World Exclusive: “Extreme Activists” Use Extremely Damaging Data Published by the Government (sourced from Salmon Farmers)

 

 

When the chief executive of the Scottish Salmon Producers Organisation (the lobby group for the Norwegian Salmafia controlling ca. 80% of 'Scottish' salmon farming) labelled me an 'extreme activist' several times on BBC Scotland's 'The Nine' last week (6 April 2021), it got me thinking about what action it takes to earn the moniker "extreme activist".    

 

Extreme Activisit blog April 2021 #1

 

 

 

 

I am happy to wear it as a badge of honour rather than the slur that was intended by Tavish Scott, former leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats and now a lobbyist caught lying for the Scottish Salmon Producers Organisation.  Don't forget also that 99% of 'Scottish' salmon is controlled by six foreign owned companies with Norwegian money accounting for ca. 80% of 'Scottish' salmon farming production. 

 

BBC Scotland The Nine 6 April 2021 #1 b Tavish smirking

 

 

Fair enough, I have climbed up tankers full of diseased farmed fish exposing the shocking mortality levels of Scottish salmon (sometimes even in the rain and in the dark without even asking permission from the salmon farming company – as featured in Netflix's 'Seaspiracy').  And I have been so extremely smelly – the rotten fish guts, maggots and skin get encrusted into your trainers – that I once needed three showers to get the smell off.  Now that's extremely uncomfortable – especially for RSPCA Assured salmon farming companies who have to respond to questions from journalists. 

 

Sunday Mail 24 Nov 2018 # Newspaper version

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Last year I even vomited after filming RSPCA Assured dead fish at a Mowi salmon farm on the Isle of Skye.

 

 

 

 

That same evening in July 2020 I had the extreme nerve to walk onto a public pier – that's right, you heard it here: a pier which is open to the public – and film diseased 'Scottish' salmon in broad daylight.

 

 

 

 

And I have kayaked out from a public beach perhaps over half a mile to film secretly inside lice-infested salmon farms which operate in public waters (even if sometimes I don't even paddle as someone else is doing all the donkey work!).

 

STV News 19 June 2019 TV version #2

 

Ferret sick footage 13 June 2019 #1

 

 

As you can see we sometimes head out in treacherous conditions and extreme weather.

 

 

 

 

Once I wasn't feeling extremely active so I lazily took a boat out to a remote salmon farm and filmed how dead farmed salmon were disposed of with baths of Formic acid (it was extremely exciting and brought back memories of Harvey Keitel playing 'The Cleaner' in The Assassin/Point of No Return).

 

 

 

 

Another time I climbed over a gate just off a main road near Oban one sunny evening and filmed more Formic acid bath disposal and bins full of RSPCA Assured Scottish salmon.

 

 

 

 

I've even had the extreme cheek to question the authority of Police Scotland (who were forced to apologise last year after acting as private security to Norwegian-owned Scottish Sea Farms) and even went so far as to write a letter raising safety concerns.

 

Oban Times 19 Oct 2020 #1

 

 

 

 

 

Last year, I had the extreme audacity to question the ethical nature of the Norwegian Government's investments in ca. 80% of 'Scottish' salmon farming.

 

 

 

 

Once – and I still can't quite believe I had the gall to do this – I walked down a public street in Charlotte Square in Edinburgh and filmed outside the First Minister of Scotland's residence which was sandwiched by properties owned by the then largest shareholder in The Scottish Salmon Company.  

 

 

 

No wonder Yuri Lopatinsky – who controlled The Scottish Salmon Company via an anonymous Swiss bank account – threatened to sue me for invasion of privacy. 

 

Yuriy legal threat letter from Woods Whur 30 May 2019

 

 

When I visited Mowi's salmon farm in Loch Alsh 'Special Area of Conservation' in November 2019 I was threatened with legal action and harrassed.

 

 

 

 

Mowi's lawyers threatened further legal action in September 2020 following visits to other Mowi salmon farms.

 

 

 

 

 

 

In September 2019, Mowi was extremely menacing when we visited their salmon farms around Shuna.  But I guess when faced with an "extreme activist" dressed up as a seal in a bullet-proof vest and armed with a sampling jar to take water samples in public waters extreme measures are required. 

