'Flawed' & 'Failed' Semi-Closed Containment Salmon Farming is a "Viral Super-Spreader"!

Campaigners on both sides of the Atlantic – in Canada and Scotland – have issued a clarion call to stop the expansion of semi-closed salmon farming dead in its tracks.

Campaigners on both sides of the Atlantic – in Canada and Scotland – have issued a clarion call to stop the expansion of semi-closed salmon farming dead in its tracks. "Cermaq’s new system is a viral super-spreader, just like any open-net pen salmon farm" says @ClayoquotAction pic.twitter.com/WXAqbyiQae

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) February 17, 2023

In British Columbia, Clayoquot Action have seen at first hand how a trial of the FiiZK 'Semi-Closed Containment System' by Cermaq Canada – the same technology proposed for use in Scotland in Loch Long and Loch Linnhe – was stopped due to technical failures and mass mortalities at Millar Channel salmon farm in Clayoquot Sound.

Speaking exclusively to $camon $cotland, Dan Lewis of Clayoquot Action in British Columbia (who sent divers down to inspect the semi-closed system) said:

"What our divers found beneath the Semi-closed containment system was shocking—a rain of salmon sewage! The system pumps large amounts of water into and out of the farm, with no filtering of the effluent. So Cermaq’s new system is a viral super-spreader, just like any open-net pen salmon farm."

"We're learning the lessons about the perils of semi-closed containment the hard way here in British Columbia," added Lewis. "Hopefully in Scotland, campaigners can stop semi-closed systems dead in their tracks in Loch Long and in Loch Linnhe. The take home message from Canada is that semi-closed containment is a flawed and failed technology which should be avoided like the plague".

"Hopefully in Scotland, campaigners can stop semi-closed systems dead in their tracks in Loch Long & Loch Linnhe" said @ClayoquotAction "The take home message from Canada is that semi-closed containment is a flawed & failed technology which should be avoided like the plague" pic.twitter.com/i9ulGK2a3b

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) February 17, 2023

"Closed containment is like Low Tar salmon farming and is still seriously bad for the health of our global ocean and the welfare of farmed salmon," said Don Staniford, Director of $camon $cotland. "Closed containment – even so-called 'semi-closed' technology – may represent more of a welfare nightmare with mass mortalities and infectious diseases plaguing closed systems all over the globe. The use of toxic chemicals and lice infestation has also been reported in closed systems. Far from being a panacea for salmon farming's problems, closed containment systems may well exacerbate problems. And even if you buy the industry's salmon spin, the lesser of two evils is still evil. Put simply – there is no right way to do the wrong thing."

"There should be a global ban on salmon farming – whether that is in the sea in open cages, semi-enclosed cages or closed containment systems or on land. Cramming a migratory species like the King of Fish – the Atlantic salmon – in cages is ethically and environmentally bankrupt. Salmon farming has turned the Leaper (in Latin, Atlantic salmon is Salmo salar meaning the Leaper) into a leper. Factory salmon farming is akin to keeping Golden Eagles and albatrosses in cages and has no place in sustainable food systems or healthy ecosystems."

Last week (9 February 2023), Don Staniford visited the location of a proposed super-sized 8,000 tonne salmon farm at Lurignish north of Oban in Loch Linnhe which if approved would be more than twice the largest salmon farm in Scotland (the largest salmon farm is currently 3,950 tonnes – according to biomass data published by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency):

Clayoquot Action reported in October 2021:

Clayoquot Action's website also reports:

Loch Long Salmon claim on their website that sea lice will not be a problem and that no toxic chemicals will be used inside their FiiZK semi-closed containment system:

However, even land-based salmon farms have reported sea lice problems leading to the use of toxic chemicals:

Lice infestation may be the least of Loch Long Salmon's problems in Loch Linnhe where the 8,000 tonne salmon farm proposal is already running into local opposition.

Information published by the Scottish Government's Fish Health Inspectorate on 1 February 2023 reveals mass mortalities at Shuna Point salmon – within viral spreading distance of Long Loch Salmon's proposed semi-closed salmon farm at Lurignish – due to gill diseases:

Gill Disease chokes Scottish salmon to death in 2023 – new mortality data published @scotgov reports 160,000+ dead salmon @scotseafarms in January headed by Shuna Point in Loch Linnhe https://t.co/oZtlH0CRpV pic.twitter.com/AXWVbycxCM

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) February 9, 2023

Campaigners against Loch Long Salmon's plans to site a semi-closed containment salmon farm in Loch Long – inside a National Park – have cited the problems experienced in Canada.

As Dan Lewis @ClayoquotAction put it: "What we learned was that there were 'fish welfare concerns resulting from chronic exposure to higher levels of ammonia'. In other words, those fish were forced to breath their own urine, probably burning their gills" @AFFtheClyde @loch_long pic.twitter.com/9N93aP96sT

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) October 28, 2022

Clayoquot Action posted on Facebook on 17 October 2022:

"Cermaq's semi-closed fish farm experiment in Clayoquot Sound failed after only 1 year, because fish were dying from breathing their own urine".

As Dan Lewis from Clayoquot Action puts it: "What we learned was that there were 'fish welfare concerns resulting from chronic exposure to higher levels of ammonia'. In other words, those fish were forced to breath their own urine, probably burning their gills…"

Loch Long Salmon seem to have a cess-pool of bullsh*t clogging their gills and fogging up their brain.

Fish Farmer reported (8 February 2023):

Campaigners slam Loch Long fish farm appeal https://t.co/qrkFa7D7r5 @ArianeBurgessHI @BrendanOHaraSNP @JenniMintoSNP @mairigougeonmsp @MairiMcAllanSNP @NicolaSturgeonSNP @nature_scot @issf.org.uk @feorlean @NicolaSturgeonSNP @lomondtrossachs pic.twitter.com/nmEQr8fXNa

— AFFtheClyde (@AFFtheClyde) February 11, 2023

Other problems with semi-closed containment salmon farms keep on rearing their ugly head. Intrafish reported in November 2022:

The Scotsman reported in December 2022:

"Even if closed containment can mitigate the risks of escapes & interaction of marine mammals, the problems of mass mortalities, infectious diseases and unsustainable feed resources will never go away. The lesser of two evils is still evil" @TheScotsman https://t.co/qU5Ls4BG6N

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) December 6, 2022

Undercover surveillance inside salmon farms across Scotland during 2022 published by Dale Vince at Ecotricity has graphically illustrated the welfare nightmare of Scottish salmon – semi-closed containment salmon farming could be even worse!

Salmon-spiracy continues…☠️ Before we shared shocking truth of salmon farming in Scotland. Now discovered dead fish carcasses are being used to produce electricity and gas.
Action:
1. Stop buying farmed salmon
2. Contact your supermarket
3. Share this video#EndSalmonFarming pic.twitter.com/2HzAEdO1Co

— Dale Vince (@DaleVince) February 10, 2023