Millions of salmon deaths at Scottish farms disclosed after watchdog’s ruling
Summary
Inspection reports have revealed millions of salmon deaths at Scottish fish farms due to poisoning, suffocation, and poor conditions. The UK Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) was required by a ruling to release these reports, which show large fish kills with little enforcement action taken.Key Facts
- Millions of salmon died at Scottish farms from suffocation, poisoning, and disease buildup.
- The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) had initially refused to share inspection reports, citing harm to companies.
- The UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) ruled APHA must release the reports for public transparency.
- One farm operated by Mowi lost over 100,000 fish to suffocation and more than 1 million to hydrogen sulphide poisoning in 2021.
- Another farm run by Bakkafrost experienced deaths of over 600,000 fish from hydrogen sulphide, which repeated later affecting over 1.5 million fish.
- APHA did not take enforcement action after these massive fish deaths.
- Reports also show fish farms hiding deaths, with one site not reporting 70,000 dead fish in 2023.
- Animal rights group Animal Equality UK criticized APHA for secrecy and pushed for better oversight.
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