 

Poll Na Gille Don as SWAT being followed

 

 

 

 

And being extremely stubborn I have fought a number of court cases – win, lose and draw – being described by a judge in Canada as a "zealot" in the process.   As a non-religious person, I am certainly not a "a member of a fanatical sect arising in Judea during the first century a.d. and militantly opposing the Roman domination of Palestine" from which true zealots take their name. 

 

Extreme Activisit blog April 2021 #18

 

 

I don't even think it is "extreme" to oppose toxic and disease-ridden salmon farming but I take it as a compliment that I am prepared to stand up for what I believe in. 

 

Extreme Activisit blog April 2021 #49

 

Extreme Activisit blog April 2021 #48

 

 

Most of my time is spent not fighting a religious war but sat down on a chair in front of a computer screen trawling through data on mass mortalities published by the Scottish Government's Fish Health Inspectorate (in fact I was so inactive during lockdown that I've put on so much weight that I am now extremely fat – hopefully a Summer of kayaking around Scotland will help shed the pounds!).

 

Extreme Activisit blog April 2021 #14

Extreme Activisit blog April 2021 #15

 

 

If you downloaded this data – supplied by salmon farming companies – would that make you an 'extreme activist'?  Go on, I double dare you to be dangerous!

 

 

 

Or I spend my time (between dropping the kids off at school and picking them up – minus the time walking the dog and trying to persuade my elderly father to get out of bed and take his Alzheimer's pills) trying to decipher the sanitised mortality data published monthly by the Scottish Salmon Producers Organisation.

 

 

Or sifting through 'Case Information' published monthly by the Scottish Government's Fish Health Inspectorate (data for 2021 is still not available but data for the whole of 2020 – save a few open case files – is available). 

 

Extreme Activisit blog April 2021 #17

 

 

Be warned though as searching through this damning 'Case Information' is time-consuming, eye-opening and may result in the foreign-owned 'Scottish' salmon farming lobby branding you an "extreme activist".

 

PR Sorry State #2

 

 

 

 

But sifting through data and reports is certainly safer that climbing up skips full of diseased salmon in the dark or early in the morning.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And it is more enjoyable than badgering the Scottish Environmental Pollution Agency – sorry I meant the Scottish Environment Protection Agency – to hurry up and publish information.  Data on the numbers of mortalities on salmon farms in Scotland has not been published since 2012 after lobbying by the SSPO who argued that publication would be "commercially damaging".   Data on the use of the shellfish-killing chemicals Azamethiphos, Deltamethrin and Emamectin benzoate is still not available beyond September 2020 (data on the use of Hydrogen peroxide, Formalin/Formaldehyde and antibiotics as well as use of chemicals via well boats is not published at all) via the Scotland's Aquaculture web-site. Maybe it is published on the dark web along with other stolen data?  

 

Extreme Activisit blog April 2021 #16

 

 

 

 

Be careful on clicking on 'CSV Export' or you could be labelled an "extreme activist"!

 

 

 

If I'm feeling slightly less active or my RSI is making it difficult to type, I while away my spare time looking at data on salmon farms killing seals (all legal, as sponsored by the Scottish Government, until killing was banned on 31 January 2021) or filing Freedom of Information (FOI) requests for details of seals illegally 'executed' by salmon farms.

 

 

Sometimes if I feel extremely curious I file repeated FOI requests for photos of diseased Scottish salmon which despite legal threats from salmon farms were published by the Scottish Government.

 

Photo Dossier of FHI Case Information Feb 2020 #1 Photo Dossier of FHI Case Information Feb 2020 #2

 

 

It's not difficult to see why salmon farming lobbyists such as Tavish Scott would desperately attempt to stop the public from viewing such 'irresponsible' images.

 

 

 

PR Legal Threats of Disclosure 29 Aug 2018 #1 PR Legal Threats of Disclosure 29 Aug 2018 #2

 

 

It's amazing what extremely interesting information you can extract via FOI – like how 'Scottish' salmon is actually imported as ova (eggs) from Norway, Iceland and Ireland.

