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Chamber and committees

Welfare of Farmed Salmon

  • Submitted by: Mark Ruskell, Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party.
  • Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 September 2018
  • Submitting member has a registered interest.

  • Motion reference: S5M-13963

That the Parliament accepts that fish are sentient individuals with the capacity to suffer; understands that keepers of animals are obliged under the Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006 to prevent them suffering unnecessarily; is aware of photographic and video evidence published by The Ferret showing, it believes, farmed salmon at a site in Loch Roag on the Isle of Lewis, suffering from heavy sea lice infestations as well as fin and tail damage; considers that these fish will have suffered in these circumstances; notes the animal welfare concerns described in the recent OneKind report, Fish Welfare on Scotland’s Salmon Farms; believes that the operator of the company has stated that animal welfare challenges are “industry-wide”; understands that the industry aims effectively to double production to between 350,000 and 400,000 tonnes per annum, which is estimated to be over 75 million individual fish, by 2030, and calls on the Scottish Government to support a moratorium on such expansion until the industry can guarantee that farmed salmon have a good life that is worth living.


Supported by: John Finnie, Ross Greer, Patrick Harvie, Alison Johnstone, Mark McDonald, Alex Rowley