Slicegate: How SEPA Opened the Floodgates to Toxic Scottish Salmon (Following Intense Lobbying from the Salmafia)!

As @TerryAHearn looks back on his 7 year tenure in charge of SEPA his legacy is so toxic that it may require years of rehab to recover from! https://t.co/agiEHPr1tF @ScottishEPA @ScotlandSalmon @MowiScotlandLtd @scotseafarms @scotgp @marinescotland @MairiGougeon @nature_scot pic.twitter.com/qN6HCREVII

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) January 23, 2022

The sudden departure of the chief executive of the Scottish Environment Protection Agency leaves a lot of questions hanging: was Terry A'Hearn guilty of misconduct against colleagues like alleged bully Fergus Ewing; was his misconduct in relation to his dealings with big business or perhaps Terry's dealings with cybercrime and the 'Dark Web' led him down a wrong path?

"In order to protect anonymity, SEPA is unable to comment further" @TerryAHearn @ScottishEPA https://t.co/OT51wwp3rj
Was Terry on the take? #BrownPaperEnvelopes
Was Terry behind the cyberhack? #DarkWeb
Is Terry joining Anne Anderson working @ScotlandSalmon & @scotseafarms?

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) January 21, 2022

"You don’t make the world a better place by doing the wrong thing, by burying your head in the sand,” said SEPA's former boss in an interview with FutureScot in October 2021. But a closer examination of Terry A'Hearn's policy – and key decisions – in relation to salmon farming show that SEPA has done some very wrong things indeed and has buried its head in the toxic sediments under salmon farms.

Scotland's Environmental Watchdog is Dead in the Water – read how @ScottishEPA was sliced to death by the Salmafia @ScotlandSalmon @MowiScotlandLtd @scotseafarms @marinescotland
Is @TerryAHearn now going to work for the salmon pharming lobby? https://t.co/sZLwL103qc @FerretScot pic.twitter.com/cw08a05rxZ

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) January 22, 2022

In December 2017, The Ferret reported how SEPA "has been repeatedly wined and dined by the fish farming, whisky and power industries, prompting questions to be raised about its impartiality" including two dinners involving Terry A'Hearn and the salmon farming lobby.

An Editorial in The Sunday Herald in November 2017 raised serious questions over the "impartiality" of SEPA:

Here's the newspaper version:

The Sunday Herald reported in November 2017:

Emails obtained via Freedom of Information reveal how the Salmafia – just six foreign owned/controlled companies account for 99% of 'Scottish' salmon farming production – lobbied Terry A'Hearn soon after he joined SEPA in 2015:

In November 2015, Terry A'Hearn wrote to the boss of the Scottish Salmon Producers Organisation (since renamed Salmon Scotland) stating that "I’ve very much enjoyed our meetings over the last couple of months and found the conversation over dinner with Jim Gallagher and Alan Sutherland helpful":

Alan Sutherland was the boss of Marine Harvest until January 2016 (renamed Mowi in 2019) and Jim Gallagher is the boss of Scottish Sea Farms who are being investigated as part of a salmon cartel investigation on both sides of the Atlantic.

The net closes in on Norway's #Salmafia as the US Department of Justice ramps up antitrust class action lawsuit on cartels, price-fixing, "suspicious meetings" & "law enforcement investigations" @TheJusticeDept @FTC https://t.co/c4KwTUjH7b #Salmonopoly #Salmoney #Salmonsters pic.twitter.com/8CkvDjzsT2

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) March 25, 2021

Can @ScottishEPA please comment on the suggestion that @TerryAHearn has left SEPA to join the #Salmafia @ScotlandSalmon @MowiScotlandLtd @scotseafarms (following Anne Anderson's departure in 2018 & Ewan Gillespie & Stephen Macintyre)? https://t.co/agiEHPr1tF #Salmonopoly pic.twitter.com/MV2WLYrLS3

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) January 23, 2022

It seems that private dinners are the preferred way that the Salmafia conduct their unsavoury cartel business. Salmon Business reported in March 2021:

"SalMar’s Witzøe attended a dinner meeting with Lerøy’s [CEO] Beltestad, during which they discussed a pricing model for their salmon based on NASDAQ spot prices. Witzøe & Beltestad were communicating with Jim Gallagher of [Scottish Sea Farms] via email" https://t.co/L8nWLUsVUR pic.twitter.com/EDV4nIOF2w