 

PR Scottish Salmon Exposed Mowi Ireland & Stofnfiskur 18 Dec 2019 #1

PR Scottish Salmon Exposed Mowi Ireland & Stofnfiskur 18 Dec 2019 #2

 

 

And how Norwegian companies are compromising the genetic integrity and health of 'Scottish' salmon.

 

 

 

Ferret 24 Feb 2020 #1

 

 

On other occasions, "extreme activism" takes the form of extremely tedious and time-consuming research and may even involve a calculator to add up how six foreign-owned companies control 99% of 'Scottish' salmon farming (thankfully I have my Grade C Mathematics 'O' Level to help me out). 

 

Blog Nov 2020 #9 new 99% collage

 

 

Extreme Activisit blog April 2021 #39

 

 

It doesn't sound very extreme but delivering letters to Her Majesty the Queen (asking her to stop the certification of Scottish salmon via RSPCA Assured) or to the King of Norway (asking him to stop Norwegian salmon farming companies killing wild salmon) is at least active enough to get you out of the house/office even if the kids find it so boring that they fall fast asleep.  

 

 

Money shot #23

 

Extreme Activisit blog April 2021 #33

 

 

 

Last year, I even looked into legal action against salmon farms for the torture of fish via mechanical devices called 'Thermolicer' which heat up the farmed salmon to extreme temperatures and have killed over half a million Scotttish salmon.  How extreme is that?!

 

 

 

 

 

Occasionally, I get so bored in front of my computer that I try some online shopping and end up complaining to Trading Standards about misleading advertising by celebrity chefs like Rick Stein.

 

 

 

 

I've also been known to use the search engine Google – sorry, I know that is very extreme and I do feel guilty afterwards – and stumble across (sometimes following tip offs) shocking stuff like the salmon farming industry is planning to use the banned neonicotinoid Imidacloprid (hidden behind the trade name BMK08/Ectosan).

 

 

 

 

If you don't like Twitter – I know it's extremely popular but it can also be extremely addictive – then try reading The Sunday Times.

 

Sunday Times 14 June 2020 #1

 

 

Or if you're a twitcher not Tweeter, British Wildlife magazine has featured the toxic issue (which is set to plague salmon farming for years to come).

 

British Wildlife August 2020 #1

 

 

Over a year after Scottish Salmon Watch filed an FOI appeal with the Scottish Information Commissioner, I'm still waiting for a ruling and any information the Scottish Environment Protection Agency has on Imidacloprid and Benchmark's 'CleanTreat' system (SEPA refused to disclose documents citing commercial confidentiality). 

 

 

 

 

 

In the meantime, Benchmark (who has lobbied both SEPA and the Scottish Government) is pressing ahead with the commercial use of the toxic neonicotinoid.

 

 

 

In November 2019, Scottish Salmon Watch won a landmark FOI victory when the Scottish Information Commissioner forced the Scottish Government to disclose 'commercially damaging' data on 'Scottish' salmon.

 

 

 

Once back in 2010 (before kids) I felt so energetic that I helped organise the 'Get Out Migration' down the length of Vancouver Island and joined thousands of extreme activists in protesting outside the Legislature in Victoria, British Columbia.  

 

 

Get Out Don & Parker

 

Get Out Migration Cermaq go back

 

Get Out Don walking over Nimpl=kish River

 

 

Sometimes my schedule is less hectic – especially over lockdown which is hardly conducive to "extreme activism" – that I find time to ask the Soil Association why they certify farmed salmon as 'organic' when they still permit the use of shellfish-killing chemicals such as Deltamethrin.

 

 

 

When I was much younger – as a naive activist if you like (before I was led astray into the realms of "extreme activism" by salmon heroes like Bruce Sandison, Allan Berry, Alexandra Morton, Juan Carlos Cardenas and Kurt Oddekalv) – I used to think that penning an article in The Ecologist as I did in 2001 would make a difference.

 

Extreme Activisit blog April 2021 #40

 

Or that writing an article in Organic Standard magazine as I did back in 2001 would persuade the Soil Association not to certify farmed salmon as 'organic'.

