No such thing as a free lunch in salmon farming: MSPs asked to steer clear of slap-up salmon dinner1 June 2001
Friends of the Earth urged members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) to say no to a free meal of salmon and steer clear of a private reception organised by Scottish Quality Salmon - the trade organisation representing Scotland's salmon farmers, feed manufacturers, processors and smokers. Outside the venue on the Royal Mile, Friends of the Earth waiters distributed 'secret ingredient' salmon menus detailing the pesticides, colourings, antibiotics and toxic chemicals routinely used on fish farms.
Friends of the Earth Scotland's Director, Kevin Dunion, said: "Given the imminent launch of a Parliamentary inquiry into Scottish fish farming MSPs should be wary of accepting any hospitality courtesy of the very industry they are about to investigate. Instead of lavishing free meals on our Parliamentarians the industry would be better off spending more of its money investigating how to reduce its chemical dependency and environmental impacts. MSPs should remember that there is no such thing as a free lunch and seriously think about giving this industry event a wide berth. Our presence outside this event will allow us to check which MSPs take the industry's bait."
FOE's alternative menu included:
Smoked salmon slices marinated in ivermectin
PCB salmon pate
Dioxin double-quarterpounders served with a side relish of cypermethrin
coulis
Poached salmon coated in hundreds and thousands of sea lice
Calicide lemon salmon coloured with canthaxanthin
Teflubenzuron sorbet
and washed down with a nice glass of sparkling oxytetracycline
NOTES
1. In February, two powerful Parliamentary committees backed public calls for an independent inquiry into the adverse environmental effects of sea cage fish farming and called upon the Executive to move quickly to tackle the growing environmental impacts of Scotland's 260 million fish farm industry. An announcement of an inquiry is expected soon.
2. The impacts of salmon farming
Farmed salmon are routinely doused with a variety of colourings, antibiotics
and pesticides. While some are licenced for use on fish farms there
is growing incidence of illegal use. There are around 30 different chemicals
approved for use on fish farms. As of January 2001 SEPA had issued 474
licences for the use of one or all of the following at Scottish fish
farms: azamethiphos, cypermethrin, emamectin and teflubenzuron.
Since 1997, Government scientists have detected ivermectin, oxytetracycline, chlordane, listeria, DDT and aflatoxins in farmed salmon. Farmed salmon are naturally grey (artificial pigments canthaxanthin and astaxanthin are added to give farmed salmon it reddish colour) Recent studies also indicate increased levels of pollutants: dixoin and PCBs in farmed fish.
a) Illegal use of toxic chemicals In October 2000 the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) announced it had found traces of the banned toxic neuroinsecticide, Ivermectin, in samples of farmed salmon. Follow-up investigations by MAFF Legal Branch and SEPA are now underway. In July 2000 Ardessie Salmon Ltd. was expelled from the SQS 'Tartan Quality Mark' scheme. The producer's expulsion followed evidence by FOE exposing the illegal use of the toxic chemicals Deosan Deosect (cypermethrin-based) and ivermectin.
b) Decline of wild salmon Latest figures show that catches of salmon (55,000 fish) in Scotland in 1999 were the lowest since records began in 1952. The total number of salmon caught was down 39.4 % on 1998. The weight of wild salmon is now below 200 tonnes compared at 127,000 tonnes for farmed salmon production. Increasing number of fish farm escapes Over 37 mass escapes of farmed fish have occurred in the last three years with escapes increasing over four-fold (1998: 95,000; 1999: 295,000; 2000: 440,000). Farmed escapes now out number catches of wild salmon by 7 to 1.
c) Increasing pollution, disease and the link with toxic algal blooms Since 1996 there have been 35 pollution incidents involving fish farm effluent - 26 of which occurred in the last two years. Over the last two years 10,000 square km of Scotland's west coast has been closed to scallop fishing due to high levels of Amnesic Shellfish Poisoning. During the summer of 2000 57 out of the 60 areas closed were in salmon farming areas. A recent report found a credible scientific link between the spread of algal blooms and salmon farms.
FOE is calling for:
- compulsory labelling of all farmed products
- statutory testing for dioxins in farmed salmon
- more monitoring of chemical residues in farmed salmon
- random spot-checks and unannounced site visits for all salmon farms
- an independent public inquiry
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