In the wake of the horsemeat scandal, the Scottish salmon farming industry now finds itself in a bit of a pickle. FishyLeaks reveals that
Scottish farmed salmon was illegally doused with the carcinogenic chemical
Formalin in a Special Area of Conservation and National Scenic Area on the Isle
of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides. Formalin
is a highly toxic water-based solution of the known carcinogen Formaldehyde which is used
as a preservative for biological specimens including artist Damien Hirst’s pickled sharks,
cows and sheep.
A new
report “Formalin:
Scottish Salmon’s Toxic Solution” (sourced from 190 pages of Freedom of
Information documents) reveals that:
–
1,400 litres of Formalin was discharged into Loch Roag “against SEPA advice”
–
Formalin is a ‘carcinogen’, ‘toxic’ with a “danger of very serious irreversible
effects”
- SNH warned of “significant toxicological
impacts on marine life of Loch Roag”
–
The Scottish Government fast-tracked Formalin use within one week instead of 8
weeks with SEPA and SNH given only 48 hours to respond
–
The Scottish Salmon Company failed to consult with conservation bodies despite
admitting discharges took place in a Special Area of Conservation and National
Scenic Area
The
Global Alliance Against Industrial Aquaculture (GAAIA) has now filed a
complaint with the European Commission for breach of the Habitats Directive and
illegal discharges of carcinogenic chemicals into a Special Area of
Conservation (read complaint online line).
“I’d
rather eat one of Damien Hirst’s pickled sharks or pickled horses than chemically
embalmed Scottish salmon,” said Don Staniford of the Global Alliance Against
Industrial Aquaculture. “It’s nauseating
to think that the Scottish salmon farming industry’s warped idea of
preservation is discharging the carcinogenic preservative Formalin into a
Special Area of Conservation. No wonder
‘fresh’ Scottish salmon has such a long shelf life!”
“The
Scottish salmon farming industry is clearly in a bit of pickle, continued
Staniford. “The FOI documents show that
the Scottish Salmon Company – aided and abetted by the Scottish Government –
went rogue in Loch Roag. GAAIA is now
demanding that the European Commission take swift action against the illegal fast-tracking
of carcinogenic chemical discharges into a Special Area of Conservation. Cheap and nasty Scottish farmed salmon is the
black sheep of the family and should be avoided like the plague.”
“Using
carcinogenic chemicals to kill deadly parasites on farmed salmon does nothing
to fix the problem,” said Staniford, author of ‘Silent Spring of the Sea’. “The solution staring us all in the face is
to stop farming salmon in the sea and move the cages to land where chemical
discharges can be treated and disposed of as safely as possible. Scotland’s pristine lochs must no longer be
used as toxic toilets by the Norwegian-controlled salmon farming industry.”
“The
Scottish salmon farming industry is talking a load of bull when it claims that
the use of carcinogenic chemicals is necessary to protect animal welfare,”
concluded Staniford, author of the forthcoming report ‘Smoke on the Water, Cancer on the Coast’. “If the factory fish farming industry cared
anything about animal welfare they would not cram hundreds of thousands of
Atlantic salmon – a migratory species – into a cage with the equivalent of a
bath-tub of water space for each fish.
Salmon farming is sickening.”
The
FOI reply from the Scottish Government dated 23 November 2012 detailed 190
pages of documents – read in full online here from the
Scottish Government (same file online here). GAAIA has filed further FOIs requesting data
on Formalin use on Scottish salmon farms.
Read
more via: “Formalin:
Scottish Salmon’s Toxic Solution”
Read more via: "Pickled Scottish Salmon, Anyone? Rogue Use of Carcinogen in Loch Roag" (20 January 2013)