 

Organic Standard July 2001 #1 Organic Standard July 2001 #2

 

 

However, as time has passed and my extreme activism took hold (along with the dodgy back and glaucoma making me blind in one eye) I came to the conclusion that in order to stop salmon farming there needs to be a boycott on farmed salmon. 

 

Extreme Activisit blog April 2021 #47

 

25 Reasons to Boycott Scottish Salmon #1 front cover

25 Reasons to Boycott Scottish Salmon #2

 

 

 

 

As an "extreme" message, "Friends don't let friends eat farmed salmon" is a dangerously simple one.

 

Collage of Take the Pledge ALL

 

Collage of Take the Pledge #1

 

 

Back in 2011 (before kids, obviously), I dressed up as Captain Condom to protest against the spread of STDs (Salmon Transferable Diseases) by salmon farms in British Columbia. 

 

Captain Condom taking photos 2

 

IMG_7343

 

 

Apologies, I really don't know what came over me.   But at least Cermaq's PR flunkey Grant Warkentin found the stunt extremely amusing.    I've since tried to squeeze into the lycra red shorts but a decade of extreme inactivity has made it impossible (who knows, Captain Condom may resurface this Summer in Scotland wearing bigger granny pants). 

 

Mainstream receiving a condom

 

 

My journey into "extreme activism" started in the late 90s with Friends of Earth Scotland where many of us were volunteers signing on the dole and we received £3 per day to cover lunch and transport costs.   I sometimes slept on the floor in the library and washed even less than I do today – that's me with the greasy hair next to Lang Banks, now Director of WWF Scotland, and Kevin Dunion, the first Scottish Information Commissioner. 

 

Don at GM protest in Scotland

 

 

One day whilst at Friends of the Earth Scotland in Edinburgh, I was extremely surprised to receive a phone call from the BBC's John Humphyrys (long time presenter of the Today programme on BBC Radio 4) who was conducting background research for his book 'The Great Food Gamble'.  For his research he even dived under a Mowi salmon farm in Loch Sunart – talk about the extreme lengths some journalists go to in order to capture a story!

 

Extreme Activisit blog April 2021 #28

 

 

Another phone call I received in 2000 was from whistleblower Jackie Mackenzie who testified to the use of toxic chemicals at Ardessie Salmon – then a member of Scottish Quality Salmon (the forerunner of the SSPO) before it was kicked out later that year.   The subsequent front page story in The Observer newspaper – with the banner headline 'The Scandal of Scottish Salmon' – and coverage on BBC Scotland when a second whistleblower stepped forward was extremely damaging to the salmon farming industry.

 

Extreme Activisit blog April 2021 #29

 

Extreme Activisit blog April 2021 #31

 

 

The early 2000s were an extremely exciting time with cancer-causing contaminants in Scottish farmed salmon front page news.  

 

Extreme Activisit blog April 2021 #55

 

 

Extreme Activisit blog April 2021 #56

 

Extreme Activisit blog April 2021 #57

 

 

At least the salmon farming lobby is consistent in denouncing critics.  In 2004, journalist Richard Girling wrote in The Sunday Times:

 

Extreme Activisit blog April 2021 #53

Extreme Activisit blog April 2021 #54

 

 

Another time I was so extremely angry after reading a scientific paper detailing the spread of the deadly Infectious Salmon Anaemia virus from Norway to Chile via infected salmon ova (eggs) that I even picked up the phone and spoke to a journalist from The New York Times who wrote a story on how "Norwegians Concede a Role in Chilean Salmon Virus". 

.

NY Times 2011

 

 

"Extreme activism" is not all jumping onto a kayak and paddling out to salmon farms like I did in July 2019 when we uncovered welfare abuse at Mowi's aptly named 'Bay of the Dead Heads' salmon farm south of Oban.

 

 

Photo #28 dead cleaner fish red balloon

 

Photo #29 dead cleaner fish red

 

 

This case of welfare abuse led to Mowi being reprimanded and, perhaps more importantly from a campaigning point of view, being named and shamed in a Sunday newspaper.

 

Sunday National 10 Nov 2019 newspaper version in full

 

 

Behind the news headlines it can sometimes be a hard slog to access documents via FOI with denials and refusals extremely annoying. 

