Revealed: Mowi's Isle of Rum Expansion Plans – "all my fears have come true" says resident @isleofrum
"Mowi will probably get their way again, bung a few thousand quid to the community to get most on side" @MowiScotlandLtd @ScotlandSalmon https://t.co/nvitAYe559 pic.twitter.com/Rw60CssPQv— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) March 31, 2024
Norwegian giant Mowi is gearing up for further expansion off the Isle of Rum.
Mowi's environmental team headed over to the Isle of Rum for a community presentation earlier this month:
[The 28-page Powerpoint presentation is available on request – please email salmonfarmingkills@gmail.com]
One local resident who asked to remain anonymous – the Isle of Rum has a population of only 40 – told $camon $cotland:
"The community meeting was split as usual for and against. Personally I have always been against the salmon farm here on Rum and I voted against it first time around but I was on the ‘losing’ side. However, all my fears have come true since then including mass mortalities and welfare issues. Salmon have died as a result of treatment losses and ‘weaker fish dying in poor weather conditions’ which doesn’t surprise me as there is no shelter in these exposed sites for fish to ‘shelter’ in like wild fish would possibly do. It seems to me Mowi will probably get their way again, bung a few thousand quid to the community to get most on side. I really don’t know how a vote will go this time around. It's very difficult living in a small community and putting a head above the parapet!"
Mowi's Rum salmon farm only started operating in 2018 but has already experienced huge mortality, disease and welfare problems. Scottish Salmon Watch reported in 2019:
Gruesome photos of welfare abuse and disease problems at Mowi's farm off the Isle of Rum (published online by the Scottish Government on 10 September 2019) blow out the water the company's claims that their salmon are "healthy"!
Earlier this month, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency revealed that Mowi's Rum feedlot was one of 62 salmon farms guilty of 'non-compliance':
REVEALED: 62 @rspcaassured salmon farms are non-compliant re. “breaches of authorisation conditions & violations” (disclosed @ScottishEPA via FOI). The non-compliance @ScotlandSalmon includes @MowiScotlandLtd @scotseafarms @CookeScotland @LochDuartSalmon @BetterBreeding & OSH pic.twitter.com/qGCCwOZPtL
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) March 27, 2024
Mowi's 'community presentation' on the Isle of Rum earlier this month was at pains to stress the financial benefits of disease-ridden salmon farming (to offset welfare abuse and environmental pollution):
The Sunday Herald revealed in 2012 that Mowi had offered islanders on nearby Colonsay "bribes" to set up a new salmon farm.
Mowi attempted – and it seems, failed – to expand off the neighbouring Isle of Canna. Geraldine MacKinnon, chair of the Canna Development Trust, told The Guardian in 2019 that the islanders were split over the proposal and have been in close contact with neighbours on Rum and Muck, where Mowi already has two fish farms. “People haven’t made up their minds either way,” she said. “It’s a massive decision, so people just want to take their time.”
A quick look at the Scottish Government's Fish Health Inspectorate 'Mortality Information' reveals that Mowi has reported 389,910 dead farmed salmon via 44 'Mortality Event Reports' since June 2019 at their Rum salmon farm:
Mowi's expansion plans off the Isle of Rum will inevitably double-down on mortalities and welfare abuse.
The question is: do residents on the Isle of Rum have the stomach for further expansion even if Mowi promises 6 new jobs, new houses and loadsamoney:
For any residents still sitting on the fence, Netflix's 'Seaspiracy' offers an insight into the real monster in the lochs of Scotland:
Skip Scottish salmon this Easter!
Video footage featured in Netflix's @seaspiracy shows what @rspcaassured 'welfare friendly' & 'responsible' @ASC_aqua salmon farming means in practice.
Please boycott @MowiScotlandLtd salmon sold @sainsburys @Tesco @LidlGB @AldiUK @asda pic.twitter.com/9gJMvqke7m— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) March 27, 2024
Other video footage exposing the deadly menace of Mowi is worth watching before residents on the Isle of Rum pocket any 'bribes' on offer:
Video footage shot inside Mowi's @rspcaassured salmon farm on the Isle of Skye – the next time you see RSPCA Assured 'responsibly farmed' Scottish salmon in a supermarket please remember how this fish was tortured to death @RSPCA_official @MowiScotlandLtd [Images: Ecotricity] pic.twitter.com/BhJtQTIJkf
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) March 24, 2024
I will leave the final message for Mowi who ended their 'community presentation' on the Isle of Rum with this slide:
