Ecohustler is proud to be part of an initiative to put the impacts of salmon farming in front of consumers. A diverse array of organisations have put their names behind a powerful and imposing full page ad in The Herald newspaper.

The organisations - including Greenpeace, Patagonia and Viva find common cause to expose the seriously damaging environmental and welfare impacts of open-net salmon farming.

(Sign the M&S petition here)

_Farmed salmon, Isle of Skye, Oct 2020. _Photo Corin Smith

This recently taken image of a badly diseased and parasite-infested fish, in a cage containing many similarly diseased and infested fish, is not unusual on Scottish salmon farms.

Similar images have been taken recently on other farms, indicating that such shocking welfare problems are widespread.

Anyone concerned about the sustainability and source of the food they eat should not be buying farmed salmon.

Supermarkets and restaurants, which say they promote sustainability, should not be selling farmed salmon.

There should be an immediate halt to any expansion of salmon farming in Scotland until the following conditions are met:

• Stringent animal welfare standards are applied and independently monitored at all farms, with breaches subject to punitive fines and/or closure
• Discharges, including uneaten feed and faeces and lethal chemicals, into the marine environment are stopped
• All farms stop releasing sea lice into the wider marine environment
• All farms demonstrate they have escapes under control
• Stop using wild fish caught specifically to feed farmed salmon
• All farms eliminate damage to native marine wildlife including whales, dolphins, porpoises, seals, wrasse and fragile sea-bed reefs
• The Scottish Government introduces a rigorous regulatory system with independent monitoring and robust enforcement

In its March 2018 report, the Scottish Parliament's Environment Committee concluded that -

"further development and expansion" of salmon farming "must be on the basis of a precautionary approach and must be based on resolving the environmental problems. The status quo is not an option."

Three years on and almost nothing has changed.

(Sign the M&S petition here)

See the ad here –

(Sign the M&S petition here)