Julie Hesketh-Laird, chief executive of the Scottish Salmon Producers Organisation, has commented on the recent media coverage and video footage regarding salmon farms.
The video showing salmon suffering from lice damage a fish farm inside a cage at Vacasay fish farm in Loch Roag was covered by SalmonBusiness on the 4th of September and the reasons for that were subsequently published after.
In a press release circulated today on the SSPO site, Julie Hesketh-Laird said;
“The video footage and images circulated in the media recently are horrible to watch. I can completely understand why people would be disturbed by them. I am, too. But there is a problem here with using isolated footage and creating an assertion which lacks context and scientific veracity about the impact of salmon farms on wild salmon stocks.
“Lice occur naturally in places like river mouths, where there is low water flow and a lot of returning wild fish. This year, in particular, the warm weather has increased water temperatures, exacerbating the lice problem for wild fish, just as for farmed fish.
“Sea lice are not a new problem. There have been naturally occurring sea lice on salmon since there were salmon – wild and farmed. Rising water temperatures make that problem more complex to manage, but we are managing it and we see from our published farm-by-farm data on the incidence of lice, that the levels of lice on farmed salmon are in decline. In fact, they are at the lowest level for five years
“The salmon farming industry continues to invest huge amounts of money into scientific research and expert veterinary help. Employing veterinary medicines, equipment like “lice skirts” and cleaner fish are all playing a part in managing sea lice on farms.
“Mortality of farmed fish is generally not related to sea lice. Gill disease related to the warmer seas is the root cause of the current mortality trend.
“The men and women who work in the salmon farming industry take great pride in their job to raise healthy fish and make a positive contribution to their local economies and communities; just as those who work in the angling sector are proud of their heritage and contribution to the tourist trade. Both sectors deserve to be protected and supported and the farming sector is keen to see greater collaborative working between them. There is scope on both sides to do better at making that happen.
“Scrutiny of industries, where legal, is perfectly legitimate and we recognise the importance of maintaining high standards.”
