Nasty Neonicotinoid Plagues Salmon Farming in 2021

Scottish Salmon Watch lifts the lid on Imidacloprid use in salmon farming https://t.co/R4l8knDTZu
How can @GreenerScotland & @ScottishEPA authorize the use of a toxic neonicotinoid banned in terrestrial agriculture in 2018 for use in salmon farming? @WeAreBenchmark @FerdOwner pic.twitter.com/m3GZ3WP1nJ

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) February 24, 2021

When the European Union announced a ban on neonicotinoids – including Imidacloprid – in 2018 you would be forgiven for thinking that the net was closing on their use in terrestrial agriculture and that their use in salmon farming was just another nasty nightmare.

Three years later, however, and the use of neonicotinoids in farming – including the spectre of salmon farming – is a toxic reality with the alarming prospect of the floodgates being opened to the use of Imidacloprid by salmon farms in Norway, Canada, Chile and Scotland during 2021.

Toxic neonicotinoid Imidacloprid (BMK08) – banned for use in terrestrial agriculture in 2018 – "close to commercial launch" @WeAreBenchmark @FerdOwner @scotseafarms @ScotlandMowi @salmon_scottish @ScottishEPA @SSPOsays @vmdgovuk @ScotLINK @PAN_UK @scotgp https://t.co/fU81hKRWV3

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) February 22, 2021

The story of how the toxic neonicotinoid Imidacloprid is being deployed in salmon farming with field trials already taking place in Norway, patents filed in Canada and secret trials probably conducted already in Scotland (perhaps as early as 2013 at Benchmark's Ardtoe marine laboratory) is a horrible history to make your flesh crawl.

How much of the toxic neonicotinoid Imidacloprid (BMK08/Ectosan) has been used in Scottish salmon farming (either legally or illegally) since @WeAreBenchmark registered a patent in 2011? @SSPOsays @MowiScotlandLtd @marinescotland @vmdgovuk @scotseafarms https://t.co/CdAEYD4QzO pic.twitter.com/GY8uP0Us1v

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) October 26, 2020

How powerful corporate interests have lobbied against a ban on neonicotinoids could have been lifted straight out of Rachel Carson's 'Silent Spring' (60 years old next year). In the context of salmon farming, how the Norwegian-owned Benchmark (controlled by Tobacco billionaire Johan Andresen) could be an epilogue to 2004's 'Silent Spring of the Sea'.

Meet 'Ethics Man' (tobacco billionaire Johan Andresen), Chair of Norway's Council on Ethics which polices 'ethical' investment @FerdOwner @Folketrygdfond https://t.co/4P1m3g2CvT
He is a shareholder in salmon farming companies & via @WeAreBenchmark wants to use neonicotinoids! pic.twitter.com/yDq7CeSDvu

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) November 30, 2020

"It's the tasty one," said a cigarette ad for Tiedemanns Tobaksfabrik (biggest tobacco company in Norway) @FerdOwner https://t.co/Pv7Npg9mWB "Setting a new standard in environmental care for sea lice bath treatments," claims CleanTreat @WeAreBenchmark #BlowingSmoke #Imidacloprid pic.twitter.com/SE0xCB38FC

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) March 19, 2020

In June 2020, Farmers Weekly reported:

Greenpeace reported in July 2020 (also reported by The Daily Telegraph):

Last month, The Guardian reported:

The Guardian reported in November 2020:

In the murky world of salmon farming – every bit as intensive as terrestrial farming but 'out of sight and out of mind' so it risks slipping through the net of public scrutiny – the use of toxic chemicals to control diseases and parasites such as sea lice is endemic. The Guardian's John Vidal reported in 2017:

And so we get to the use of Imidacloprid in salmon farming which is so secret it was originally known as D10 Aquatic Blast when it was first publicly pitched by patent holders in 2014:

When Norwegian-owned company Benchmark unveiled Imidacloprid to the salmon farming sector in 2017 it was branded as 'Ectosan'.

Even industry insiders appeared to be in the dark about the toxic ingredient in Ectosan – speculating in an email disclosed via FOI that it could be the toxic organophosphate Azamethiphos.

When The Sunday Times wrote about Benchmark's 'CleanTreat' technology – the vehicle with which Imidacloprid is used in salmon farming – in December 2019 it was still not publicly known that Ectosan/BMK08 was in fact Imidacloprid.

