outside the farm's control":

Mowi's ASC-certified salmon farm at Carradale reported a mass escape of nearly 50,000 salmon in August 2020 (Mowi's Carradale salmon farm was certified in September 2022 but an ASC audit in August 2020 was cancelled due to the escape).

Escaped Mowi salmon now caught in English rivers @MowiScotlandLtd @fms_scotland https://t.co/p1u4jVaGNZ
What diseases & viruses do they have? @marinescotland @strathearnrose

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) October 8, 2020

Official Scottish Government figures show Mowi has recovered zero out of 48,834 escapees (i.e. 0%!) @MowiScotlandLtd https://t.co/3hMTYTQb9V
How much will @GreenerScotland fine Mowi for failing to recapture escapees? @fms_scotland @FergusEwingMSP @strathearnrose £0.00? #Mowi pic.twitter.com/hzHpfYKhX7

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) October 9, 2020

The ASC's 'Salmon Standard' (Version 1.4) permits the use of toxic copper on salmon farm nets:

The ASC's 'Salmon Standard' (Version 1.4) permits shocking levels of mass mortalities – capping only deaths relating to viral disease to less than 10%:

Scottish Salmon Watch reported in December 2020:

77% of Scottish salmon farms fail to meet the ASC's standard for certification – that's almost four out of every five sea sites exceeding 10% mortality! https://t.co/tPyBxvBlwJ
ASC-certified Scottish salmon is dead in the water!@ASC_aqua @Salmoskius @SSPOsays @ScotlandMowi pic.twitter.com/EInM56nTsM

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) December 7, 2020

Watch Chris Ninnes, CEO of the Aquaculture Stewardship Council, on @BBCCountryfile hammer the nail in the coffin of Scottish salmon by demanding less than 10% mortality on @ASC_aqua certified farms – 77% of salmon farms cannot meet the mortality standard! @SSPOsays @ScotlandMowi pic.twitter.com/TZzuKoIXWB

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) December 8, 2020

Since 2020, mass mortalities on ASC-certified and ASC-audited salmon farms have sky-rocketed:

Exposed: Certification of 'responsibly' farmed @MowiScotlandLtd via the Aquaculture Stewardship Council @ASC_aqua permits mortality rates at salmon farms in excess of 36% (not to mention the use of cancer-causing chemicals & antibiotics)! https://t.co/HsXs18bIo6 @rspcaassured pic.twitter.com/XR0vxDDfrQ

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) December 13, 2021

EXPOSED: Over 100,000 dead farmed salmon @scotseafarms in one month at Toyness in Orkney @marinescotland – surely @ASC_aqua "farmed responsibly" certification is dead in the water? @Acoura_UK @lloydsregister @The_Orcadian @LeroySeafood @Folketrygdfond https://t.co/sl7E4vmN5y pic.twitter.com/XoH5hkCsqu

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) January 11, 2022

$camon $cotland reported in October 2022:

EXPOSED: The Aquaculture Stewardship Council should be rebranded The Abominable Salmon Council! @ASC_aqua @Salmoskius https://t.co/zcpvAyB9TU
How the hell can mass mortalities, disease & welfare abuse be certified as "responsible"?
Shame on @sainsburys @Tesco @rspcaassured @ciwf pic.twitter.com/2PaGx4uzmO

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) October 12, 2022

New mortality data published by the Scottish Government's Fish Health Inspectorate on 6 October 2022 exposes the sham of certification via the Aquaculture Stewarship Council.

$camon $cotland reported last week (20 January 2023):

Named & Shamed: Scotland's Most Deadly Salmon Farms in 2022 (as sponsored by RSPCA Assured & the ASC)! https://t.co/sMPYT23pCl @rspcaassured @ASC_aqua @SoilAssociation @ScotlandSalmon pic.twitter.com/PRuT0z8I2K

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) January 20, 2023

Based upon information published on 9 January 2023 by the Scottish Government's Fish Health Inspectorate (data up to the end of November 2022), here's the most deadly sea cage salmon farms in Scotland during 2022 – plagued by disease problems such as Rickettsia, Heart & Skeletal Muscle Inflammation, Amoebic Gill Disease, Salmon Gill Poxvirus, Pancreas Disease, Infectious Pancreatic Necrosis, Furunculosis, Piscine Reovirus, Vibrio and Sea Lice:

The ASC's 'Salmon Standard' (Version 1.4) even sanctions the use of toxic chemicals and antibiotics:

Scottish salmon farming's use of toxic chemicals is spiralling out of control – with the use of antibiotics leaping nearly 9 times (790%) between 2018 and 2021.

Toxic Scottish Salmon – why are salmon pharms permitted to use lobster-killing chemicals across Scotland (even @SoilAssociation @ASC_aqua certified & @rspcaassured sites)? @ScottishEPA @nature_scot @marinescotland @ScotGovNetZero @vmdgovuk @scotgp @MairiMcAllan @MairiGougeon pic.twitter.com/CVqp5pup7D

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) January 25, 2022

REVEALED: Antibiotic use on salmon farms in Scotland has increased 9-fold since 2018 – leaping from 1 tonne (mostly Oxytetracycline) to 8.9 tonnes! Please boycott Scottish salmon @MowiScotlandLtd @CookeScotland @sainsburys @asda @Tesco @waitrose @rspcaassured @ScotlandSalmon pic.twitter.com/ilAiEue4S7

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) December 4, 2022

Scottish Salmon Watch reported in January 2022:

Please boycott Scottish salmon certified as "farmed responsibly" @ASC_aqua
Mowi's "responsibly farmed" @rspcaassured Scottish salmon sold @sainsburys & @Tesco uses a cocktail of toxic chemicals – it should be labelled as "farmed irresponsibly"! @ASA_UK https://t.co/cxEj1GFxlh pic.twitter.com/asBtEY7mMy

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) January 6, 2022

Scottish Salmon Watch reported in June 2021:

Anyone for Norwegian Salmon Marindaded in Banned Neonicotinoid Imidacloprid (don't worry it's ASC-approved)?! https://t.co/fn6TWu9qo4 #BMK08 #Ectosan #D10AquaticBlast @WeAreBenchmark @FerdOwner @ASC_aqua
Is toxic Norwegian salmon reaching consumers? @seafoodnorway @REMA1000 pic.twitter.com/BpytMop4U2

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) June 17, 2021

Scottish Salmon Watch reported in June 2020:

Anyone for "responsibly certified" Scottish salmon doused in carcinogenic chemical, battered to death, ridden with infectious diseases, served with a side of slaughtered seal & lashings of lice? https://t.co/eY2gaWV3eD @ASC_aqua @MowiScotlandLtd @FergusEwingMSP @rspcaassured pic.twitter.com/lljHE7UyBn

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) June 3, 2020