How is our new report going to help better protect wild salmon populations?

At WildFish, we use scientific research and data to guide our campaign against open-net salmon farming and its harmful effects on wild fish populations and the environment.

In this update, our campaign manager, Lex Rigby, introduces The Reality Gap – our latest report that shows Scottish farmed salmon is being marketed in such a way that consumers could be misled as to the origin, welfare and environmental performance of their purchases.

Salmon is one of the UK’s most popular fish dishes to eat, yet most consumers are completely unaware that the majority of salmon products sold and consumed in the UK have come from intensively farmed fish. The link between the rise in popularity of farmed salmon, and the demise of our iconic wild Atlantic salmon (learn more), is also not widely understood by the general public. 

Off the table is a coalition campaign, powered by WildFish, that aims to increase awareness of this link – as well as the wider impacts of the industry on marine environments and fish welfare. Since the launch of the campaign, we’ve secured commitments from chefs, restaurants, caterers and food businesses to stop selling and serving unsustainable open-net farmed salmon. Working with the hospitality sector, our goal is to spread the message to consumers and diners that farmed salmon has no place on sustainable menus. 

Now with more than 350 supporters, including 60 international NGOs, it’s clear our message is being heard, but it’s also become ever more apparent that there is a major divide between what the salmon industry says about farmed salmon and the reality ‘in the water’. This is the focus of our new report, The Reality Gap: An examination of Scottish farmed salmon.

Mass-marketing an environmental catastrophe

Through in-depth analysis of mortality rates, sea lice levels and chemical usage on farms run by Scotland’s seven salmon farming companies, plus an examination of the marketing tactics used across the industry, our new report identifies several ways in which consumers could be misled about the origin, welfare and environmental performance of their salmon purchases. 

The report outlines how certification schemes and product labels, which suggest that farmed salmon are sustainably produced or responsibly sourced, have hoodwinked shoppers into believing farmed salmon is a premium, high welfare and (in some cases) sustainable fish product, when the reality is quite different. 

Far from the picture perfect packaging and celebrity endorsements, our report finds none of Scotland’s salmon farming companies, supplying the Royal Household, Michelin-starred chefs and major UK supermarkets, are currently operating in a way that protects both wild fish and farmed fish welfare nor the wider environment. 

To reverse the decline of wild salmon populations and better protect marine habitats for future generations the solution is simple – we need to end this unsustainable industry, and we can start to do this by encouraging chefs, restaurants and others to join us and stop buying, selling or serving farmed salmon.

Ready to take farmed salmon off your table? Follow the link below to join the campaign today.

By: Lex Rigby

Farmed Salmon Campaign Manager