Scottish Ministers with Egg on Their Faces – is it game ova for imports of salmon eggs from Iceland & Norway?

 

Scottish Ministers have egg on their faces – is it game ova for imports of salmon eggs from Iceland & Norway due to Infectious Salmon Anaemia? @scotgov @_KateForbes @MairiGougeon
Is @MairiGougeon heading for an 'Eggwina' Currie moment? @Edwina_Currie https://t.co/1rek4wPz2v pic.twitter.com/BZVbWjQcNN

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) November 30, 2021

 

 

 

Scottish Ministers have egg all over their faces when it comes to salmon in Scotland – especially when you take a closer look at how much 'Scottish' salmon is actually sourced from foreign salmon eggs (ova) imported from Norway, Iceland and Ireland.   

 

Scottish Scamon Eggsposé: FOI data @scotgov reveals 787 million ova imported from #Norway (62%), #Ireland (19%) & #Iceland (18%) for use on salmon farms in #Scotland since 2003!
'Scottish' salmon is a fake brand! @SalmonScotland
@ScotlandSalmon @SalmonTroutCons @MairiMcAllan pic.twitter.com/DLZhfAjYmq

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) November 29, 2021

 

 

 

When Scottish Minister Mairi Gougeon officially opened the new Holywood Breeding Centre in Dumfries in September 2021, Marine Scotland Tweeted her smiling face.

 

Earlier today @MairiGougeon officially opened the new Holywood Breeding Centre in Dumfries.

The new centre will support highly skilled aquaculture jobs and help Scotland reduce its reliance on ova imports as well as improving market security ⬇️https://t.co/dgjTfBvbqO pic.twitter.com/1DQiddtSLL

— Marine Scotland (@marinescotland) September 29, 2021

 

 

 

Look morely closely, however, and it's not a pretty sight at all with tens of millions of foreign ova – 787 million since 2003 and 323 million since 2016 – flooding into 'Scottish' salmon farms every year (not surprising since 99% of 'Scottish' salmon farming is controlled by just six companies – all foreign owned).  There's certainly nothing for the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and Islands to be happy about.   When Scottish Salmon Watch visited AquaGen's Holywood salmon hatchery in 2019 we exposed a Norwegian-spawned horror story lurking behind 'Scottish' salmon.

 

 

 

 

Salmon Business reported (29 September 2021):

 

 

 

Dig deeper and the veneer of "elite" 'Scottish' salmon flakes off very quickly. 

 

 

 

 

Data published by the Scottish Government via FOI reveals that AquaGen's Holywood hatchery (formerly owned by Scottish Sea Farms) is fuelled by ova imported from Norway.  Since 1 January 2016, AquaGen has imported 33.5 million ova from Norway via 47 shipments to the Holywood hatchery, Cooke Aquaculture, Scottish Sea Farms, Loch Duart, Kames, The Scottish Salmon Company, Marine Harvest (Mowi) and Landcatch (Hendrix): 

 

 

The 'elite broodstock' owes its origins to Norway not Scotland.  Scottish Salmon Watch reported in August 2020:

 

Norwegian Salmon Ova Slip Back Into Scotland (as Infectious Salmon Anaemia plagues salmon farms in Norway) https://t.co/MAShiQlkpw @GreenerScotland @marinescotland @APHAgovuk @DefraGovUK @InfoMattilsynet @FergusEwingMSP @HGSalmonUK @EWNutritionGmbH @WeAreBenchmark @scotseafarms pic.twitter.com/BtzuLNd79Y

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) August 26, 2020

 

 

 

The press release dated 25 August 2020 included:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So when Fish Farmer reported in July 2020 that AquaGen's ova were "Scotland born and bred" it must be taken with a large pinch of salt.

 

 

 

 

Similarly, when The Fish Site reported in October 2021 on "Scotch Eggs" the ova in question were far from Scottish. 