Today's Sunday Times: "Official fears revealed over toxic threat of salmon trade" https://t.co/qlMEeqfw07 @SundayTimesScot @SalmonTroutCons @SSPOsays @marinescotland @WeAreBenchmark @MowiScotlandLtd @FergusEwingMSP @ScottishEPA @GreenerScotland @scotgp @HamishMacdonell @JulieHL pic.twitter.com/wttyjWUZCH

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) December 29, 2019

Benchmark quietly rebranded Ectosan as BMK08 in late November 2019 with the trade press and the public (perhaps even investors) still unaware that BMKo8 was in fact the toxic neonicotinoid Imidacloprid.

When Scottish Salmon Watch filed Freedom of Information (FOI) requests on Ectosan and BMK08 with the Scottish Government, Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) and the Veterinary Medicines Directorate in 2019 we were still unaware that BMK08/Ectosan was Imidacloprid.

Benchmark makes £2m loss https://t.co/mhvkQR1FbW @salmonfarming1 "Increased expenditure related to launch preparations for its new lice treatment, BMK08" @WeAreBenchmark Regulatory dossier submitted @ScottishEPA @marinescotland Still no public disclosure!! https://t.co/pAgebu4rzW pic.twitter.com/55zirsZ8YM

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) February 28, 2020

Even when Scottish Salmon Watch filed an appeal with the Scottish Information Commissioner in February 2020 seeking to overturn SEPA's refusal to disclose information we did not know that Imidacloprid was the chemical in question.

"Submission of our regulatory dossier for BMK08, our novel sea lice treatment, is a significant milestone" @WeAreBenchmark https://t.co/2vVe041WxV "needs separate approval in each of the countries" @ScottishEPA What is BMK08? Will the public find out how toxic AFTER approval?! pic.twitter.com/BKuJ9sIKdL

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) February 29, 2020

Please come clean on BMK08! Why is @ScottishEPA & @GreenerScotland refusing to disclose details on Clean Treat? @WeAreBenchmark https://t.co/pAgebu4rzW Whilst investors pump in £££££s the public are kept in the dark @FOIScotland @undercur @thefishsite @IntraFishNorge @SSPOsays pic.twitter.com/1lS6Vc74Wx

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) February 27, 2020

The big reveal only occurred on 17 March 2020 after Scottish Salmon Watch received a tip-off prompting the revelation via The Ferret.

Revealed: Toxic Neonicotinoid Insecticide Used to 'CleanTreat' Lousy Salmon https://t.co/ORQS4EAeDS @WeAreBenchmark @MowiScotlandLtd @scotseafarms @salmon_scottish @GriegShetland @ScottishEPA @SSPOsays @IntraFishNorge @FergusEwingMSP @ASC_aqua @marinescotland @rspcaassured pic.twitter.com/JOrTRbJExD

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) March 17, 2020

Campaigners fear that a nicotine pesticide that the fish farming industry and the Scottish Government want to trial in Scotland could threaten marine wildlife.https://t.co/bw5IBgTwqi

— The Ferret (@FerretScot) March 17, 2020

On 20 March 2020, Benchmark publicly revealed for the first time that BMK08 was in fact Imidacloprid.

In May 2020, Scottish Salmon Watch revealed that Norwegian salmon giant Mowi had lobbied SEPA to support a field trial of Imidacloprid in Loch Ailort.

Secret Trials: 'Royal' Salmon Doused with Bee-Killing Insecticide Imidacloprid? https://t.co/S1ovGqCpu7 FOI reveals proposed 'field trial' of toxic neonicotinoid @MowiScotlandLtd at Ardnish in Loch Ailort @ScottishEPA @WeAreBenchmark @marinescotland @FerdOwner @vmdgovuk #BMK08 pic.twitter.com/iUl9lk7XPv

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) May 20, 2020

Scottish Greens "deeply concerned" at Mowi's field trial of Neonicotinoid @markruskell @strathearnrose @scotgp @FergusEwingMSP @SP_ECCLR @ScottishEPA "Imidacloprid has been classed as an environmental hazard" @WeAreBenchmark @MowiScotlandLtd @vmdgovuk https://t.co/KTgbs4GnNM pic.twitter.com/ESCXnu1TOM

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) May 21, 2020

The Sunday Times reported in June 2020:

Jean-Marc Bonmatin, from the French National Centre for Scientific Research, was quoted @SundayTimesScot warning "the use of Imidacloprid as it is presented for salmon farming will be catastrophic for aquatic invertebrates, and even for fishes" @undercur https://t.co/1KJ21gpTn6

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) June 15, 2020

The Scottish salmon farming lobby denied the use of Imidacloprid.

