Cleaner Fish – Dead in the Water at Lice-Infested Mowi Scotland!

Re: https://www.fishfarmermagazine.com/news/new-tool-should-improve-cleaner-fish-welfare/

 

Scottish Salmon Watch filmed at Mowi's Poll Na Gille salmon farm in the evening (ca. 6pm) on Saturday 17 July 2021 – we found over a dozen dead cleaner fish on the surface of one cage.  Here's the raw video footage: https://vimeo.com/576372350

 

We also filmed licey lumpfish being fed on feed pellets at Mowi's 'Bay of the Dead Heads' salmon farmon 16 July 2021 – I can dig out that footage if you're interested. 

 

Other video footage of cleaner fish dead at Mowi's 'Bay of the Dead Heads' salmon farm was published in July 2019: https://donstaniford.com/secret-filming-in-scotland-july-2019-/

 

 

 

This led to Mowi being rapped by APHA for breaching welfare laws:

 

 

 

 

 

Best fishes,

 

Don

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Read the two recent papers cited in today's Fish Farmer article via:

 

 

 

 

 

And:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The paper included:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Models and indicators are useful but there is no substitute for real life conditions captured by underwater surveillance shot inside salmon farms.   When Scottish Salmon Watch visited Mowi's Poll Na Gille salmon farm near Craobh Haven on 17 July 2021 we were shocked to find over a dozen dead lumpsucker 'cleaner fish' lying on the surface of one cage.   You certainly don't need to be a mathematical modeller to work out that this is evidence of serious welfare abuse. 

 

 

 

 

Dirty Rotten Salmon Farmers! Mowi's @rspcaassured salmon farm at Poll Na Gille near Oban is so lice-infested that 'cleaner fish' (lumpsuckers) are struggling to clean house https://t.co/orKMdiDAf4 @MowiScotlandLtd is dead in the water! @SSPOsays

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) July 27, 2021

 

 

 

Here's more video footage showing licey lumpsuckers at Mowi's 'Bay of the Dead Heads' salmon farm on 16 July 2021.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here's a summary of video footage shot by Scottish Salmon Watch on 16 & 17 July 2021 at four Mowi salmon farms (SW Shuna, Port Na Cro, Poll Na Gille and Bay of the Dead Heads):

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here's video footage of a lice-infested farmed salmon swimming with what looks like a shoal of baby wild herring inside Mowi's Poll Na Gille salmon farm on 17 July 2021 – are there simply too many lice for the 'cleaner fish' to keep the parasites under control? 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Scottish Salmon Watch filmed serious welfare problems in lumpsucker 'cleaner fish' at RSPCA Assured Mowi's 'Bay of the Dead Heads' salmon farm in July 2019.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Scottish Government Fish Health Inspectorate report in June 2019 confirmed welfare and mortality problems:

 

A Fish Health report for @MowiScotlandLtd's Bagh Dail nan Ceann salmon farm in June 2019 cited Amoebic Gill Disease in farmed salmon & craters disease in lumpfish. "Issues with mortality increasing with the warmer weather" said @marinescotland https://t.co/UrevkN6lSm @SSPOsays pic.twitter.com/m45QKPtQHs

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) August 21, 2019

 

 

 

 

 

A welfare complaint filed with the Animal & Plant Health Agency and Marine Scotland led to Mowi being rapped for welfare failures.   The Ferret & Sunday National reported in November 2019:

 

 

 

 

 

 

In April 2020, Scottish Salmon Watch published the letter from APHA to Mowi detailing welfare failures.

 

 

 

Censored: Welfare Abuse on Salmon Farms – redacted FOI documents reveal welfare breaches of Animal Health & Welfare Act @rspcaassured @MowiScotlandLtd https://t.co/oJ5ad7XxZw @APHAgovuk @marinescotland @ProfCMDwyer @SSPCA_Mike @SSPOsays @ChrisGPackham @markruskell @scotgp pic.twitter.com/7Fr5ANyTC4

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) April 23, 2020

 

 

 

In August 2018, Scottish Salmon Watch filmed serious lice infestation of lumpsucker 'cleaner fish' at Scottish Sea Farms in Loch Spelve (a salmon farm certified as welfare-friendly via RSPCA Assured):

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When Scottish Salmon Watch filmed at a processing plant at South Shian operated by Scottish Sea Farms in September 2018 we were shocked to discover dead lumpsuckers: 

 

 

 

View this photo

 

 

 

And when Scottish Salmon Watch has filmed inside skips full of dead salmon we've always found dead cleaner fish – both wrasse and lumpsuckers. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Ferret reported in December 2018: 

 

 

 

Download the OneKind report online here

 

 

 

 

Read an article published in The Sunday Post in December 2018 via "Fish used to help clean salmon of sea lice are at risk, warn animal rights campaigners"

 

 

 

 

Watch a BBC report on cleaner fish in October 2018 online here

 

 

 

 

Watch a video report from Loch Duart in Scotland online here

 

 

 

 

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