56% Mortality at RSPCA Assured Mowi (but don't worry, it's certified as "farmed responsibly" by the Aquaculture Stewardship Council)!

REVEALED: Mortality rates at feedlots across Scotland are leaping like a lice-infested salmon – with a staggering 55.9% (i.e. more than half of the fish dying) @MowiScotlandLtd @rspcaassured @ASC_aqua Greanem in North Uist https://t.co/kjNDyAMgKa @ScotlandSalmon @tavishscott pic.twitter.com/4893yS4LQ2

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) August 23, 2022

Mortality data published online by Salmon Scotland makes for uncomfortable reading – especially for RSPCA Assured and the Aquaculture Stewardship Council who shamefully market Scottish salmon via Sainsbury's, Tesco and other retailers as "responsibly sourced" and "responsibly farmed".

How can 56% mortality (i.e. over half the fish dying) be marketed as "responsibly farmed" & "responsibly sourced" @rspcaassured @ASC_aqua @Tesco @sainsburys @MowiScotlandLtd ? https://t.co/PuckNO9qq9 @ASA_UK @ClientEarth @SSC_seafood @LidlGB @AldiUK @ScotlandSalmon #Greenwash pic.twitter.com/h9bILNMmWR

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) August 23, 2022

Here's data for June 2022 which reveals a staggering mortality rate of 55.9% at Mowi's Greanem salmon farm in North Uist (a site certified by the ASC in April 2022 and accredited as 'welfare-friendly' via RSPCA Assured):

Here's a Facebook post showing Mowi's Greanem salmon farm in Cheesebay, North Uist (also known as Grey Horse Channel Outer), first starting production in late 2019:

First fish going into our new site #greanem in Cheesebay North Uist 🐟

Thanks to site manager #Ian Wiseman for sharing and welcome to our new members of Mowi team in Uist – have a great 1st cycle guys pic.twitter.com/s3L6tNjVMI

— Mowi Scotland Limited (@MowiScotlandLtd) November 6, 2019

Scotland's Aquaculture online database records Mowi's Greanem salmon farm as Grey Horse Channel Outer – with the first production cycle commencing in November 2019 (harvested out in November 2020) and with a second production cycle starting in April 2021:

Why is the Scottish Environment Protection Agency over 7 months out of date in publishing data on toxic chemical use & mortalities on salmon farms in Scotland? @ScottishEPA @marinescotland @nature_scot @MairiGougeon @ScotGovNetZero @scotgp @ScotlandSalmon https://t.co/GlePzttr2G

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) August 22, 2022

The latest data published by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency via Scotland's Aquaculture – for December 2021 – shows that Mowi's Greanem (Grey Horse Channel Outer) salmon farm reported over 10,000 kg of mortalities:

Here's the map of Mowi's Greanem (Grey Horse Channel Outer) salmon farm in the Sound of Harris published by Scotland's Aquaculture:

Here's another map of Mowi's Greanem (Grey Horse Channel Outer) salmon farm published by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency:

Mowi's Greanem (Grey Horse Channel Outer) salmon farm reported over 200,000 kg of mortalities in October 2021:

In August 2021, Mowi's Greanem (Grey Horse Channel Outer) reported the use of the lobster-killing toxic chemical Deltamethrin:

Toxic Scottish Salmon – Chemical Use Doubles Since 2018! https://t.co/TAE9KRYcZv @ScottishEPA @ScotlandSalmon @marinescotland @MowiScotlandLtd @salmon_scottish @scotseafarms @GriegShetland @kamesfishfarm @vmdgovuk @MairiMcAllan @ASC_aqua @rspcaassured @sainsburys @Tesco @LidlGB pic.twitter.com/4CUyGTHUUU

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) January 25, 2022

And in June 2021, Mowi's Greanem (Grey Horse Channel Outer) salmon farm reported the use of the toxic chemical Azamethiphos:

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

The Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) – who shamefully support the use of toxic chemicals – awarded Mowi's Greanem salmon farm certification in April 2022 (even though hundreds of thousands of farmed salmon had died at the lethal site):

Here's the ASC's Certificate of Conformity for Mowi's Greanem salmon farm issued in April 2022:

