Fish Farming Expert reported (27 May 2020) that the RSPCA suspended in-person assessments of salmon farms on 23 March with contactless assessments available by mutual agreement on Monday (1 June):
So instead of on-farm inspections (for which the RSPCA rake in over £500,000 per year for certifying ca. 60% of salmon farming in Scotland as 'welfare friendly') RSPCA auditors who include former Mowi manager Ian Michie conduct inspections via WhatsApp, Google Meet and Google Hangout.
Read more via RSPCA Assured online here
Writing in The Grocer (27 May 2020), award-winning food journalist Joanna Blythman said:
Last month the Ferret reported that environmental rules on salmon farm inspections had been relaxed by the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency until the end of June.
Read more via:
Under the Cloak of Coronavirus: SEPA open the floodgates to lobster-killing chemicals!
SEPA relax environmental controls during Coronavirus crisis
Irony of Virus-Laden Scottish Salmon Exploiting Coronavirus Crisis
Scottish Salmon Watch reported earlier this week (27 May 2020) on an inspection carried out by the Scottish Government's Fish Health Inspectorate at RSPCA Assured Mowi in Loch Greshornish on 10 March before the Coronavirus crisis prompted a more relaxed regime:
Mmmmm, any takers for yummy RSPCA Assured salmon infected with Enteric Redmouth (ERM) Disease, Salmon Gill Poxvirus, Amoebic Gill Disease and treated with antibiotics (Mowi salmon is sold via Sainsbury's, Lidl and Aldi and is farmed according to the RSPCA Assured salmon welfare standard)?
Photos of Mowi's Loch Greshornish farmed salmon (published online by the Scottish Government's Fish Health Inspectorate) certainly do not ooze a picture of health or high welfare standards.
Another Mowi salmon farm 'inspected' by the Scottish Government's Fish Health Inspectorate in late March 2020 was conducted via "Passive Surveillance Inspection" (i.e. over the telephone without any visit) due to the COVID-19.
Data published on 4 May 2020 by the Scottish Government's Fish Health Inspectorate reveals that Mowi's RSPCA Assured Loch Seaforth salmon farm has reported 10 'Mortality Event Reports' since October 2018 involving 134,415 dead farmed salmon due to Anaemia, Pancreas Disease, "treated related mortality", "mechanical treatment", "compromised gill health", "piscireckettsia", "Amoebic Gill Disease" and "peroxide treatment":
Readers might be surprised to discover that Mowi (Scotland's largest salmon farming company – called Marine Harvest until 1 January 2019 when they changed their name despite objections from the Mowinckel family) is certified as 'welfare-friendly' by RSPCA Assured.
Read more via "Open letter to the RSPCA calls for an end to the certification of Scottish salmon"
The welfare nightmare of Mowi's salmon farms should have consumers reaching for the sick bag not their shopping bag.
Read more via RSPCA Assured Mowi Plagued by Mass Mortalities & Infectious Diseases on Skye
Last month (23 April 2020), Scottish Salmon Watch reported:
Download letter from APHA to Mowi in full online here
The Sunday Times reported (9 February 2020):
Read more via:
- Sunday Times: "RSPCA paid over £500,000 to back Scottish salmon industry"
- Sunday Times: "Scientist hits out at RSPCA for backing Scottish salmon farms"
- Press Release: "Dear RSPCA – Please Stop Certifying Scottish Salmon!"
- Letter to the RSPCA – Please Stop Certifying Scottish Salmon!
- Press Release: "Welfare Abuse on Scottish Salmon Farms – Legal Action Vs Scottish Ministers & Salmon Farming Companies"
- Video Exclusive: Dr Lynne Sneddon on Welfare Abuse on Scottish Salmon Farms
Here's shocking images taken by the Scottish Government's Fish Health Inspectorate when they have visited RSPCA Assured Mowi salmon farms:
In February 2020, Scottish Salmon Watch published a dossier of photos of diseased and deformed Scottish salmon – including many farmed by Mowi and certified via RSPCA Assured:
Read more via:
- Photo Dossier of Diseased, Deformed & Abused Scottish Salmon
- The Faces of Scottish Salmon – the Ugly Truth Exposed
- Media Backgrounder: The Welfare Nightmare of Scottish Salmon
- All Sorts of Problems for Mowi in Loch Erisort (Yet Again)!
- 'Moribund' Mowi: Salmon Gill Poxvirus, Amoebic Gill Disease & Anaemia at Ardintoul