Imidacloprid "has not been used in Scotland & is currently not scheduled to be used here" @HamishMacdonell @SSPOsays @SundayTimesScot What about field trials @WeAreBenchmark in 2019 & the proposed field trial in Loch Ailort? @MowiScotlandLtd @ScottishEPA https://t.co/4fNwMQMNfg pic.twitter.com/oPTRh33Td5

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) June 14, 2020

In June 2020, Scottish Salmon Watch solicited scientific support for a ban on the use of Imidacloprid in salmon farming and shared a scientific dossier – "Imidacloprid – A Neonicotinoid Insecticide Toxic to Aquatic Life" – detailing environmental impacts of Imidacloprid on aquatic ecosystems.

To prove the safety of the neonicotinoid insecticide Imidacloprid will Scottish Ministers drink 'purified' wastewater? @WeAreBenchmark @FerdOwner https://t.co/nqV1mv7CAY @FergusEwingMSP @strathearnrose @KateForbesMSP @GreenerScotland @nicolasturgeon @scotgovfm @scotgp #BMK08 pic.twitter.com/PFIMg3HTkh

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) June 8, 2020

The scientific dossier included a peer-reviewed scientific paper published in the prestigious Science magazine in November 2019.

Hakai magazine reported in May 2020:

Preliminary research shows that a popular insecticide hampers arthropods in the ocean.
https://t.co/lzDwp3WJva via @hakaimagazine

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) May 22, 2020

In June 2020, SEPA repeated their refusal to disclose documents on BMK08/Imidacloprid citing commercial confidentiality admitting that they "have not conducted any modelling of environmental impacts or ecological risk assessments of Imidacloprid use in salmon farming".

SEPA refuse to disclose information on the use of the toxic neonicotinoid insecticide Imidacloprid in salmon farming citing commercial confidentiality https://t.co/6dqW4x0iel @ScottishEPA @FOIScotland If disclosed it would prejudice economic interests @WeAreBenchmark @FerdOwner pic.twitter.com/m88qS2Tv2A

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) June 30, 2020

The Antithesis of the Precautionary Principle: "SEPA have not conducted any modelling of environmental impacts or ecological risk assessments of Imidacloprid use in salmon farming" https://t.co/6dqW4x0iel @ScottishEPA @WeAreBenchmark @FerdOwner @vmdgovuk @marinescotland #Toxic pic.twitter.com/HCq5kViBxg

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) June 30, 2020

Whilst SEPA and the Scottish Government stone-wall attempts to secure information, Scottish Salmon Watch unearthed patent information on the use of Imidacloprid in salmon farming.

Benchmark's patent for use of the toxic neonicotinoid insecticide Imidacloprid in salmon farming concedes it is a "potentially hazardous agent in the field" & that "leakage" can occur with "loss of agent in the environment" https://t.co/QfeF31RAiM @WeAreBenchmark @FerdOwner pic.twitter.com/IPjorjqtmO

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) June 26, 2020

Scottish Salmon Watch revealed in June 2020 how Benchmark-owned Fish Vet Group (based in Inverness) filed a patent in Norway in 2011.

A patent filed in Canada (CA3045239A1) in December 2017 (published in June 2018 & described as a 'National Entry' in May 2019) details the 'inventors' of the use of Imidacloprid in salmon farming as UK residents John Marshall, Matthew Longshaw and Elizabeth Appleyard.

One of the 'inventors' of Imidacloprid use in salmon farming is Benchmark's John Marshall who, according to documents disclosed in December 2019 via FOI, has been lobbying the Scottish Government since at least September 2018 with a meeting in Edinburgh in October 2018 and a meeting in the Scottish Parliament with Fergus Ewing, Cabinet Secretary for Rural Economy & Connectivity, in September 2019.

