Supermarket supplier's salmon farm hit by record mass die-off

More than a million dead fish, the biggest mass die-off of farmed salmon in Scotland in a decade, have been recorded at a farm belonging to the UK's largest supplier.

- Sophie Kevany

The deaths at two adjacent Mowi Scotland sites in Loch Seaforth in the Outer Hebrides - licensed as one farm by the Scottish government - rose to just over a million during the year-and-a-half production cycle that it usually takes to raise a salmon in seawater, and which in this case began in spring 2023. Mowi supplies salmon to retailers including Sainsbury's, Tesco, Asda and Ocado. Many of its farms, including those in the Hebrides, are certified under the RSPCA Assured label, which guarantees higher animal welfare standards.

The data, analysed from government statistics by Scotland's Coastal Communities Network (CCN) and the NGO Free Salmon, is "deeply concerning", said John Aitchison of the CCN. Mass deaths of farmed salmon are a growing problem, he said, and can be an indicator of poor welfare.

At the end of last year, when mortality in Scotland's farms hit record levels, Chris Packham called for a halt to the expansion of Scottish salmon farming. Despite this, salmon remains the UK's second most popular fish (after tuna), with sales in the year to June worth £1.3bn.