Mowi's Greanem (Grey Horse Channel Outer) salmon farm has reported non-conformity (i.e. breaches) of lice limits throughout 2022 – here's the sea lice data published by the Scottish Government which shows that Mowi's ASC-certified Greanem (Grey Horse Channel Outer) salmon farm is the worst site for lice infestation in the whole of Scotland during 2022 with further use of the toxic chemical Salmosan (Azamethiphos) and use of a torture chamber called the Thermolicer:

Mowi's lice and mortality reporting in March 2022 detailed problems at Greanem (Grey Horse Channel Outer):

With ongoing gill infections reported by Mowi in June 2022:

And treatment losses reported by Mowi in May 2022:

An inspection of Mowi's Greanem (Grey Horse Channel Outer) salmon farm by the Scottish Government's Fish Health Inspectorate in May 2022 reported mass mortalities (which Mowi had failed to report in line with the industry's Code of Good Practice) and complex gill disease – with diseased fish dumped illegally at Whiteshore Cockles:

[Note that the number of farmed salmon at Mowi's Greanem/Grey Horse Channel Outer site was detailed as 476,707 fish during the Scottish Government's inspection on 25 May 2022 – but in a previous Scottish Government inspection on 6 October 2021 the number of farmed salmon was detailed as 1,025,000 (i.e. over half Mowi's ASC-certified and RSPCA Assured salmon died in a period of 7 months!)]

Don Staniford of Scottish Salmon Watch condemned the £££s @HIEScotland: “How much money has Whiteshore Cockles made via the illegal dumping of diseased farmed salmon?” https://t.co/ooRVbZi20s @cne_siar @ScottishEPA @ScotGovNetZero @MairiGougeon @APHAgovuk @marinescotland @scotgp

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) January 27, 2022

Here's Mowi's late mortality reports for Greanem (Grey Horse Channel Outer) filed with the Scottish Government's Fish Health Inspectorate on 25 May 2022:

In total, Mowi's Greanem (Grey Horse Channel Outer) salmon farm has officially reported over half a million (554,224) morts since December 2019 – that's over only two production cycles via 26 'Mortality Event Reports' (note that only mortality events exceeding a certain threshold are required to be reported)! Here's the largest mass mortalities reported by Mowi at their ASC-certified and RSPCA Assured salmon farm at Greanem (Grey Horse Channel Outer) in the Sound of Harris, North Uist:

Of the 26 'Mortality Event Reports' only four (representing less than 30,000 of the 554,224 reported morts) cited 'seal predation', 'predation' or 'seal damage' with the other reports citing treatment losses, complex gill diseases, Amoebic Gill Disease, Yersiniosis, Pancreas Disease and Cardiomyopathy Syndrome. Back in December 2020, BBC Countryfile featured the ASC's chief executive Chris Ninnes claiming that a mortality rate of higher than 10% would rule out ASC certification.

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

Chris Ninnes claims that @ASC_aqua standards demand less than 10% mortality on salmon farms @BBCCountryfile @joe_crowley https://t.co/C51W8wp9cz
So why is Glenfinnan salmon farm @ScotlandMowi with a mortality rate of 20% & 61,188 morts in one week in August still certified? pic.twitter.com/UtYmlg24Z8

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) December 7, 2020

The Aquaculture Stewardship Council's commitment that 10%+ mortality will rule out certification @ASC_aqua would rule out @ScotlandMowi in Loch Ainort (Cairidh) & Linnhe (Gorsten) – not to mention most other salmon farms in Scotland! @SSPOsays @joe_crowley https://t.co/zBalDqlabc pic.twitter.com/MifaIuRr1E

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) December 7, 2020

Only one out of 28 salmon farms harvested @rspcaassured Mowi over the last year would have passed the @ASC_aqua mortality standard of 10% – the average mortality rate was a staggering 24.4% with 39% death rate at the aptly named Muck salmon farm @ScotlandMowi @MowiScotlandLtd pic.twitter.com/465g30A5KQ

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) December 7, 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

The ASC subsequently clarified the 10% mortality threshold rule by pointing to the smallprint of the ASC's farmed salmon standards:

"The ‘10%’ maximum mortality rate in a farm’s most recent production cycle refers to “viral disease-related mortality”* [5.1.5] and not to overall mortalities if other non-viral causes have been explained/specified. The latter could include predators, bacterial, algal-bloom, stress –related etc. mortalities. [* “Viral disease-related mortality count shall include unspecified and unexplained mortality as it could be related to viral disease.”]".

