Scottish fish producers are trying to have the word “farmed” removed from their salmon packaging in a move that campaigners say is misleading customers amid mounting environmental concerns.
Like champagne and Parma ham, salmon from Scotland receives protection under the Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) labelling, which means only produce from that region can carry the name.
Salmon Scotland, the industry body, wants the word “farmed” taken out of its official product name in the PGI so that it is simply called “Scottish salmon”.
Nearly all salmon produced in Scotland is farmed. It is Britain’s number one food export and sold to over 50 countries around the world, with sales worth £578 million last year.
In an amendment application to the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Salmon Scotland argued that the word “farmed” had become redundant as “almost all Atlantic salmon available to the consumer are farmed and this has been the case since at least 1982”.
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“Scottish salmon is facing increased competition from imported, commoditised product, often of lower quality, and this is leading to increased risk of food fraud,” they added.
Chile and Norway are among the other nations which produce farmed salmon in large amounts.
The Scottish government reported an 18 per cent decline in salmon production in Scotland this month.
Environmentalists say this is due to intensive production methods which lead to outbreaks of disease and sea lice infestations in the cages where the salmon are kept.
Abigail Penny, executive director of Animal Equality, which has filmed salmon in Scottish fish farms being eaten alive by lice, said the industry’s attempt to eliminate “farmed” from its PGI labelling was “deeply troubling”.
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“This move poses a serious risk of misleading consumers, jeopardising their ability to make truly informed choices,” she said.
“The inescapable reality is that tens of millions of Atlantic salmon suffer at the hands of the Scottish farmed salmon industry every year. These naturally migratory animals are confined in cramped underwater cages that act as a hotbed for disease and lice outbreaks.”
According to the Scottish fish farm production survey, which is published by the Scottish government, there were 169,194 tonnes of salmon produced across more than 200 sites last year, down from 205,000 tonnes the year before.
The industry is estimated to directly employ more than 1,500 people.
The amount salmon farming and associated groups pay in membership and licence fees to the RSPCA Assured charity, which aims to improve farm animal welfare, has risen.
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The figure increased from £500,000 in 2020 to £690,000 last year.
Only members which meet standards and pay the fees can put the RSPCA Assured logo on their products.
Tavish Scott, chief executive of Salmon Scotland, said: “All Scottish salmon sold in supermarkets is farm-raised and has been for many years, reflecting the extraordinary success of our sector that everyone in Scotland can take pride in.
“Wild salmon is rightly no longer available for consumption following decades of over-fishing, habitat loss, river pollution and climate change.”
