Salmondemic Plagues Scotland - donstaniford.com

Salmondemic Plagues Scotland! https://t.co/7ObpbxhpPf Data published @marinescotland details 233 'Mortality Events' in 2020 with 2.52 million farmed salmon due to diseases like CMS, PD, AGD, HSMI etc @MowiScotlandLtd @salmon_scottish @GriegShetland @scotseafarms @kamesfishfarm pic.twitter.com/048ZzWiToS

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) September 21, 2020

Mass mortality data published earlier this month by the Scottish Government's Fish Health Inspectorate makes for grim reading for the salmon farming sector – with 233 'Mortality Event Reports' already during the first six months of 2020 reporting 2.52 million dead farmed salmon due to Cardiomyopathy Syndrome, Pancreas Disease, Heart & Skeletal Muscle Inflammation, Fungus, Infectious Pancreatic Necrosis, viraemia, Moritella, Vibrio, Yersinia, Amoebic Gill Disease, physical damage and mechanical losses.

Here's the top 50 'Mortality Event Reports' in June and July 2020 for seawater salmon farms (as published by the Fish Health Inspectorate on 4 September 2020):

2.52 million dead farmed salmon in 233 'Mortality Events' during the first six months of 2020. This has been a catastrophic summer for Scotland's fish farms. Our seas are getting warmer. Expect more of this to come. Tens of thousands of these fish are killed by disease treatments https://t.co/NwCaDvhKG9

— John Aitchison (@JohnAitchison1) September 21, 2020

Here's video footage of mass mortalities at Mowi in Loch Greshornish in July 2020:

And video footage of mass mortalities at the Scottish Salmon Company's Strondoir Bay salmon farm in Loch Fyne in July 2020:

The mortalities officially reported to the Scottish Government are sadly only the tip of the iceberg since only mortalities greater than a reporting threshold of 1% are counted.

In 2013, the Scottish Salmon Producers Organisation (SSPO) successfully lobbied the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) NOT to publish data on the total numbers of mortalities as it would be commercially damaging.

If you're looking for data on numbers of @rspcaassured dead farmed salmon in Scotland they don't exist – in 2013 @SSPOsays lobbied @ScottishEPA not to disclose mortalities as it was deemed commercially damaging! https://t.co/cDEyvS04dO @strathearnrose @salmon_scottish @scotgp pic.twitter.com/FICRbrpGXJ

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) September 2, 2020

Scottish Salmon Watch reported in July 2020: