SUNDAY MAIL EXCLUSIVE: The video reveals ankle-deep fish waste smeared on equipment and on the floor
But an insider has made public a video which shows the floor thick with fish faeces from an overflowing tank.
In it, a huge waste container appears to have overflowed, leaving the sides stained and the ground carpeted in brown sludge.
Mowi has strongly defended itself against environmental and welfare concerns as campaigners continue to demand that the industry be shut down.
Activist Don Staniford said: “This lifts the lid on the horror lurking inside this salmon farm.
“It lifts the curtain on land-based salmon farming and it is truly shocking. Mowi’s Inchmore salmon farm is a horror story with seeping faeces spewing out of the tanks.
“That a whistleblower working inside Mowi feels so appalled at the welfare and ecological nightmare of salmon farming is hugely significant.”
Inchmore on-shore hatchery, at Glenmoriston, Inverness-shire, produces up to 12 million young salmon a year. Mowi, the UK’s biggest salmon farmer, supplies Sainsbury’s, Asda and Tesco, Ocado and Amazon Fresh.
The insider produced images of the overflowing unit, housed in a separate effluent shed behind the main building.
Images of wild salmon, farmed salmon and a fish farm off Scotland’s west coast. Pictures by Stewart Cunningham, Bill Heaney and A.N.Other
Official figures collected by the Scottish Government show 4.5million fish have died at the site since 2018. Abigail Penny, executive director of Animal Equality UK, called on the Scottish Government to act.
She said: “For decades, people have mistakenly viewed Scottish salmon as a ‘luxury’ product; footage like this, shared by concerned whistleblowers, shows the reality is far from luxurious. Whether at sea or on land, salmon farming is truly revolting.
“Countless videos have emerged from other farms this year showing deformed, sickly fish being eaten alive by lice, while continued exposés reveal that millions of fish are dying on farms due to disease, predation and unnatural conditions.
“Now we’re watching on in horror as workers trudge through slurry up to their ankles.”
Mowi has stressed that overflow is at the wastewater treatment station and not within the same space as the live fish.
Ian Roberts, Mowi Scotland’s director of communications, said: “All buildings at the facility are specifically designed for the potential for tank overflow which provide secure containment before returning to the system with no interruption to operations.
“It’s disappointing that sources used by Sunday Mail continue to misrepresent our business.”
The ‘zombie salmon’ video showed live fish at Bakkafrost Scotland’s RSPCA Assured Portree site off Skye suffering from gaping wounds.
Previously, in an interview with the Sunday Mail, RSPCA President Chris Packham – and prominent environmental activist – said he wanted the industry investigated.
A spokesperson for the Scottish Government said: “We recognises the significant contribution that the sector makes to our economy and communities, with Scottish salmon being the UK’s biggest food export. Salmon farming is a highly regulated industry and we expect all producers to be fully compliant with all relevant regulation.”
Top of page picture: Former Scottish Government Minister Tavish Scott has previously defended the salmon farming industry against criticism.
Scottish Salmon – the battery farmed and chlorinated chicken of the sea.
Personally, realizing the chemicals, antibiotics, and hormones used in salmon fish farming, together with the breeding techniques and husbandry of the fish I wouldn’t touch Scottish Salmon with a barge pole. And neither would many many others.
Moreover the salmon farming industry is commercially aggressive in that it deploys the litigious strategy of assailing environmental protestors with SLAPPs.
SLAPPs are well known in the USA as corporate Intimidation Lawsuits (or Strategic Litigation Against Public Persons) – and that is how public concerns are silenced. And it’s happening right here in Scotland.