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

A damning report by the Scottish Government's Fish Health Inspectorate – relating to an inspection on 6 October 2021 – detailed disease and mortality problems in a stock of fish which then numbered over 1 million fish (by the time the Scottish Government's Fish Health Inspectorate visited in May 2022 the number of RSPCA Assured salmon was down below a million – a decrease of 53.5% from 1,025,000 to 476,707 fish):

A Scottish Government Fish Health Inspectorate Visit Report dated 29 October 2021 detailed proliferative gill pathology, evidence of
amoebic gill disease and presence of epitheliocystis, Paranucleospora theridion (syn, Desmozoon lepeophtherii), salmon gill poxvirus (SGPV), Aeromonas sp. and Vibrio sp at Mowi's RSPCA Assured Greanem (Grey Horse Channel Outer) salmon farm:

When @marinescotland inspected Mowi's Greanem (Grey Horse Channel Outer) feedlot in Oct 2021 there were over 1 million fish (1,025,000) but by May 2022 there were less than half a million (476,707)! How can @rspcaassured & @ASC_aqua condone such mortality? https://t.co/PuckNO9qq9 pic.twitter.com/afhmitmZbf

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) August 23, 2022

The damning Scottish Government inspection report also included photos:

Edie Bowles @Animallawyersuk said the dossier, compiled by Don Staniford, a critic of salmon farming, indicated “systemic and obvious” pain & suffering that could justify legal action against @scotgov @MairiGougeon @SSPOsays https://t.co/ZuzAis8gEr @SundayTimesScot @ciwf @scotgp pic.twitter.com/RPVIAL3KlS

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) February 2, 2020

Here's a list of all ASC-certified salmon farms operated by Mowi in Scotland:

In January 2022, Scottish Salmon Watch (since renamed $camon $cotland) wrote to the ASC calling on the certification of all salmon farms in Scotland to be rescinded.

Open letter to the ASC: Please cancel all certification of Mowi's toxic Scottish salmon! https://t.co/N9MwDaN0kQ @ASC_aqua @MowiScotlandLtd @fms_scotland @SalmonTroutCons
Scottish salmon is farmed irresponsibly not responsibly! @rspcaassured @ASA_UK @sainsburys @Tesco @LidlGB pic.twitter.com/3L76as7mTY

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) January 6, 2022

In July 2022, $camon $cotland exposed welfare abuse inside RSPCA Assured Norskott Havbruk (Scottish Sea Farms) in the Sound of Mull and Loch Creran.

Norskott Havbruk (Scottish Sea Farms) is a Sham, Scam & Consumer Con – Stop Salmon Farming Now! https://t.co/dMEaB2Sfso
Please boycott @rspcaassured Scottish salmon! @marksandspencer @scotseafarms @ScotlandSalmon @LeroySeafood @ciwf @APHAgovuk @marinescotland @ScottishSPCA pic.twitter.com/1bsV6l1YnM

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) July 19, 2022

In July 2021, Scottish Salmon Watch exposed welfare abuse inside RSPCA Assured Mowi around the Isle of Shuna near Oban.

This shocking leaked footage shows salmon being eaten alive by lice at a fish farm in Scotland! pic.twitter.com/EoUO3dv5ee

— seaspiracy (@seaspiracy) August 2, 2021

Earlier this month, Wild Fish warned of rising lice infestation levels at salmon farms across Scotland.

NEW on the BLOG ➡️ Salmon farms: in hot water.

Tanglewest, our campaigns researcher, discusses the impact of the recent heatwave on sea lice numbers and what it means for wild fish. https://t.co/sZtPf3WGtW #wildfish #sealice

— WildFish (@WildFishCons) August 18, 2022