Caught on Camera - Mowi's Reckless Breaches of Health & Safety in Loch Alsh

Scottish Salmon Watch has filed a formal complaint against Norwegian salmon giant Mowi (formerly called Marine Harvest) with the Health & Safety Executive and the Maritime & Coastguard Agency following incidents in Loch Alsh on 2 November 2019.

"Drone footage clearly shows that Mowi endangered the health and safety of the general public during an inspection of a salmon farm in Loch Alsh 'Special Area of Conservation'," wrote Don Staniford, Director of Scottish Salmon Watch. "Mowi staff deliberately rammed a kayak, drove at high speed past a small dingy, unclipped a kayak tied safely to the farm, kicked a paddle into the water and scraped a work boot down my Achilles tendon. Mowi's behaviour on 2 November at Ardintoul was both reckless and dangerous. Since Scottish Salmon Watch plans further unannounced site inspections and sampling near salmon farms it is a hoped that a protocol can be put in place urgently to properly police surveillance of this unhealthy and unsafe industry."

Here's photo stills grabbed from drone video footage taken ca. 8am on 2 November 2019 at Mowi's Ardintoul salmon farm in Loch Alsh (drone footage has been shared with the Health & Safety Executive and the Maritime & Coastguard Agency):

Here's the Mowi work boat recklessly speeding past a tiny dinghy safely navigating and filming in public waters:

Here's Mowi deliberately ramming into my safely tied kayak (luckily it was not badly battered and I was able to kayak back to shore):

When the Mowi work boat leaves the cage the engines cause unnecessary stress to the farmed salmon (unlike a kayak which operates quietly and without a motor):

Here's a Mowi worker scraping his work boot down my Achilles heel (not once but twice) as they surround and intimidate me (audio recordings of the interactions will hopefully be made available):

The same Mowi worker (he also called me a "cunt", "beady eyed" and mouthed "fuck you") is seen here untying my kayak which was safely clipped onto the cage and then throwing the safety rope into the water:

The Mowi worker is then filmed kicking my paddle into the water with the unclipped kayak now dangerous drifting away from the farm (at the same time another Mowi worker is ironically asking me to leave the site – even though my paddle and kayak are in danger of floating off into Loch Alsh):

When the Mowi worker fails to kick the paddle into the loch he moves to try for a second attempt (as a Mowi work boat emblazoned with the words "Safety First" docks alongside the cage). He appears to stop and looks up at the drone filming his every move:

The kayak floats along the cage as the Mowi worker seems to be beckoning the work boat to smash it against the farm:

Smile – you're on camera!

As Mowi staff walk away a worker succeeds in kicking the paddle into the water (leaving me up shitty salmon creek without a paddle):

Perversely, the Scottish Salmon Producers Organisation (of which Mowi is the leading member) Tweeted shortly after Mowi's health and safety violations in Loch Alsh.

Scottish Salmon Watch continued to film safely and bio-securely at Mowi's salmon farm and waited in vain for Police Scotland to arrive (a Mowi worker told me when he first approached: "I've phoned my mate from the police and they're on their way").

Later that morning after we had returned to the shore, a Mowi worker ensured that Mowi's bins full of disease-ridden salmon were tightly tied shut to stop people seeing the horrors inside:

However, before the workers had tied the mort bins shut here's photos of the rotting corpses and freshly diseased mortalities littering Mowi's land-base at Ardintoul:

Here's video reports from Mowi's salmon farm at Ardintoul on 2 November 2019:

In September 2019, Scottish Salmon Watch wrote to the Maritime & Coastguard Agency expressing serious concerns with respect to the reckless behaviour of Mowi (over two months later we have still not received a reply).

In August and July 2019, Scottish Salmon Watch wrote to the Health & Safety Executive, Police Scotland, the Cabinet Secretary for Justice and other agencies proposing guidelines for filming with respect to salmon farms (thus far there has been no reply).

In August 2019, Mowi's salmon farm at Ardgour in Loch Linnhe was the subject of a complaint to the Health & Safety Executive following filming in July 2019 by Scottish Salmon Watch.