An Editorial by Professor Dave Goulson of the University of Sussex published in British Wildlife magazine in August 2020 warned against the use of Imidacloprid in salmon farming:

Is the toxic neonicotinoid Imidacloprid currently being used on Scottish salmon farms? @MowiScotlandLtd @SSPOsays @salmon_scottish @scotseafarms @GriegShetland @FergusEwingMSP @strathearnrose @WeAreBenchmark @FerdOwner @ScottishEPA @marinescotland @markruskell @vmdgovuk https://t.co/74bxG2hWD0

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) August 24, 2020

Scottish Salmon Watch visited the FAI Aquaculture Marine Laboratory in Ardtoe in August 2020 – the Benchmark-owned facility which developed their CleanTreat system "over a 10 year period":

In September 2020, Scottish Salmon Watch wrote to the Scottish Government and SEPA questioning whether Imidacloprid had been secretly and illegally used at Benchmark's marine laboratory at Ardtoe on the West coast of Scotland.

Secret Salmon – On the Trail of Imidacloprid Use in Scotland https://t.co/u2ulxotaTN Has the toxic neonicotinoid been used illegally @WeAreBenchmark @FAIfarms at Ardtoe marine laboratory? @ScottishEPA @marinescotland @vmdgovuk @FerdOwner @MowiScotlandLtd @FergusEwingMSP #BMK08 pic.twitter.com/LwP1twMoQW

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) September 4, 2020

Fish Farmer magazine reported in February 2020 (when Benchmark was still hiding the fact that BMK08/Ectosan was the neonicotinoid Imidacloprid – Benchmark only publicly admitted this toxic truth on 20 March 2020 after Scottish Salmon Watch and The Ferret blew the whistle on 17 March 2020):

Meanwhile it seems the floodgates are being opened up to use Imidacloprid across Europe and in Chile. Fish Farming Expert reported (10 September 2020):

Here's the EMEA statement (11 September 2020):

Benchmark reported in July 2020:

Caveat Chile – Toxic Neonicotinoid Imidacloprid (BMK08) Coming Soon! https://t.co/lRb9JWJH06 @WeAreBenchmark @FerdOwner @SalmonChileAG @SalmonChile @ECOCEANOS @SantiagoTimes @elmostrador @ChileanSalmonMC @CCC_Chile @PatagonJournal @patagonia @jelangman @TerramChile @OceanaChile pic.twitter.com/6EHBebPida

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) July 9, 2020

Benchmark reported earlier this week via their Q1 2021 financial report that Imidacloprid would be launched in salmon farming during Q2 2021 "subject to regulatory approvals".

Benchmark expects launch of toxic neonicotinoid Imidacloprid (BMK08) in Q2 2021 "subject to regulatory approvals" @ScottishEPA @NFdep @nature_scot @vmdgovuk @marinescotland @WeAreBenchmark @FerdOwner @Folketrygdfond @salmon_scottish @LeroySeafood https://t.co/xw4nahWoYV pic.twitter.com/yjzKtihMyD

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) February 22, 2021

The use of Imidacloprid appears to have already been approved by the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) who let slip that Ectosan (BMK08) was Imidacloprid via an 'Interpretation Request' from Norwegian salmon giant Mowi.

Did Mowi & Benchmark jump the gun on publicising the use of the toxic neonicotinoid insecticide Imidacloprid in salmon farming? https://t.co/ORQS4EAeDS @ASC_aqua @DNVGL @WeAreBenchmark @MowiScotlandLtd @MowiCanadaWest @ScottishEPA @marinescotland #Shootingthemselvesinthefoot pic.twitter.com/zD3Nn85JhI

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) March 17, 2020

Even though the ASC has now expunged all reference to the use of Imidacloprid in salmon farming from their web-site, we do know which salmon farms are certified via the ASC.

Fish Farming Expert reported in March 2020 on the now deleted ASC 'Interpretation Request' filed by Mowi Norway in May 2019.

Fish Farming Expert reported in May 2020:

As of today (24 February 2021) there are 419 salmon farms around the world certified via the ASC.

These include eight salmon farms – all operated by Norwegian giant Mowi – in Scotland:

Has the Aquaculture Stewardship Council approved the use of the toxic neonicotinoid Imidacloprid at over 400 @ASC_aqua certified salmon farms? https://t.co/R4l8knDTZu
Why delete Mowi's 'Interpretation Request' on the use of Ectosan (Imidacloprid) in salmon farming? @ScotlandMowi pic.twitter.com/qPQ2BlKi1Q

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) February 24, 2021

Nearly a year since Scottish Salmon Watch filed an appeal with the Scottish Information Commissioner against SEPA's refusal to disclose information we may soon find out more details on the use of Imidacloprid in salmon farming in Scotland.