Please Close the Border to Imports of Salmon Ova, Parr & Smolts! https://t.co/hZFEGSm0dX
The health & genetic integrity of ‘Scottish’ salmon is being threatened by imports flooding into Scotland. Failure @scotgov to screen imports is the antithesis of the precautionary principle pic.twitter.com/b7wg85KJ40— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) February 9, 2022
Read a letter to Scottish Ministers sent today (9 February 2022) by Scamon Scotland – in full online here
Scamon Scotland reported earlier today (9 February 2022):
Iceland Still Importing Ova to 'Scottish' Salmon Farms Despite Disease Risks! https://t.co/ObzuMSgMs2@HGSalmonUK @BetterBreeding @LochDuartSalmon @ScotlandSalmon @WeAreBenchmark @MowiScotlandLtd @scotgov @MairiGougeon @ScotGovNetZero @EFTAsecretariat @PresidentISL @MFAIceland pic.twitter.com/PL4n09Oqao
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) February 9, 2022
Information disclosed by the Scottish Government via Freedom of Information (FOI-2022-00273889) on 7 February 2022 provides further documentary evidence of imports of salmon eggs (ova) from Iceland to Scotland for on-growing on salmon farms. This health certificate details an import shipment of 650,000 ova in November 2021 from Benchmark Genetics Iceland (formerly called Stofnfiskur) to Landcatch's Ormsary Hatchery on behalf of Loch Duart in Sutherland:
Scottish Salmon Watch revealed last month (10 January 2020) that ISA was reported at Landcatch's Ormsary Hatchery in Argyll during an inspection by the Scottish Government's Fish Health Inspectorate in November 2021:
Infectious Salmon Anaemia Reported at Landcatch’s Ormsary Hatchery in November – was ISA imported via infected salmon eggs (ova) from Iceland? @WeAreBenchmark @HGSalmonUK @BetterBreeding @marinescotland @ScotlandSalmon @obantimes @argyllshiread @salmon_scottish @LochDuartSalmon pic.twitter.com/dh5CD9J5tg
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) January 10, 2022
Hendrix's Ormsary Hatchery has imported over 26.7 million salmon eggs from Iceland, Norway & Ireland since 2016 – how many were infected with Infectious Salmon Anaemia? @marinescotland @MairiGougeon @WeAreBenchmark @BetterBreeding @HGSalmonUK @salmon_scottish @ScotlandSalmon pic.twitter.com/Hx9s03jOG6
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) January 10, 2022
Loch Duart, Organic Sea Harvest, Scottish Sea Farms & Scottish Salmon Co imported 14 million ova from Iceland & Norway via Landcatch's Ormsary Hatchery since 2016 – how many 'Scottish' farmed salmon have tested positive for ISA? @ScotlandSalmon @salmon_scottish @LochDuartSalmon pic.twitter.com/GFyS1BdUxY
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) January 10, 2022
The Argyllshire Advertiser reported (14 January 2022):
Front page splash on Infectious Salmon Anaemia at Landcatch's Ormsary Hatchery @HGSalmonUK @BetterBreeding in this week's Argyllshire Advertiser @argyllshiread "Salmon farming is a cancer on the coast" @ScotlandSalmon @marinescotland @MairiGougeon @tavishscott @HamishMacdonell pic.twitter.com/z4NKu01eNO
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) January 16, 2022
Read more via:
- Iceland Still Importing Ova to 'Scottish' Salmon Farms Despite Disease Risks
- Escape at ISA-Hit Laxar – why is 'Scottish' Salmon Still Importing Millions of Ova from Iceland?
- Front Page Splash on ISA at Landcatch in the Argyllshire Advertiser!
- Game Ova for Imports & Exports: Close the Borders to Stop the Spread of Diseases & Genetic Pollution!
- Infectious Salmon Anaemia Reported at Landcatch’s Ormsary Hatchery in November – was ISA imported via infected salmon eggs (ova) from Iceland?
- The Catch with Landcatch – how Lithgows sold Scottish salmon down the river to Dutch & US investors!
- Iceland Slaughters ISA-Infected Salmon – is Scotland next in the firing line?
- ISA hits Scottish Sea Farms owner SalMar in Norway – how many hidden cases are lurking on salmon farms in Scotland?
- Letter to Scottish Ministers calling for a ban on ova imports from Iceland
- Revealed: Infectious Salmon Anaemia Lurking in Scottish Salmon
- Scottish Ministers with Egg on Their Faces – is it game ova for imports of salmon eggs from Iceland & Norway?
- Scottish Scamon Eggsposé: The Foreign Companies Importing Over 320 Million Salmon Eggs (Ova) Into 'Scottish' Fish Farms Since 2016!
- Press Statement: Ban All Ova Imports to Protect 'Scottish' Salmon!
- ISA in Iceland – will Scotland ban ova imports to prevent disease risks as with Norway?
- Mowi fined for breaching ISA laws in Norway – is ISA lurking at Mowi salmon farms in Scotland?