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) March 26, 2021

Terry A'Hearn's private meetings and dinners with the Salmafia paid off in August 2016 when SEPA was poised to issue a media release announcing a ban on the shellfish-killing chemical Emamectin benzoate (SLICE). Emails disclosed via FOI reveal how intense lobbying by the 'Scottish' salmon farming industry, the chemical giant Merck and their fishy friends inside the Scottish Government forced SEPA into a u-turn with Terry A'Hearn making key policy decisions to stave off a ban:

As scientific context, SEPA's aquaculture specialist Douglas Sinclair had recommended in a 'SEPA Response Options Paper' circulated internally earlier in 2016 that SLICE be banned and other sea lice chemicals (e.g. Deltamethrin and Azamethiphos) be restricted to "one use per growth cycle":

So instead of banning SLICE (Emamectin benzoate), SEPA not only refrained from issuing a media release announcing a ban but they also buried the Scottish Aquaculture Research Forum report! The Ferret reported in March 2017:

The article by Rob Edwards included:

The Ferret reported earlier in March 2017:

In fact, documents disclosed via FOI reveal that SEPA's science experts had been recommending a ban on SLICE (Emamectin benzoate) – including a two year phase-out – since 2015:

Whilst Terry A'Hearn was having a private dinner with the Salmafia in April 2016, a document disclosed via FOI reveals that SEPA had drawn up a 'Tactical Assessment' to ban SLICE (Emamectin benzoate):

SEPA's 'Tactical Assessment' dated 12 April 2016 ended with:

Shamefully, the Scottish Aquaculture Research Forum report which was 'published' in August 2016 was buried and is still not publicly available (you can download a copy online here):

Hollywood should look at the murky waters @ScottishEPA – which actor would play @TerryAHearn in the film? https://t.co/89oHFGDIRW

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) January 21, 2022

SEPA scientists did manage to publish a damning scientific assessment of the environmental impacts of SLICE (Emamectin benzoate) in Science of the Total Environment in June 2019:

Another scientific paper published in Science of the Total Environment in February 2019 had raised red flags to the use of SLICE (Emamectin benzoate) as well as other sea lice chemicals used by salmon pharmers including Deltamethrin, Azamethiphos and Hydrogen Peroxide:

Yet more scientific evidence on the lethal impacts of Deltamethrin and Azamethiphos was published in the journal Environmental Pollution in September 2020:

Terry A'Hearn's reign as Scotland's environmental lapdog not only ignored the weight of scientific evidence on the toxicity of Emamectin benzoate (SLICE) but he also ignored the results of SEPA's own environmental surveys. The front page of The Sunday Herald reported in February 2017:

Here's the table of lochs contaminated with toxic chemicals including Emamectin benzoate (SLICE) and Teflubenzuron (Calicide):

The Ferret reported in February 2017:

The chemical contamination of sediments under salmon farms has been happening unseen for decades. The Guardian reported in May 2013 that Marine Harvest (renamed Mowi in 2019) had exceeded pollution limits in Loch Shell by a staggering 450 times!

But while SEPA persuaded the chemical company behind Teflubenzuron (Calicide) to withdraw it from the market in 2015, SEPA has opened the floodgates to repeated doses of Emamectin benzoate (SLICE), Deltamethrin (Alphamax) and Azamethiphos (Salmonsan/Azure).

Back in 2009, Rob Edwards reported how Marine Harvest's Ben Hadfield (now boss of Mowi Scotland) "apologised for offering to reward officials at Scotland’s environment watchdog with smoked salmon for giving the go-ahead for a new toxic pesticide in record time".

SEPA's fast-tracking of toxic chemicals has continued – even the use of Emamectin benzoate (SLICE) which would have been banned back in 2018 if Terry A'Hearn had been heeded the warnings of SEPA's own scientists. Scottish Salmon Watch reported in April 2020:

Under the Cloak of #Coronavirus – SEPA open floodgates to lobster-killing chemicals! https://t.co/6AgXQXNlS2 @ScottishEPA Emamectin benzoate is so toxic to shellfish it should be banned not used at higher concentrations & at unlicensed sites @TerryAHearn @SSPOsays @marinescotland pic.twitter.com/4PVFfGl1NU

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) April 9, 2020

Fish Farming Expert reported (8 April 2020):

SEPA's web-site also reads in relation to Emamectin benzoate:

The repeated use of a cocktail of toxic chemicals – against the advice of SEPA's scientists – was raised in a letter to the Norwegian Government (as shareholder in Mowi, Scottish Sea Farms, Grieg Seafood and The Scottish Salmon Company) in November 2020.