 

 

 

Often it takes years of filing FOI requests and appeals to the Scottish Information Commissioner to flush out the damning information.

 

Extreme Activisit blog April 2021 #42

 

Extreme Activisit blog April 2021 #43

 

 

And even then it may take years for a campaign to pay off in terms of a real victory (for John Robins, another "extreme activist", it took 5o years!).

 

Extreme Activisit blog April 2021 #44

 

 

It may be extremely frustrating to wait for concrete action but when it happens it can be extremely satisfying. 

 

Extreme Activisit blog April 2021 #45

 

Extreme Activisit blog April 2021 #46

 

 

"Extreme activism" certainly didn't happen overnight to someone who The Sunday Times recently called a "veteran campaigner" (come on guys, I'm not even 50 years old yet!).

 

 

 

 

Back in 2002, I was labelled a "fundamentalist" (after giving a speech in the European Parliament on the 'five fundamental flaws of sea cage fish farming') and then a "crusader" (after winning an award):

 

Extreme Activisit blog April 2021 #2

 

Extreme Activisit blog April 2021 #13

 

 

 

The Daily Mail even called me a "scientist" rather than an activist in a 2002 article on artificial colourings used in salmon farming (a subject tackled more recently by Netflix's 'Seaspiracy' and last week by BBC Scotland's 'The Nine').

 

Extreme Activisit blog April 2021 #24 Extreme Activisit blog April 2021 #25

 

 

 

Intrafish reported in 2003:

 

Extreme Activisit blog April 2021 #12

 

Thankfully the Greens have continued to campaign against salmon farming and are not afraid of being seen with "extreme activists".

 

Mark Ruskell in Parliament 14 Dec

Extreme Activisit blog April 2021 #52

IMG_2113

 

 

 

 

 

The New Zealand Herald reported in 2003 that I was a "British activist dubbed the 'fish farm bogeyman'" (presumably because I have a nasty habit of getting right up the noses of filthy fish farmers):

 

Extreme Activisit blog April 2021 #20

 

 

Over in Australia I was labelled an "eco-terrorist" during a visit in 2003 (and that was long before I grew a dodgy-looking beard).

 

Extreme Activisit blog April 2021 #58

 

 

Intrafish reported in 2004:

 

Extreme Activisit blog April 2021 #11

 

 

EcoAmericas reported on my missionary zeal in 2004:

 

Extreme Activisit blog April 2021 #30

 

 

 

Somewhere over the last few decades I've morphed from a scientist into an "extreme activist".   Back in 2004, Harbour Publishing's award-winning book 'A Stain Upon the Sea' still described me as a "scientist" (my extremely toxic chapter is called 'Silent Spring of the Sea'). 

 

Extreme Activisit blog April 2021 #26

Extreme Activisit blog April 2021 #27

 

 

Intrafish reported in 2008:

 

Extreme Activisit blog April 2021 #10

 

 

I was labelled an "activist" in 2010 for daring to deliver a letter to the King of Norway!

 

Extreme Activisit blog April 2021 #9

 

 

"Anti-salmon farming activist" seems to be the usual description. 

 

Extreme Activisit blog April 2021 #50

 

 

Intrafish labelled me "Salmon's No.1 enemy" in 2012:

 

Extreme Activisit blog April 2021 #8

 

 

CBC News called me an "anti-salmon farming activist" after winning a court victory in 2012 "against the global aquaculture industry". 

 

Extreme Activisit blog April 2021 #19

 

 

Norway's state broadcaster NRK labelled me an "aktivist" in 2012 (when I was clearly more active and carrying much less weight around my jowels and midriff):

 

Extreme Activisit blog April 2021 #21

Extreme Activisit blog April 2021 #22

 

 

The Norwegian newspaper used the term "lakseaktivist" (translated as 'salmon activist') in an article published in 2012:

 

Extreme Activisit blog April 2021 #23

 

 

 

Intrafish described me as an "anti-salmon activist" in 2015 following a landmark ruling by the Scottish Information Commissioner forcing the disclosure of damning data on salmon farms killing seals.