- Top story on Intrafish reports on ISA at Scottish Sea Farms!
- Salmon Farming is Like the Black Death Plague!
- Mowi's Mortality Nigthmare – Farmed Salmon is Dead in the Water!
- "Activist challenged over claim about fish virus" (Fish Farming Expert)
- Breaking News: ISA reported at RSPCA Assured Scottish Sea Farms on the Isle of Mull
- Damning Disease Report for RSPCA Assured Scottish Sea Farms in Loch Spelve
- Letter to Scottish Ministers re. ISA in Scottish Salmon
- Media Backgrounder: Scottish Salmon’s Recurring ISA Nightmare
- Media Backgrounder: Norway’s Infectious Salmon Aquacalypse – Going Global Since 1984!
- Norway's Infectious Salmon "Horror Show" Secretly Playing Now In Scotland?
- Norwegian Salmon Egg Exports Banned Due to Disease Risks
- Letter to Scottish Ministers: "Bio-security Protocols & Safety Precautions re. Ova Imports"
"The lack of testing of imported ova is a serious risk to biosecurity as well as representing a threat to biodiversity" (Letter from Scottish Salmon Watch to the Scottish Government @MairiGougeon @scotgov) https://t.co/99P9Zla9l8 @ScotlandSalmon @SalmonTroutCons @AST_Salmon pic.twitter.com/vo2MPSY5Ar
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) December 2, 2021
Appendix:
Date: Wed, Feb 9, 2022 at 6:12 PM
Subject: Letter to Scottish Ministers & FOI request re. imports, diseases & biosecurity
To: <scottish.ministers@gov.scot>, <CEU@gov.scot>
Please find attached a letter to Scottish Ministers – including a FOI request – by Scamon Scotland (available as a PDF online here).
The letter includes:
Further to our letter dated 2 December 2021, Scamon Scotland (formerly called Scottish Salmon Watch) reiterates the call to ban imports of ova (salmon eggs), parr and smolts from Iceland, Norway, Ireland and any other countries due to unacceptable disease and genetic risks.
The health and genetic integrity of ‘Scottish’ salmon is clearly being threatened by imports of ova, parr and smolts flooding into Scotland. The Scottish Government’s failure to screen imports is the antithesis of the precautionary principle.
Scamon Scotland asks the Scottish Government (please consider this a formal FOI request) to provide information since 1 January 2020 on:
– notifications by importers or consignees of ova, parr, smolts and any other salmon products to the Fish Health Inspectorate under the Trade in Animals and Related Products (Scotland) regulations 2012
- refusals and any other correspondence in relation to cases where “the consignment fails to meet the health standards”
– authorizations to farm (under the 2009 Regulations, Aquaculture Production Businesses) “where it is considered that the operation of the business will not lead to an unacceptable risk of spreading disease” including the “specific conditions of operation” and “the requirement for the business to follow good bio-security practice”
– Biosecurity Measures Plans for salmon farms and hatcheries which may detail “disinfection of ova to reduce the risks from horizontal transmission of pathogens and disease” and “the initial isolation of new stocks brought on site as a precautionary disease control measure”
Secondly, as cited in the FOI reply from the Scottish Government dated 10 January 2022 could you please provide information since 1 January 2020 on “internal discussions” concerning disease risks in Iceland, Norway, Ireland and any other countries in relation to salmon farming.
This would include emails, letters and any other correspondence with officials in Iceland, Norway, Ireland and any other countries in relation to information and assurances “over any risk posed to Scotland from this trade”.
Please include any information confirming the location of the outbreak in Iceland, the actions taken in Iceland, the epidemiological separation of the positive site to those sites exporting aquatic animals, as well as confirmation of the disease free status of exporting sites.
Please include correspondence with Icelandic officials, EFTA and any other parties that “resulted in the conclusion that trade with appropriate certification could continue as it would not pose a significant risk to the introduction of ISAv into Scotland”.
Please include any Cabinet Briefings on ISA in Iceland and any disease risks posed to Scotland.
Please deal with request for information under the relevant FOI and Environmental Information regulations.
Please provide the information electronically.
Please provide a receipt for this FOI request.
The attached letter is also available online via Letter to Scottish Ministers: Please Close the Border to Imports of Salmon Ova, Parr & Smolts!
Yours sincerely,
Don Staniford
Director, Scamon Scotland
ISA costs Icelandic salmon farmer $10 million as disease takes root in the country https://t.co/tHMZ3KC6qY
ISA was reported in Scotland in May 2021 @scotseafarms in Loch Spelve & in November 2021 @HGSalmonUK at Ormsary. How much will ISA cost Scotland? @ScotlandSalmon @scotgov— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) October 1, 2022
Salmon egg supplier Aquagen confirms ISA at Norwegian site @IntraFish https://t.co/PrjffDAIaZ
How many imported and domestically-grown salmon eggs in Scotland are infected with ISA? @scotgov @marinescotland @scotseafarms @MowiScotlandLtd @WeAreBenchmark @MairiGougeon— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) November 24, 2022