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Daily Record
23-07-2025
- Business
- Daily Record
SNP ministers splurged £50k taxpayer's cash on marketing for huge salmon multinationals
SNP ministers splurged £50k taxpayer's cash on marketing for huge salmon multinationals The Scottish Government gave half the funds for a campaign to boost 'Label Rouge' certified salmon in French and European markets. Label Rouge logo SNP ministers have been slammed after lavishing £50,000 of taxpayer's cash on a marketing campaign for huge salmon multinationals. The Scottish Government gave half the funds for a campaign to boost 'Label Rouge' certified salmon in French and European markets. Firms which produce premium Label Rouge salmon include Norway's Mowi, the world's largest salmon company, which raked in nearly £100million in profits from its Scottish operations alone last year. Others benefiting from the cash are Faroese giant Bakkafrost and Canadian multi-national Cooke Aquaculture. Andrew Graham-Stewart, of WildFish Scotland, said: 'The salmon farming industry has no shame in the way it sponges public money. 'Major corporations making money at the expense of Scotland's marine environment don't need subsidies. Why on earth can the industry not pay for its own marketing?' Holyrood and Westminster governments have shelled out nearly £17million in four years to the farmed salmon industry. Andrew Graham-Stewart, interim director of WildFish Scotland The sector faces mounting controversy over mass fish mortalities and environmental impacts at farm facilities along the Scottish coast. Eco charities also say the Label Rouge certification, viewed as a marker of quality, is 'highly problematic' as it requires salmon to be fed higher volumes of fishmeal and fish oil. This is 'driving the plunder of wild fish around the world', warned Amelia Cookson, campaigner at Foodrise. Industry body Salmon Scotland said the marketing initiative is designed to counter a threat to Scotland's European exports caused by US President Donald Trump's tariffs regime. Article continues below It and the Scottish Government are paying £50,000 each towards the campaign. A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: 'Scottish salmon exports were worth a record breaking £844million last year and we will do everything we can to ensure our excellent Scottish exports build on their competitive position in Europe and beyond, particularly at this time of uncertainty in the US market.' Don't miss the latest news from around Scotland and beyond - Sign up to our daily newsletter here.
Daily Mail
07-06-2025
- Health
- Daily Mail
Threat to wild salmon as sea lice show resistance to chemical used to protect fish
The threat to wild salmon from sea lice could be worse than feared as a new study shows the parasite is building up resistance to the chemical used in fish farming pens to tackle it. Campaigners also believe emamectin benzoate – known as Slice – is leaking out and causing environmental damage and want the toxic compound banned. However, despite these concerns, the Scottish Government last year extended its use in Scottish waters to 2028. Now the Irish government has sounded a warning that Slice is becoming less effective in killing the lice that infest fish farms. New research shows young wild salmon passing coastal fish farms on their migratory routes are increasingly falling prey to lice coming out of pens. The report by the Inland Fisheries Ireland agency is based on almost 20 years of tagging wild salmon. It concludes: 'Results of the present analysis provide clear evidence of significantly reduced return of adult salmon linked to salmon lice infestation from salmon farms. Data also suggests the effects of lice from salmon farms on wild stocks are underestimated because of growing resistance to Slice.' Slice can damage human DNA, and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) has found it leaking from fish farm pens and harming sea life. Campaign group WildFish Scotland said the latest study's conclusions are 'exactly what we have been saying for years'. Interim director Andrew Graham-Stewart added: 'Successive Scottish Governments have enabled the salmon farming industry to expand rapidly without meaningful safeguards to protect the environment and wild salmon. It is permitted to use a host of highly toxic chemicals, including Slice, for the treatment of parasites and diseases. 'However, regulatory change has seen substantial watering down and delay, in response to heavy lobbying of Scottish ministers by the major salmon farming companies in Scotland. 'Make no mistake, this industry, as it is currently run, is driving many wild Atlantic salmon sub-populations inexorably towards extinction.' The ruling allowing the industry to continue using Slice came shortly after industry body Salmon Scotland treated Rural Affairs Secretary Mairi Gougeon and her husband Baptiste to hospitality worth £1,500 as guests of chief executive Tavish Scott at Scotland's Six Nations rugby clash against France in February last year. There is no note of what was discussed but the Scottish Government has repeatedly stated that the Slice decision was not Ms Gougeon's to make and it was not discussed at Murrayfield. The industry is worth £760 million to the Scottish economy and employs 2,500 people, but in 2023 a total of 17.4 million fish died prematurely in captivity amid enduring concerns over animal welfare. A Scottish Government spokesman said: 'To protect wild fish, Sepa introduced a new framework to manage the risk of sea lice from fish farms in February 2024.' Salmon Scotland said: 'Fish farmers use Slice as a fully-licensed product, approved by vets and regulators.'