 

Extreme Activisit blog April 2021 #7

 

 

The Shooting Times described me as an "activist" and "the most inveterate campaigner against salmon farming" in a 2018 article.

 

Shooting Times 3 October 2018 Digital #1 Don

 

Shooting Times #2

 

 

 

The Press & Journal labelled me a "salmon farming nemesis" in 2017 after I had the extreme cheek to publish details of antibiotic use on salmon farms via a FOI disclosure from SEPA (sourced from returns submitted by salmon farming companies – i.e. the industry's own data).

 

Extreme Activisit blog April 2021 #59

 

 

Writing in The Guardian in 2017, John Vidal reported that I have "spent the past five years labelled an “eco-terrorist”, a “troublemaker”, an “exaggerator” and “a prophet of doom”:

 

Extreme Activisit blog April 2021 #3

Extreme Activisit blog April 2021 #4

 

 

Award-winning investigative journalist Rob Edwards knows how to cause 'trouble' too – and I think that is the essence of what the SSPO's Tavish Scott means when he labels me an "extreme activist".   We've been dredging up the dirt about the toxic salmon farming industry in Scotland for a few decades via New Scientist, The Sunday Herald and The Ferret.

 

Extreme Activisit blog April 2021 #36

 

 

Extreme Activisit blog April 2021 #37

 

Extreme Activisit blog April 2021 #38

 

 

In 2017, the Norwegian newspaper Bergens Tidende featured me on the front page.

 

Bergens Tidende 12 Feb 2017 front page

 

 

 

Salmon farming is certainly an extremely active issue when it comes to negative media attention over the years.

 

25 Years of Scottish Salmon Shame #1 collage

 

 

25 Years of Scottish Salmon Shame #2 collage

 

 

 

When I wrote "Scottish Salmon Farming 101" back in 2018 it was crammed full of extremely damaging information that the SSPO would prefer kept secret and hidden away from the public. 

 

Scottish Salmon Farming 101 #1 cover

 

 

Whatever you do, and here is where I have to agree with salmon lobbyist Tavish Scott, please don't open the door to  'Scottish Salmon Farming 101' or you will be lost forever. 

#16 Call the Lice Police Red Alert

 

If you continue to ask 'difficult' questions and are extremely persistent the Salmafia will do everything in their power to intimidate, bully and harrass (even if you're on public property). 

 

 

 

 

 

In view of such extreme tension it is only a matter of time before someone is hurt (an issue raised by Scottish Salmon Watch in a letter to Police Scotland last year).

 

 

 

 

"Here comes trouble" was the headline in GEO magazine last year when they profiled my 'extreme' campaign against salmon farming.

 

GEO September 2020 Here Comes Trouble #1

 

GEO September 2020 Here Comes Trouble #2

 

GEO September 2020 Here Comes Trouble #3

 

 

 

GEO magazine caught such an "extreme activist" sitting on the sofa with my kids.  Obviously we weren't watching Gogglebox but extremely dangerous Greta Thunberg and Sea Shepherd documentaries (and yes, my belly is extremely fat due to the lack of exercise as an 'extreme activist' sitting in front of a computer screen most days).

 

GEO September 2020 Here Comes Trouble #4

 

 

GEO September 2020 Here Comes Trouble #5

 

GEO September 2020 Here Comes Trouble #6

 

 

GEO September 2020 Here Comes Trouble #7

 

 

It's a fair cop though that I also like dressing up – not in women's clothes but in Hazmat suits with gas masks.

 

 

 

I have even been known to don a suit and tie to attend the Annual General Meetings of salmon farming companies in Norway.

 

 

 

 

I do feel sorry for our brave police guarding the Scottish Parliament who clearly think a guy in a Hazmat suit carrying waste effluent from a toxic salmon farm poses such an extreme threat.

 

 

 

 

Sometimes I persuade other people – call them "extreme activists" if you like but I think they're brave warriors willing to stand up for what they believe in – to join me in protests.

 

 

 

 

The life of an "extreme activist" is certainly not for everyone and can often involve getting up extremely early – whether it is to video tankers for toxic chemicals.