Did you know that the Norwegian Government's Pension Fund (derived from Norway's oil revenues) is the largest or 2nd largest shareholder in companies which account for 80% of 'Scottish' salmon farming? @Folketrygdfond @MowiScotlandLtd @salmon_scottish https://t.co/4P1m3g2CvT pic.twitter.com/Sl6bFlcwaK

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) November 30, 2020

The letter to Norway's Finance Minister included damning data published by SEPA on repeated doses of Emamectin benzoate at salmon farms across Scotland:

Earlier this month (6 January 2022), Scottish Salmon Watch once again raised the issue of repeated doses of toxic chemicals with an open letter sent to the Aquaculture Stewardship Council demanding an end to the certification of Scottish salmon as "farmed responsibly".

Revealed: Mowi's toxic salmon – farms currently being audited @ASC_aqua as "responsibly farmed" have reported over a dozen doses of lobster-killing Deltamethrin, Azamethiphos & Emamectin benzoate since 2019! @MowiScotlandLtd @rspcaassured @ScotlandSalmon https://t.co/cxEj1GFxlh pic.twitter.com/My2mwNlmBg

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) January 6, 2022

Scottish Salmon Watch number-crunched published data on toxic chemical use by Mowi since 1 January 2019 and here's the worst Mowi salmon farms (all accredited via RSPCA Assured and some certified via the ASC) in terms of the use of the shellfish-killing chemicals Deltamethrin, Azamethiphos and Emamectin benzoate headed by Greshornish and Caolas a Deas (West and East) in Loch Shell with 18 doses of toxic chemicals (data up to June 2021).

In July 2021, Mowi's Caolas a Deas West salmon farm in Loch Shell reported two more doses of Azamethiphos (950g) and Deltamethrin (40g) and Mowi's Caolas a Deas East salmon farm reported two more doses of Azamethiphos (2750g) and Deltamethrin (40g).

In September 2021 (the latest data available), another 510 grams of Azamethiphos was used by Mowi at Caolas a Deas East in Loch Shell and another 570 grams at Caolas a Deas West:

Scottish Salmon Watch reported in March 2021:

Please ban Deltamethrin use by Scottish salmon pharmers! @ScottishEPA https://t.co/X81m8zYm5c
Over 2,000 doses of the lobster-killing chemical have been used by salmon farms in Scotland since 2008!@ScotlandMowi @salmon_scottish @kamesfishfarm @scotseafarms @GriegShetland @scotgp pic.twitter.com/TgagUNSJVa

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) March 24, 2021

So instead of listening to the science – and heeding the warnings of SEPA's team of scientific advisers – Terry A'Hearn has presided over a period of escalating toxic chemical use by salmon pharming companies and relaxed rules on salmon farms. For example, surveys of chemical contamination under salmon farms completely stopped in July 2020 (at least according to the latest data published online):

The logical response to The Sunday Herald's front page article in February 2017 naming and shaming SEPA for allowing chemical contamination of sediments under salmon farms would have been to increase sampling. Yet the data published online via Scotland's Aquaculture (supplied by SEPA) shows that only 20 surveys were carried out in 2020 (zero in 2021 and zero in 2022) compared to 84 in 2019; 78 in 2018; 104 in 2017; 96 in 2016; and 107 in 2015 (the year Terry A'Hearn joined SEPA as chief executive).

Scottish Salmon Watch raised the issue of chemical contamination of sediments under salmon farms in a letter to the Norwegian Government (as shareholder in Mowi, Scottish Sea Farms, Grieg Seafood and The Scottish Salmon Company) in November 2020:

If you look at the latest data published online via Scotland's Aquaculture it seems that environmental monitoring surveys of salmon farms stopped in September 2020 – with most surveys in 2020 (and even many in 2019) still "to be evaluated":

It is difficult to escape the conclusion that SEPA has actively conspired and colluded with the salmon farming industry to evade regulatory oversight and environmental scrutiny. That SEPA's chief officer for compliance – and key person in charge of the regulation of salmon farming – left to join the Salmafia in 2018 raised eyebrows and red flags. The Ferret reported in September 2018:

