Going Down the Drain: Photos of Mowi's blood water treatment at "highly offensive & polluting" processing plant in Fort William

Yet more public money is going down the drain to prop up the disease-ridden salmon farming industry.

Bla bla bla – more public money down the drain! £2m grant for Mowi’s Blar Mhor processing centre @scotgov @MowiScotlandLtd https://t.co/1HmtNW4scy via @fishfarmermag

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) November 25, 2022

A Freedom of Information disclosure by the Scottish Government earlier this month (2 November 2022) fleshes out more nauseating details on how Mowi's processing plant in Fort William tackles the problem of waste disposal – with effluent discharge going down the drain to the local waste water treatment works in Caol with screened waste and sludge transported away to Energen Biogas in Glasgow and viscera transported to Pelagia in Shetland for further processing/ensiling:

The Scottish Government disclosed the following site photos, schematic and checklist:

Photos inside Mowi's "highly offensive & polluting" @ScottishEPA processing plant in Fort William Disinfected wastewater goes down the drain into public sewer to Caol. Viscera goes to Pelagia in Shetland @TavishScott & solid waste to Energen Biogas in Glasgow @Ferguson_TPT #Jobs pic.twitter.com/i7lBDlbSHS

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) November 5, 2022

$camon Scotland reported last month (5 October 2022):

Unsatisfactory Biosecurity: Disease Control 'Improvement' & 'Further Investigation' Required at Processing Plants https://t.co/BRT7jIXPOi @MowiScotlandLtd @LochDuartSalmon
Is @ScotGovNetZero finally closing the net on infectious diseases, pathogens & viruses? @ScotlandSalmon pic.twitter.com/SdjnvJqpGt

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) October 5, 2022

The Fish Health Inspectorate sent Mowi a letter in June 2022 detailing "further investigation and improvement" to be implemented in order for the Blar Mhor processing plant in Fort William to be considered "satisfactory" (i.e. current biosecurity systems were unsatisfactory to deal with disease risks):

Unsatisfactory Mowi: "The following areas require further investigation and improvement….biosecurity of vehicles enterering the facility including disinfection should be implemented" @scotgov @marinescotland @MowiScotlandLtd @APHAgovuk @ScotlandSalmon https://t.co/BRT7jIXPOi pic.twitter.com/4c2866NKol

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) October 7, 2022

Additional 'Case Information' reported by the Fish Health Inspectorate relating to an inspection of Mowi's Blar Mhor processing plant in May 2022 included:

Mowi's Blar Mhor processing plant has an appalling track record with Marine Harvest (renamed Mowi in 2019) fined £4,000 in 2005 for polluting the River Lochy with waste effluents – including fish viscera, blood and congealed fat deposits, scum and grease – following an investigation by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency reported in 2005:

“This was a serious incident. The discharge was of a highly offensive and polluting nature. Sewage fungus present in the River can smother the bed of a watercourse, and can damage invertebrates and insect life. Secondary problems associated with smell from decaying matter were also reported to SEPA. The outfall to the River Lochy is immediately adjacent to a number of houses and Lochyside Primary School"

Fish Update reported in Juy 2005:

ENDS reported in July 2005:

The Sunday Herald reported in May 2006: