Skye salmon farm suspended over alleged abuse videos
A fish farm on the Isle of Skye has been suspended from an animal welfare scheme after campaigners filmed videos allegedly showing "systemic cruelty" to salmon.
Animal rights campaigners from the Green Britain Foundation said the footage from the Mowi farm at Loch Harport showed the fish being beaten and suffocated to death.
They urged the RSPCA to suspend the company's 54 other salmon farms in Scotland, which are still certified under the charity's Assured labelling scheme.
Mowi said it was fully cooperating with the RSPCA on its investigation, adding that its salmon are well cared for and the footage had been misconstrued.
The Green Britain Foundation said its videos showed more than 18 incidents of animal cruelty across multiple days in March 2025.
The RSPCA is investigating the fish farm rather than SSPCA because the salmon is sold under one of its schemes.
It has now instructed supermarkets to remove Mowi salmon products from their shelves.
The RSPCA said the videos were "extremely upsetting" and it was "totally unacceptable for any animal to be treated in this way".
The footage has also been reported to the Animal and Plant Health Agency - a government body which can take legal action if necessary.
Animal welfare standards require that the time a fish spends out of water should "never exceed 15 seconds for a live fish" and that dying fish should be given "a non-recoverable percussive blow to the head of the fish to render it immediately insensible".
But the Green Britain Foundation claimed the footage showed fish being left out of the water to suffocate for minutes at a time, and some being beaten several times before they finally died.
Founder Dale Vince said: "This footage of cruelty on a Mowi fish farm is absolutely horrifying.
"These are not isolated incidents - this is systematic cruelty showing a complete disregard for animal welfare, for sentient life.
"This isn't just a breach of standards - it's a culture of cruelty that has no place in any industry - let alone one claiming to meet RSPCA welfare standards."
He urged the RSPCA should "drop Mowi entirely - not just this one farm".
"Anything less would be a betrayal of their own standards and the animals they claim to protect," Mr Vince added.
However Mowi Scotland said the Green Britain Foundation was "known for its opposition to farming animals for people to eat".
A spokesperson said: "The husbandry staff featured in the footage were removing around 12 poor performing salmon from a large pen holding more than 40,000 healthy salmon.
"Our salmon at the farm are in great condition, are looked after and are reared in clean water off the west coast of Scotland.
"We are fully cooperating with the RSPCA while its team conducts a full investigation. While we do understand that the footage showing these fish being dispatched may be concerning to some people, percussive stun to dispatch fish is the most effective and humane method in these circumstances."
They added: "The staff are working on floating pens in what appears to be a very windy day so would be trying to ensure that the fish are stunned as quickly as possible and so some fish received multiple blows, but that is to ensure they are quickly euthanised."
Mowi Scotland said it would refresh animal welfare training for its farming teams to ensure they meet RSPCA standards.
Salmon farming improvements making 'slow progress'
Salmon producer Mowi could sell Skye feed mill
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
09-06-2025
- Yahoo
Energy boss' claim against publisher thrown out
Dale Vince's High Court claim against a newspaper publisher has been thrown out. Mr Vince, industrialist and founder of Stroud-based energy firm, Ecotricity, brought legal action against Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL) over a Daily Mail article headlined "Labour repays £100,000 to sex pest donor", published in June 2023. The story said Labour was handing back money to donor Davide Serra with a picture showing Mr Vince holding a Just Stop Oil banner. Mr Vince claimed ANL misused his personal data, but the judge said it should have been heard with the defamation claim in July 2024 as "any ordinary reader would very quickly realise Mr Vince was not being accused of sexual harassment". More news stories for Gloucestershire Listen to the latest news for Gloucestershire An employment tribunal in 2022 heard Mr Serra had made sexist comments to a female colleague which were found to amount to unlawful harassment related to sex. The original picture remained in print but was changed on The Mail+ app to one of Mr Serra 47 minutes after publication. ANL had defended the claim and its lawyers previously told the High Court in London it was an abuse of process and a "resurrection" of a libel claim that was dismissed last year. Mr Justice Swift said at the High Court on Monday: "There is no real prospect that Mr Vince will succeed on his claim. "As in the defamation proceedings, it is accepted that on reading the text of the article published in Mail+ and the Daily Mail any ordinary reader would very quickly realise that Mr Vince was not being accused of sexual harassment. "Considered on this basis the personal data relating to Mr Vince was processed fairly." He said there was "every reason" why the data protection claim should have been heard with the defamation claim last year. Following the decision, Mr Vince said he planned to appeal and the relevant media law "predates the internet". He said: "The judge said if you read the whole story, you'd realise the headline was not about me, begging the question why was my face highlighted in the articles perhaps. "But more importantly, people don't read entire articles, the law assumes it - but does so wrongly, against all data and against common sense." Follow BBC Gloucestershire on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to us on email or via WhatsApp on 0800 313 4630. Green energy boss settles High Court libel case
Yahoo
09-06-2025
- Yahoo
Cat owner horrified after pet 'shaved in attack'
A cat owner has been left shocked after her beloved pet returned home with missing fur, which is believed to have been shaved. Jacqui Field, who lives in Gosberton, near Spalding in Lincolnshire, said she found her cat, Bertie, was missing a "big lump of fur from his side" on 7 May. Mrs Field said: "I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Someone must have held him down to do it and it's just a horrible, horrible feeling. It's disgraceful." Lincolnshire Police said it would encourage anyone who is aware of any incidents to report them to the force and to the RSPCA. Mrs Field said the attack on her cat, which is three years old, had left the animal "very, very subdued" and needing to be "persuaded to come for food". She said: "He didn't want to come near anybody, which is very out of character because he normally comes, jumps on my lap and loves a cuddle. "It felt like he was shying away from everyone in case they were going to hurt him." Mrs Field also said that she thought more than one person would have been involved because her pet would have "wiggled and run away if he wasn't held down". Similar attacks were reported on other pets in Pinchbeck, near Spalding, and Kirton, near Boston, in February. It is not known if the incidents are linked. Listen to highlights from Lincolnshire on BBC Sounds, watch the latest episode of Look North or tell us about a story you think we should be covering here. Phantom cat clipper causes owners distress Lincolnshire Police
Yahoo
09-06-2025
- Yahoo
Cat owner horrified after pet 'shaved in attack'
A cat owner has been left shocked after her beloved pet returned home with missing fur, which is believed to have been shaved. Jacqui Field, who lives in Gosberton, near Spalding in Lincolnshire, said she found her cat, Bertie, was missing a "big lump of fur from his side" on 7 May. Mrs Field said: "I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Someone must have held him down to do it and it's just a horrible, horrible feeling. It's disgraceful." Lincolnshire Police said it would encourage anyone who is aware of any incidents to report them to the force and to the RSPCA. Mrs Field said the attack on her cat, which is three years old, had left the animal "very, very subdued" and needing to be "persuaded to come for food". She said: "He didn't want to come near anybody, which is very out of character because he normally comes, jumps on my lap and loves a cuddle. "It felt like he was shying away from everyone in case they were going to hurt him." Mrs Field also said that she thought more than one person would have been involved because her pet would have "wiggled and run away if he wasn't held down". Similar attacks were reported on other pets in Pinchbeck, near Spalding, and Kirton, near Boston, in February. It is not known if the incidents are linked. Listen to highlights from Lincolnshire on BBC Sounds, watch the latest episode of Look North or tell us about a story you think we should be covering here. Phantom cat clipper causes owners distress Lincolnshire Police