How greenwashing works – Anne Anderson leaves @ScottishEPA in 2018 to join @SSPOsays (after being wined and dined by lobbyists https://t.co/PYSHIAfAcU) and now joins Norwegian salmon farming giant @scotseafarms @LeroySeafood https://t.co/WeEvq6Xe6m

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) March 29, 2021

Scottish Salmon Watch reported in April 2018:

A Media Backgrounder: SEPA's Shame on Salmon Farming included:

Scottish Salmon Watch reported earlier this month (6 January 2022):

Another Mowi registered fish farm site – Port na Moine – actually reported 20 doses of toxic chemicals between January 2019 and June 2021 but it is understood to be a rainbow trout farm operated by Kames Fish Farming (an unofficial switch has taken place with a Kames site at SW Shuna/Rubh an Trilleachain operated by Mowi in return).

In August 2021, Mowi's Port na Moine fish farm reported a further dose of 180 grams of Azamethiphos. The ongoing use of Azamethiphos has persisted despite increasing scientific evidence of impacts lethal and sublethal impacts on lobsters and a scientific paper published in Nature in 2019 (co-authored by Stuart Cannon of Kames Fish Farming) on the welfare and health of rainbow trout subjected to repeated chemical treatment.

Other Mowi salmon farms reporting over a dozen doses of toxic chemicals between January 2019 and June 2021 include MacLeans Nose in Loch Sunart (17), Grey Horse Channel (16), North Shore East & West in Loch Erisort (15), Tabhaigh in Loch Erisort (13), Soay Sound in West Loch Tarbert (13), Sconser Quarry (13), Maol Ban in Loch Ainort (13), Invasion Bay in Loch Sunart (13), Creag an Sagairt West in Loch Hourn (13) and Camus Glas in Loch Sunart (13):

Photos published by the Scottish Government's Fish Health Inspectorate

Photo: RSPCA Assured salmon farmed at Mowi's Tabhaigh site in Loch Erisort (published in January 2020 by the Scottish Government's Fish Health Inspectorate)

Other Mowi salmon farms reporting 12 doses of toxic chemicals between January 2019 and June 2021 include Groatay and Ardintoul:

Photos published by the Scottish Government's Fish Health Inspectorate

Mowi's Groatay salmon farm reported another dose of Emamectin benzoate in July 2021; another dose of Azamethiphos in August 2021 and doses of both Azamethiphos and Emamectin benzoate in September 2021.

Other Mowi salmon farms – all certified as 'welfare friendly' via the discredited RSPCA Assured label – using multiple 'treatments' of toxic chemicals between January 2019 and June 2021 include Poll na Gille (11), Bagn Dail nan Ceann/Bay of the Dead Heads (11), Muck (10) and Colonsay (10):

The use of toxic chemicals on salmon pharms does not merely have environmental impacts but there are also health concerns. The Ferret reported (13 August 2020):

This is not the first time The Scottish Salmon Company has been caught out overdosing on Emamectin benzoate in Loch Roag. The Daily Mail reported in March 2017:

Scottish Salmon Watch reported in March 2017:

Emamectin contamination of Scottish farmed salmon has now occurred at least eight times with other cases reported by the VMD in 2012 (Scottish Salmon Company), 2010 (Lakeland Marine), 2009 (Skelda Salmon), 2006 (Scottish Sea Farms) and 2005 (Marine Harvest).

Documents obtained from the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) via Freedom of Information (FOI) reveal that the Scottish Salmon Company breached safety levels for Emamectin in the flesh of Scottish salmon three times in 2016 at two salmon farms in Loch Roag on the Isle of Lewis (Vacasay and Taranaish). "Cause of residue was overdose" reads one of the documents.

According to SEPA's 'Scottish Pollutant Release Inventory', Emamectin benzoate "is a pesticide which works by interfering with nerve impulses in the body" and "exposure to Emamectin benzoate may also cause tremors".

In January 2017, The Sunday Times revealed that the use of toxic chemicals on Scottish salmon farms leapt over 1000% between 2005 and 2015 – including a six-fold increase in the use of Emamectin.

The Ferret reported in October 2020:

As Terry A'Hearn looks back on his 7 year tenure in charge of SEPA his legacy is so toxic that it may require years of rehab to recover from.