 

 

 

 

 

Scottish Salmon Watch reported in October 2020:

 

"Norwegian interests risk bringing the whole rotten edifice of 'Scottish Salmon' crashing down" warns @HGSalmonUK to @Feorlean & @FergusEwingMSP https://t.co/7leCLZarz1 @GAA_Advocate @salmonfarming1 @IntraFishNorge @thefishsite @Salmon_Business @GreenerScotland @fiskeridir pic.twitter.com/79CBueZzXB

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) October 1, 2020

 

 

Scottish Ministers warned by @HGSalmonUK in 2019 of "an absurdly flawed bio-security self certification policy that risks the import of further Norwegian disease, a threat capable of destroying Scotland's entire salmon industry" @Feorlean @FergusEwingMSP https://t.co/7leCLZs2qz pic.twitter.com/6UjKur22K2

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) October 1, 2020

 

 

 

Ironically, Mairi Gougeon's visit to AquaGen's Holywood hatchery in September 2021 was delayed due to Covid-19 restrictions.  Fish Farming Expert reported (29 September 2021):

 

 

 

 

So whilst the rest of the world closes their borders to stop the spread of infectious diseases and viruses, Scottish Ministers are content to keep the borders open to potentially virus-laden ova with zero screening for ISA and Piscine Reovirus!

 

#COVID19 has taught us that closing borders is vital in stemming the spread of infectious diseases, viruses & pathogens https://t.co/MAShiQlkpw Salmon farms using imported eggs should be quarantined until they can prove they're free of deadly viruses! @GreenerScotland #ISA #PRV pic.twitter.com/2pazJ07x9U

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) August 26, 2020

 

In April 2020 @GreenerScotland admitted that imported salmon eggs (ova) are not tested for Infectious Salmon Anaemia or Piscine Reovirus https://t.co/pllpGndiXN Is 'Scottish' salmon infected with deadly viruses? @DefraGovUK @marinescotland @FergusEwingMSP @strathearnrose @scotgp https://t.co/mFWoXWy7Eq pic.twitter.com/ZLDlLGUBoS

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) August 20, 2020

 

Mairi Gougeon's predecessor Fergus Ewing – known as the 'Minister for the Promotion of Norwegian Salmon Farming' for his shameless lobbying in support of foreign-owned fish farming – was a champion of AquaGen's Holywood hatchery which he claimed helped "to improve the security of Scotland's ova supply".  A press release issued by AquaGen in March 2019 also referred to "eggs from locally-grown broodstock" without mentioning the fact that they were sourced from Norway!

 

 

 

 

Fish Farmer reported in February 2020: 

 

 

Fish Farming Expert reported in October 2021 that Mowi – which has imported ova from Ireland, Norway and Iceland – was launching a "Scottish breeding programme" with the first egg production in 2024/25:

 

 

 

Yet Norwegian-owned Mowi has imported 39.6 million ova via 22 shipments from Norway, Iceland and the Republic of Ireland since it changed their name from Marine Harvest (due to what their CEO admitted was "negative consumer perception") in January 2019 (data up to the end of February 2021)!

 

 

 

Go back beyond 2019 and you'll see that Mowi's 'Scottish' salmon was made in Norway not Scotland – with 53.9 million ova imported from Norway from 2016 to 2018 via 28 shipments from AquaGen Norway and Marine Harvest Norway:

 

 

 

Covert filming inside Mowi's salmon farms in July 2021 revealed the true nature of 'Scottish' salmon:

 

 

Secret Filming Exposes Welfare Abuse at RSPCA Assured Mowi – Campaigners call for Mowi to be fined & RSPCA certification rescinded! https://t.co/dhVFllDjXX@rspcaassured @MowiScotlandLtd @marinescotland @APHAgovuk @MairiGougeon @SSPCA_Kirsteen pic.twitter.com/jzo2fi13xK

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) July 20, 2021

 

 

 

Despite such shocking video evidence – gathered at salmon farms across Scotland operated by Mowi, The Scottish Salmon Company and Scottish Sea Farms – Scottish Ministers still shamefully support 'Scottish' salmon farming.

 

 

 

 

The Scottish Government recreated the infamous John Gummer BSE burger photo op when Scottish Ministers Fergus Ewing and Kate Forbes ate Mowi salmon back in August 2019.