Chris Packham campaign takes aim at M&S over Scottish farmed salmon

Fish farming is worth around £885 million to the Scottish economy and ministers have set out ambitions to expand the industry, with a target to produce between 300,000 and 400,000 tonnes annually by 2030. Picture: Richard Johnson/Getty Images

placeholder image — Fish farming is worth around £885 million to the Scottish economy and ministers have set out ambitions to expand the industry, with a target to produce between 300,000 and 400,000 tonnes annually by 2030. Picture: Richard Johnson/Getty Images

The campaign comes as the salmon sector claims ‘another vote of confidence in Scottish salmon’ after figures show an ‘improvement’ in production and survival rates.

Scottish salmon is at the centre of a new Chris Packham campaign calling on Marks & Spencer (M&S) to stop selling the fish on its shelves.

The calls come as a number of restaurants and chefs have turned away from using the farmed fish from Scotland over concerns about animal welfare and environmental damage.

Project Slingshot’s eight-week campaign features more than 5,000 adverts across the London Underground highlighting concerns over sea lice and chemical treatments used in the industry.

The campaign comes as chefs and restaurants including Edinburgh based luxury hotel and restaurant group The Witchery and Contini, the Meikleour Arms in Perthshire, Wilsons in Bristol and the Gladwin Brothers group have rejected farmed salmon over sustainability concerns.

The salmon farming sector has grown significantly in Scotland since it first began commercially in the 1960s. The latest fish farm figures from the Scottish Government show an ‘improvement’ on previous years when it comes to survival rates of the fish. But the figures also reveal that 15 million, a third of all salmon, never make it to harvest.

Environmental groups and individual activists continue to raise concern over sea lice spreading from farms to juvenile wild salmon, escaped farmed fish, which can interbreed and pose a major threat to wild populations, and waste and chemicals affecting the wider marine environment.

Chris Packham is one of the key figures behind the campaign (Photo by Finnbarr Webster/Getty Images)

Mr Packham said salmon had evolved to travel thousands of miles and that confining them in sea cages exposed them to parasites, disease and practices that could cause “extreme suffering”.

“The damage doesn't stay inside the farm,” he said, arguing that waste, chemicals and escapes also threatened Scotland’s wild salmon.

The campaign puts pressure on M&S, which has had a 20-year relationship with Scottish Sea Farms. The retailer previously sold Scottish salmon under a ‘Lochmuir’ brand – Lochmuir being a made up place.

Last December, Animal Equality shared footage which the organisation alleged showed injured and diseased salmon at three Scottish farms, with it claimed two sites belonged to Scottish Sea Farms.

Scottish Sea Farms was contacted for comment.

An M&S spokesperson said: “M&S salmon is farmed responsibly to the highest welfare standards, supporting an industry that offers thousands of UK jobs.

“M&S farms uphold the highest standards of welfare - exceptionally low stock density with just 1.5% fish to 98.5% water, continuous water quality monitoring, high-quality feed and vet care. We only work with select farms that we know and trust and they are independently monitored and we are proud that Scottish Sea Farms has been our supplier for over 20 years."

The Scottish Government’s Fish Farm Production Survey, published earlier this month, recorded a 5,836 ton increase in salmon production, up by three per cent year on year.

Salmon is the UK’s biggest food export and most popular fish, supporting 11,000 jobs in Scotland and generating £760million for the local economy. More than 2,460 people are directly employed in salmon farming across Scotland .