The Ferret: They call them “black losses”. Deaths from causes unknown
Seven million cleaner fish have died at Scottish salmon farms since 2020. The Scottish Government doesn’t publish the totals. It took a 76-year-old retired planning consultant three years of research and freedom of information requests to uncover the toll.
Lumpfish and wrasse are put in cages to eat lice off salmon. Some were killed by the very treatments meant to remove lice – staff reported difficulties separating them before the chemicals hit. At the end of the production cycles, most are killed anyway.
The Scottish Animal Welfare Commission called this mortality rate “one of the biggest concerns” in the industry. Campaigners called it “a colossal waste of life” and “desperately cruel”.
The salmon industry says it has high welfare standards. The government says it’s working on improvements. Neither publishes the death toll.
Read our full investigation: https://bit.ly/4j9zhye