 

 

 

 

Or container after container of toxic chemicals strewn around the banks of lochs like a drunken sailor leaving his empty bottles of rum everywhere.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once – and this really is taking things to the extreme and is not for those who like posh hotels and a full Scottish breakfast – I slept in my car so I could capture video evidence of Mowi's use of the carcinogenic chemical Formalin (Formaldehyde) used on the estate of Conservative MSP Donald Cameron. 

 

 

 

 

If you can't be bothered watching yet another video of an "extreme activist" droning on about cancer-causing chemicals, you can read a news story in The Sunday Times.

 

Extreme Activisit blog April 2021 #34

 

 

If you don't believe that lefty rag The Sunday Times – who clearly have an agenda against salmon farming and give a platform to "extreme activists" like myself – then perhaps the BBC's Countryfile can switch you on.

 

 

 

 

Read more about Scottish Salmon Watch's "extreme activism" online here

 

Extreme Activisit blog April 2021 #5

 

 

 

Shock horror – my protests have even featured members of my family including young children who have clearly been brainwashed into "extreme activism".

 

M&S Group

 

 

Money shot #1

 

 

Photo 3

 

Courier 15 March 2017 Photo

 

SumOfUs video 43 000 photo

 

 

Even more shocking is the fact that my family has pledged never ever to eat farmed salmon.

 

 

 

 

Please help fund more "extreme activism" against salmon farms online here

 

Extreme Activisit blog April 2021 #6

 

 

 

Or if you want to join the global movement against salmon farming please record a video pledge to not eat farmed salmon. 

 

 

 

 

If you're the shy and retiring type don't worry – "extreme activists" like myself are always on hand to speak out.

 

Spey Talk 4 Nov 2019 #1

 

RSAA AGM talk Nov 2019

 

 

National Geographic advert

 

 

 

Extreme Activisit blog April 2021 #35

 

EESC photos #4 Don

 

 

If you're into audio books – maybe the kids are sick of Harry Potter – there's even podcasts.

 

Compassionate podcast Gemma Davis 6 March 2020 #5 Instagram

 

 

And online interviews. 

 

You Tube Fishing Real

 

 

 

You certainly need a big ego to be an "extreme activist" but you also need support – whether that is financial support via donations or support from film-makers and other 'activists'.  We're still hoping to make a feature length film called 'Scottish Scamon'.

 

 

 

 

 

And we'd love to be able to fund more fieldwork in Scotland – including undercover filming inside salmon farms and short films like "The Poisoned Loch" and "Mowi’s ‘Bay of the Dead Heads’" exposing the underbelly salmon farming. 

 

 

 

 

The biggest sea change in "extreme activism" since I started campaigning against salmon farms 25 years ago is the Go Pro camera and filming inside salmon cages as pioneered by Alexandra Morton, Sea Shepherd and First Nations leaders like George Quocksister in Canada. 

 

 

 

 

Scottish photographer Corin Smith also swam out to a salmon farm in August 2018 – his stomach-churning video footage of The Scottish Salmon Company's factory feedlot in Loch Roag and burial pits for dead farmed salmon opened the public's eye to the reality of modern battery salmon farming.

 

Corin photo One Show iPlayer bigger

 

 

 

 

In March 2019, Sir David Attenborough added his powerful voice to the plight of wild salmon and the threats posed by salmon farms.  Now there's an "extreme activist" I could get behind!

 

Mail On Sunday 31 March 2019 #Newspaper version in full

 

 

 

The Go Pro camera never lies – unlike salmon farming lobbyists such as Tavish Scott.

 

 

 

Despite video evidence the salmon farming lobby continue to criticise "anti-fish farm activists" including Compassion In World Farming who just last month published shocking footage of welfare abuse inside salmon farms across Scotland.  

 

 

 

 

Fish Farming Expert reported earlier this week (12 April 2021):

 

Extreme Activisit blog April 2021 #51

 

 

In the court of public opinion and at the supermarket checkout, people are free to judge for themselves who is telling the truth – the "extreme activists" or lobbyists like Ben Hadfield who earned over $1 million (EUR 962,000) last year to promote farmed salmon.   I know where I stand, where do you?

 

 

 

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Pledge #4 Don new version

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