Scottish Sea Farms Seek Removal of Photos of Former Employees

Scottish Sea Farms Seek Removal of Photos of Former Employees https://t.co/BJgqqhbdD9
Lawyers acting @scotseafarms also threatened legal action against @marinescotland for publishing damning photos. What other skeletons is this Norwegian-owned company hiding? @LeroySeafood pic.twitter.com/0ZvJhRDQ4z

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) November 5, 2020

Norwegian-owned Scottish Sea Farms has threatened Scottish Salmon Watch over the publication of photos of former staff members in a blog post on Tuesday:

From: Lesley Rice <lesley.rice@scottishseafarms.com>
Date: Wed, Nov 4, 2020 at 8:10 AM
Subject: Request for removal of photos
To: dstaniford@gaaia.org <dstaniford@gaaia.org>, salmonfarmingkills@gmail.com <salmonfarmingkills@gmail.com>

Morning Don,

Just a quick email regarding your blog post yesterday, ‘Leaked Email: Staff Cuts at Scottish Sea Farms Compromise Fish Welfare’, in which you feature three images of existing and former Scottish Sea Farms’ employees: Innes, Sean and Daniel.

In respect of their right to privacy, could you please remove these images from your post. Innes, Sean and Daniel have not given you consent under the Data Protection Act 2018 for any imagery featuring them to be used, retained or published by you. As such, we ask that you remove these three particular images from your post.

Many thanks,

Lesley

Lesley Rice
Communications & Marketing Manager | Scottish Sea Farms
01786 388026 | 07341 730608

Leaked Email: Staff Cuts at Scottish Sea Farms Compromise Fish Welfare https://t.co/JzST9QOJkJ "They don't care about fish welfare" @scotseafarms "Health manager & the cleaner fish department laid off in the summer, now we're seeing the result" @LucyWeather @rspcaassured #RSPCA pic.twitter.com/AY9ygfaF2x

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) November 3, 2020

Scottish Sea Farms is not new to threats over the publication of photos – in 2018 their lawyers threatened legal action following a Freedom of Information request by Scottish Salmon Watch relating to photos of disease-ridden salmon. The Ferret reported in August 2018:

The Ferret article included:

"Fat & Happy" salmon claim Norwegian-owned @scotseafarms @LeroySeafood @Folketrygdfond @marksandspencer @SSPCA_Mike @SSPCA_Kirsteen https://t.co/7VWy6CqYER
The camera doesn't lie (unlike 'Scottish' salmon farmers)! https://t.co/BJgqqhbdD9 #Scottish #Salmon #Scam @SSPOsays pic.twitter.com/VYhS6jAo9p

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) December 2, 2020

What about the recent video evidence of welfare abuse in Loch Creran? Those poor @rspcaassured @marksandspencer salmon look unhappy not happy! https://t.co/mudjozjz04 @LucyWeather pic.twitter.com/fuhgOHXHyY

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) December 2, 2020

Following another Freedom of Information request from Scottish Salmon Watch, the Scottish Government published further photos of diseased salmon at Scottish Sea Farms in October 2018.

Here's some close ups of the gruesome photos which lawyers representing Scottish Sea Farms argued would expose the company to "reputational damage":

Whilst Scottish Sea Farms does not like media exposure or even photos of former employees being published, one of their owners actively courts publicity and loves sharing photos. Follow Gustav Magnar Witzøe on Instagram.

The owner of Scottish Sea Farms is certainly not the shy and retiring type. The Daily Mail reported in October 2018:

Read more via The Ferret and 'Scottish Scamon'

The Norwegian billionaire playboy owner of @scotseafarms is far from camera shy but Scottish Sea Farms (real name Norskott Havbruk) object to photos of their former employees being published even though they're online @LinkedIn https://t.co/BJgqqhbdD9 @instagram #Hypocritical pic.twitter.com/NxjYgflj0e

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) November 5, 2020

On Tuesday (2 November 2020), Scottish Salmon Watch published a leaked email from Scottish Sea Farms detailing the departure of staff. Sean Black and Daniel Carcajona – key members of the fish welfare team – left Scottish Sea Farms in the Summer prompting a whistleblower to claim that their departure contributed to welfare abuse.

Scottish Sea Farms dismissed the claim as "utter nonsense" in a Tweet.

Utter nonsense.

We’ve added more senior resource, increased investment and boosted our capacity, delivering an average 94% survival rate year to date across our farming estate.

You're intentionally twisting things and breaching individuals' privacy to promote your own agenda.

— Scottish Sea Farms (@scotseafarms) November 3, 2020

"That email went out to the whole company in June," replies the whistleblower. "Unreal. They think fish health and welfare posts are unimportant on West Coast and look what happens 4 months later" pic.twitter.com/NhapNZgwKh

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) November 3, 2020

Yesterday (4 November 2020), Scottish Salmon Watch asked Scottish Sea Farms to cite any legal basis to remove photos of former employees.

From: Don Staniford <salmonfarmingkills@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, Nov 4, 2020 at 12:33 PM
Subject: Re: Request for removal of photos
To: Lesley Rice <lesley.rice@scottishseafarms.com>

Afternoon Lesley,

I take great care to abide by the law and shall be grateful if you will cite the specific legal basis upon which you claim that I am not permitted to publish an image of a person posted online by himself as in the case with Daniel and Sean's photos from Linked In:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/sean-black-39929915b/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-carcajona-b5578347/

My understanding is that publishing photos implies consent for anyone to repost that image.

Also, what rights does Scottish Sea Farms have to personal images of former employees?

