"Scottish salmon is a hopeless drug addict that surely belongs on the floor with the Trainspotting junkies not welcomed into your kitchen & served as ‘healthy’ food. Norwegian giant Mowi should check itself into rehab to curb their drug dependency" https://t.co/T3qavQYEUR pic.twitter.com/irjTlZ6EFq
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) February 27, 2022
Download press release and media backgrounder dated 27 February 2022 in full online here
Download press release and media backgrounder in full online here
Download SEPA's FOI disclosure dated 10 February 2022 online here (Excel)
Download SEPA's covering letter dated 10 February 2022 online here
Salmon pharms in Scotland used 7,476 kg of antibiotics (Florfenicol & Oxytetracycline) in 2021 – that's a shocking 51-fold increase since 2016 according to a FOI disclosure! @ScottishEPA https://t.co/T3qavQYEUR
Please boycott Scottish pharmed salmon! @sainsburys @Tesco @AldiUK pic.twitter.com/O9hhgLpUbk— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) February 28, 2022
Scottish Salmon Watch reported last month (6 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
Here's the largest users of Aquatet (Oxytetracycline) between 2015 and 2019 – the list is dominated by Marine Harvest/Mowi (Marine Harvest changed their name to Mowi on 1 January 2019 due to "negative consumer perception") who is responsible for 22 out of the 23 doses:
Here's the largest users of Florocol (Florfenicol) between 2015 and 2019 – with Marine Harvest/Mowi responsible for 39 of the 71 reported doses followed by Grieg Seafood (15), Cooke (12), Kames (4) and Loch Duart (1). By far the biggest dose of Florfenicol was by Mowi in Loch Duich – a Special Area of Conservation and a contentious site which Mowi claimed in 2019 would be closed down and a site which is currently being audited for ASC certification!
Read more on Scottish salmon's drugs addiction via "Toxic Scottish Salmon – Chemical Use Doubles Since 2018!" and "Salmon Pharming's 'Silent Spring' of the Sea"
Whilst salmon farmers in Scotland are using more and more antibiotics, the trade press still blindly ignores Scottish salmon's drugs addiction. Fish Farmer reported on 31 December 2021:
Thankfully, some trade press outlets are not afraid to report the bitter truth about all the pills being taken by Scottish salmon (and cleaner fish). The Fish Site reported (9 December 2021):
Antibiotics use in Scottish farmed salmon doubles @thefishsite https://t.co/aaJkhBU2FY @ScotlandSalmon @vmdgovuk @MowiScotlandLtd @GriegShetland @PFreeScotland @PAN_UK @SeafoodWatch @ScotGovNetZero
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) December 9, 2021
Scottish Salmon Watch reported (9 December 2021):
Antibiotic use doubles on Scottish salmon farms in a year! 5.6 tonnes of Oxytetracycline & Florfenicol used in 2020 according to @vmdgovuk report published in November 2021 @ScotlandSalmon
Just say no to drugs, say no to Scottish pharmed salmon! @MowiScotlandLtd @GriegShetland pic.twitter.com/X4vB8A35GR— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) December 9, 2021
A Freedom of Information request disclosed by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (F0192000) reveals increasing use of antibiotics on marine salmon farms in Scotland spearheaded by Norwegian giant Mowi. Between 2015 and 2019 the use of Aquatet (Oxytetracycline) and Florocol (Florfenicol) increased 14-fold from 144kg to 2084kg (that's 2.1 tonnes)!
Antibiotic use on marine salmon farms in Scotland leapt like a disease-ridden fish from 144kg in 2015 to 2084kg in 2019. That's a 14-fold increase in 5 years with 2.1 tonnes of Oxytetracycline and Florfenicol used in 2019. Data obtained from @ScottishEPA by @SeafoodWatch pic.twitter.com/WsOJ8CVIJK
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) December 9, 2021
Here's the data for 2015 to 2019 presented in Seafood Watch's report on salmon farming in Scotland published on 6 December 2021:
Site specific data for 2020 and 2021 is not yet available (a cyber-attack on SEPA last year impacted operations) but the UK Veterinary Antibiotic Resistance and Sales Surveillance Report published in November 2021 (p49-51) details increasing use of antibiotics on salmon farms during 2020 (the Scottish Salmon Producers Organisation – renamed Salmon Scotland on 1 November 2021 – claimed that the use of antibiotics decreased in the freshwater phase of production whilst conceding an increase in the use of antibiotics on marine salmon farms):
Seafood Watch's report on samon farming in Scotland (6 December 2021) – which ranked Scottish salmon farming regions (Western Isles, Southwest & Northwest) as the worst in the world – included:
The data presented by Seafood Watch – and disclosed by SEPA via F0192000 – does not include use of antibiotics in salmon hatcheries. For example, a Fish Health Inspectorate report for January 2020 detailed disease problems ("likely Flavobacterium" – the causative agent of Bacterial Cold Water Disease) at Landcatch's Ormsary Smolt Unit including use of the antibiotic Florfenicol (Floricol), the antimicrobial Bronopol (Cress) and the carcinogenic chemical Formalin.
Anyone for disease-ridden Scottish salmon fresh from Landcatch marinaded in antibiotic & cancer-causing Formalin? https://t.co/rSvO6Hz6V7 @HGSalmonUK @salmon_scottish New 'Case Information' published today @marinescotland The horror of #Scottish #Salmon @ciwf @PETAUK @APHAgovuk pic.twitter.com/NWDVRGdb4Y
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) April 6, 2020
Carcinogenic chemical Formalin used "twice a week" @HGSalmonUK Ormsary Hatchery along with antibiotic Florocol. "Lesions" & "Fungus" with Flavobacterium & Infectious Pancreatic Necrosis virus. 54,629 mortalities reported @marinescotland due to "shock morts" & "deformities". pic.twitter.com/llYriEi2R7
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) October 6, 2020
Salmon Scotland report on their website:
The Global Alliance Against Industrial Aquaculture reported in February 2017:
The Press & Journal reported (20 February 2017):
Information disclosed by the Scottish Government in March 2017 via Freedom of Information (FoI/17/00293) detail use of antibiotics on cleaner fish:
Fish Farming Expert reported in February 2017 that the increase in antibiotics in Norwegian salmon farming was driven by cleaner fish:
Read more via:
The Ferret/Sunday National: "Use of Drugs At Fish Farms Rises 50 Times in Six Years"
Media Backgrounder: "Mowi's Increasing Disease Problems Drives Increases in Antibiotic Use"
Toxic Scottish Salmon – Chemical Use Doubles Since 2018!
"Antibiotics use in Scottish farmed salmon doubles" (The Fish Site)
Antibiotic-ridden Scottish salmon
