Issue ‘urgent moratorium’ on new salmon farms, Swinney urged

Anglers have told the First Minister he has a “duty” to protect Scotland’s wild salmon by declaring an “urgent moratorium” on new fish farms.

Members of the Salmon Fishing Club joined forces with community campaigners, conservation charities, animal welfare organisations and others to issue the call at a demonstration outside Holyrood on Wednesday.

Protesters had with them a wooden carving of a wild salmon to present to John Swinney as they called upon him to “safeguard the future of wild salmon populations”.

The plea came as Rural Affairs Secretary Mairi Gougeon told a Holyrood committee that the “past year has seen significant improvements to the resilience, transparency and sustainability of salmon farming”.

But polling for the charity WildFish found a third of Scots (33%) back halting the expansion of salmon farming.

That is almost twice as high as the 17% who are opposed to such action, the Survation study found.

According to the research, only 9% of people want to see salmon farming continue as it is, while 26% agree open net cage salmon farming should be phased out.

Ken Reid, co-ordinator for the 32,000-member Salmon Fishing Club, said: “Anglers are typically conservation volunteers, not protesters.

“When those who quietly restore rivers and fund vital science feel compelled to stand at Parliament, it reflects the seriousness of the situation and something has gone badly wrong.

“As the nature champion for the Atlantic salmon, John Swinney has a duty to protect this fish for future generations and issue an urgent moratorium on new salmon farms as a first step.”

Nick Underdown, Scotland director at WildFish, said Holyrood’s Rural Affairs and Islands Committee has “a choice between protecting the private interests of salmon farming companies or protecting our environment and wild fish”.

He added: “Scotland’s once mighty populations of salmon are a shadow of their former health – in some smaller rivers, they have disappeared entirely.

“Already a third of Scots want to see an immediate halt on the unbridled expansion of salmon farms, and that number is only set to increase as public awareness around the industry’s reckless impact continues to grow.

“Political action is long overdue, and we urge MSPs to protect the heritage of Scottish wildlife by finally implementing a moratorium on new salmon farms and start planning to phase out salmon farming, like other countries are doing.

“We present a symbol of Scotland’s wild salmon to the First Minister and ask him to heed these concerns and put the brakes on, before it is too late.”

Officials in British Columbia, Canada, have announced plans to phase out open net pen salmon farming by the end of June 2029, while in Denmark the government has halted the issuing of new licences for salmon farms. Alaska in the US banned the farming of some fish, including salmon, back in 1990.

Alison Baker, chairwoman of Angling Scotland, said it is a “now or never” moment for ministers to act.

She said: “Anglers have long been the eyes and ears of our rivers, but we are now witnessing a collapse in wild Atlantic salmon numbers that no amount of catch-and-release or local conservation can fix alone.

“We are at a ‘now or never’ moment where the Scottish Government must look beyond the surface, we cannot allow our iconic wild salmon to be managed into extinction while the primary threats, like the impacts of salmon farms, remain inadequately addressed.

“If we lose the iconic wild salmon, we lose a foundational part of our rural heritage, fragile rural economies, jobs and the very heart of Scottish angling.”

Bally Philp, national co-ordinator for the Scottish Creel Fishermen’s Federation, said: “Scotland’s inshore shellfish fishermen rely on a healthy marine ecosystem, yet salmon farming continues to expand despite concerns about chemical use, including well-documented impacts of delousing agents on crustacean larvae.

“The Scottish Creel Fishermen’s Federation supports a moratorium on further expansion until these impacts are properly addressed.”

Abigail Penny, executive director for Animal Equality UK, said: “Communities, conservationists, animal advocates, even some workers – people from all walks of life – have been paying close attention to this industry’s constant failures, and we’re calling time on it.

“The Rural Affairs and Islands Committee has a duty to objectively examine the facts.”

Ms Gougeon, however, said the Scottish Government had made the “consenting and regulatory frameworks clearer and more robust”.

She said: “We have continued to invest in innovation to support the sector to improve fish health and welfare outcomes, address the causes of mortality, mitigate the impacts of climate change and reduce adverse impacts on the environment.”

Stressing that “Scottish salmon is a high-quality, home-grown nutritious product”, the Rural Affairs Secretary added it was “in everyone’s best interests to manage mortality in salmon farms down to the lowest possible levels”.

She said the Scottish Government expected salmon producers to “continue prioritising action in this area across all sites”.

Ms Gougeon said: “We will now look at building on these foundations to continue to improve fish health and welfare, and ensure the continued sustainable development of the Scottish salmon sector.”