The photo of Innes Weir is public and has been published online via:

https://www.fishfarmingexpert.com/article/steinsviks-new-uk-boss-to-build-team-around-customers/

https://www.fishfarmingexpert.com/article/scottish-sea-farms-snaps-up-mowi-operations-director-pringle/

Innes also has another more recent photo without a beard posted publicly on his Linked In profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/innes-w-b0300046/

Thanks,

Don

Photos of Sean Black are still publicly available via Linked In:

And via Sean Black's public Facebook page:

Daniel Carcajona also displays a photo publicly via his Linked In profile:

As does Innes Weir of Scottish Sea Farms on his Linked In public profile:

The Twitter profile of Innes Weir also features a publicly accessible photo – which appears to also include former colleague Sean Black:

Ironically, the salmon farmed by Norwegian-owned Scottish Sea Farms could also be described as Scottish "once or twice removed" (i.e. imported as eggs from Norway, Iceland and Ireland). It took Scottish Salmon Watch a few years but we forced the disclosure in December 2019 of "commercially damaging" information on salmon eggs (ova) imported by Scottish Sea Farms.

The latest threat has been made by Lesley Rice, Communications & Marketing Manager at Scottish Sea Farms, who publicly displays a photo of herself on her Linked In page.

Lesley's communication skills are being sorely tested by working inside the nightmare called Scottish salmon farming. The Herald reported on Halloween (31 October 2020) on the damning results of the "more streamlined structure" at Scottish Sea Farms:

The article included photos of welfare abuse inside Scottish Sea Farms in Loch Creran:

Has Lesley objected to the secret video footage captured by Corin Smith in October 2020 of welfare abuse inside a salmon farm operated by Scottish Sea Farms in Loch Creran?

Scottish Sea Farms called Police Scotland who warned Scottish Salmon Watch off filming at their salmon farms at Shuna in Loch Linnhe in July 2019 and in Loch Creran in July 2020.

Police Scotland Acting as Private Security for Scottish Sea Farms (yet again)? @policescotland @scotseafarms https://t.co/gVec2N47IW Scottish Salmon Watch today filed a formal complaint against Police Scotland for harassment and against Scottish Sea Farms for reckless behaviour pic.twitter.com/QMenSoJ2GS

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) July 29, 2020

Thankfully (for Scottish Salmon Watch and the protection of public rights of access), last month Scottish Salmon Watch won a landmark victory with an apology from Police Scotland.

Landmark Victory for Surveillance of Salmon Farms – Police Scotland apologises for wrongly protecting @scotseafarms from public access for filming & diving https://t.co/FJN8LmAX2w @policescotland pic.twitter.com/kU4IKfmGA5

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) October 15, 2020

Scottish Sea Farms clearly want Scottish Salmon Watch to stay away from their farms but this Norwegian-owned company operates in public waters and is therefore open to exposure by the public – even if the photographic evidence of salmon farmed by Scottish Sea Farms makes people want to vomit.

When Scottish Salmon Watch filmed at Scottish Sea Farms in July 2020 we saw skeletons of salmon still caught in the nets.

It makes you wonder what other skeletons are lurking in the closet at Scottish Sea Farms?

Sick Scottish Sea Farms (real name – Norskott Havbruk) "affected by an earlier than planned harvest of fish due to illness" https://t.co/SKqUC4BKVQ @fishfarmermag @scotseafarms @LeroySeafood https://t.co/q0iRAIMRra @markruskell @FergusEwingMSP @marinescotland @KateForbesMSP pic.twitter.com/aDXVMtlBIm

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) November 14, 2019

Welcome to The Killing Farms – another horror story from Scottish salmon https://t.co/ppdZZHNl8N New data on mass mortalities & culls @marinescotland 376,000 dead in Loch Spelve @scotseafarms 199,000 cull on Lewis @salmon_scottish 25,966 Thermoliced @MowiScotlandLtd @rspcaassured pic.twitter.com/p2QcEnMKTJ

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) February 13, 2020

Telephone inspection of @scotseafarms by @marinescotland in Loch Spelve – 366,000+ fish die (199,124 culled & 177,588 morts). Fish start dying on 16 Sept & site is fallowed on 29 Oct yet 'Mortality Event Reports' are dated 14 Nov with zero 'inspection' until phone call on 15 Nov pic.twitter.com/AHzlw7SrTo

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) February 12, 2020

Scottish Salmon Watch is waiting for a phone call from lawyers representing Scottish Sea Farms but in the meantime we're communicating to Lesley via email and we'd love to hear from any other whistleblowers who want to leak information including photos.

Lesley has not replied this this email but perhaps she's too busy dealing with all the negative publicity at Scottish Sea Farms.

"The site proposed by @scotseafarms is entirely unsuitable due to its proximity to important protected habitats. These plans pose a serious threat to marine wildlife, stores of blue carbon & the local creel fishing industry" @heraldscotland https://t.co/Yc9xVNEJKx @ScotWildlife

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) November 4, 2020

The Herald reported (4 November 2020):

No wonder locals are horse in their opposition to @scotseafarms Who in their right mind would want a horrific salmon farm polluting a Marine Protected Area? @FergusEwingMSP @marinescotland @ScotWildlife @SaversSea @KateForbesMSP @LeroySeafood @scotgp https://t.co/21mM6iVaB9 pic.twitter.com/vD8t4Sa5xe

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) November 4, 2020

Finally, here's some video footage of some former farmed salmon filmed without permission (from either the fish or Scottish Sea Farms) at the nearby Tanera salmon farm.