"Like other livestock sectors, salmon farmers strive to reduce mortalities and to keep them as low as possible," Salmon Scotland CEO's letter says.
Photo: Salmon Scotland.
"All farmers, whether on land or at sea, work to produce nutritious, healthy and sustainable food for consumers. From time to time, we all experience challenges that are beyond our control. Elected representatives need to recognise all modes of food production, in a fair and balanced manner."
So respons Salmon Scotland to the Scottish Parliament's Rural Affairs and Islands Committee (RAIC) after finding there was considerable focus on survival rates in farm-raised Scottish salmon during the recent RAIC update to the 2018 inquiry into salmon farming.
It has done so through a letter emailed by Salmon Scotland CEO Tavish Scott to RAIC convenor Finlay Carson. In it, the representative of the Scottish salmon industry highlighted an improvement in survival in 2024 that was ten percentage points lower, a 36% reduction in mortality - with peaks of up to 98% survival rate, as occurred in September -, and survival figures on a par with those last recorded in 2020. All this was achieved following an investment of nearly GBP 1,000 million in fish health and welfare since 2018.
As a result of this investment and the work of industry professionals, salmon survival across all sea farms in Scotland has improved significantly. According to data submitted by Salmon Scotland to the RAIC, in 2024, survival across all marine farms was 82.3% (mortality = 17.7%). As said, this represents an improvement of 10 percentage points compared to 2023, when survival was 72.3%.
"This improvement is testament to the hard work of Scotland's 2,500 salmon farmers, who work tirelessly in some of Scotland's most isolated, coastal and island communities, as well as the 10,000 people supporting our farmers through the supply chain," the letter continues.
The CEO of Salmon Scotland regrets that although the Committee was informed of the improvements in survival rates before concluding its work, these data were not reflected in the final report or its recommendations. "Given these updated figures the RAIC report published last month is already out of date," he writes.
Tavish Scott goes on to say that while the Committee's decision to focus considerably on survival is not unexpected, the overall approach taken and the lack of balance in considering survival was "extremely disappointing." Salmon Scotland CEO highlights the double standards used in comparing salmon farming to other forms of animal protein production.
"Comparisons were, and are, regularly made with other livestock sectors, without acknowledging the clear biological differences between fish and land animals - differences that mean direct comparisons are in no way appropriate," Scott says.
As he explains in the letter, salmon produce many thousands of eggs that are fertilized outside the fish's body, and which hatch as poorly developed fry. This strategy is based on fish having an expected high level of mortality, but it ensures a small number survive to become adults and reproduce. In contrast, land animals, like sheep and cattle, produce just one or two offspring a year. Their young are fully developed and expected to have a high natural survival.
"Like other livestock sectors, salmon farmers strive to reduce mortalities and to keep them as low as possible," Tavish Scott's letter also says. "We have been open and transparent about specific challenges we faced in recent years, such as a spike in water temperature and the subsequent increase in harmful plankton and jellyfish. We also explained during our committee evidence session and through the publication of our Fish Health Plan, how our sector has overcome previous challenges through research and investment and continues to do so."
Scott's letter notes that the farm-raised Scottish salmon sector is the only animal production sector to publish detailed survival statistics. "It is therefore difficult to understand how meaningful comparisons can be made to other sectors when such data is not available," he comments.
Likewise, Scotland Salmon's CEO reminds the convener of the Scottish Parliament's Rural Affairs and Islands Committee that the UK is currently experiencing an increase in cases of avian influenza, which has led to the culling of millions of farmed chickens and turkeys. In addition, farmers and national authorities remain on high alert due to a significant outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease in Germany.
"These situations, rightly, trigger widespread calls for governmental support and funding," Scott continues. "No such calls can be heard from politicians or parliamentary committees when salmon farmers experience challenges to the health of their stocks. Far from receiving calls for government and regulatory support, our sector endures continual criticism and a ratcheting of regulatory controls," he reproaches.
The letter ends by stating that the industry will consider the recommendations of the RAIC reports and write to the committee in due course. However, before concluding, it also remarks that "as with the 2018 parliamentary RECC inquiry, rather than providing a focused suite of proactive recommendations that will help streamline regulatory oversight to support our sustainable development into the future, RAIC has produced an extensive set of recommendations, many of which will add further regulatory complexity and burden on salmon farmers."
"Such an approach will hinder one of Scotland and the UK's leading food production sectors," Tavish Scott concluded. As Seafish/Nielsen ScanTrack data shared by Salmon Scotland in December indicated, salmon is not only the UK's leading export product but also the country's favorite fish.
