WildFish

🚨 BREAKING >> the Environment Agency's 2023 assessment of Atlantic salmon shows populations in England are at their lowest level since records began. Atlantic salmon are an indicator species. If a river is fit for salmon it is fit for everything - including us. The species' rapid decline is proof that our rivers, lakes and streams are in crisis - devastated by years of pollution, over-abstraction and intensive fish farming. Atlantic salmon have suffered at the hands of the regulator and its failure to protect their habitats. There are immediate actions the government can take right now to address this emergency and take back control of our rivers so that they can start to recover; it just requires the political will to make it happen. This report should be a wakeup call. Atlantic salmon are on the frontline of the biodiversity crisis and they are running out of time... https://lnkd.in/gFkBiEsb

17.5 million farmed salmon died in 2023. What happens to them once they are removed from the pens? A new investigation published in The Times yesterday shows illegal disposal of rotting and diseased fish at one of Scotland's coastal beauty spots. Yesterday, Cabinet Secretary Mairi Gougeon stood in Parliament and stated that recent investigations of salmon farming in Scotland are "misinformation", and show a "real lack of understanding of some of these operations." Is this illegal disposal another example of "routine" operations within the industry? And if so - is this an industry we want to support in Scotland? https://lnkd.in/eA_2SGA2

Meet Lex - our new farmed salmon campaign manager! Lex coordinates our ambitious Off the table coalition campaign calling on chefs, restaurants and catering businesses to take farmed salmon off their menus. She’s worked at the forefront of animal protection for almost two decades, tirelessly striving for greater conservation through high-impact campaigns and hard-hitting investigations. Follow the link to find out more about how Lex hopes to positively influence our growing movement of chefs and encourage more people to leave salmon off their plates ✊ https://lnkd.in/ejq7QHRh

We are thrilled to announce that our 2024 fundraising auction has raised a staggering £115,379 and broken all of our previous records! The money raised funds the critical work our team does – using science and the law – to safeguard a future for wild fish. A HUGE thank you to everyone who took part 💙 https://lnkd.in/efUjGZNp

The news that 5,000 farmed salmon may have escaped from a site owned by Glenarm “Organic” Salmon is of significant concern. Escaped farmed salmon can reproduce with wild Atlantic salmon, compromising the genetic integrity of the increasingly vulnerable wild population and resulting in even lower survival rates. https://lnkd.in/e8_93bir

This 👇 review by the RSPCA of its own animal welfare scheme highlights the abject failure of RSPCA Assured­ to enforce the legal standards that must be met on farms - including open-net salmon farms in Scotland. Through its supermarket labels, RSPCA Assured is supposed to give shoppers security that the food they are buying has been produced to a high welfare standard. In reality, the label is greenwashing a growing number of welfare, environmental and sustainability issues associated with open-net salmon farming. Follow the link below 👇 to find out more. https://lnkd.in/ebMUZNw6

🚨BREAKING NEWS 🚨 This 👇 raises some serious questions for the Rural Affairs and Islands Committee and Scottish Government as well as certification schemes such as RSPCA Assured, Soil Association organic and ASC. If this is happening before MSP visits, how can they be certain that the same thing is not happening before their own audits and inspections? Open-net salmon farming is fundamentally unsustainable, causing irreparable damage to our lochs and coastal waters, threatening our endangered wild Atlantic salmon and perpetuating a fish welfare crisis. As consumers, diners, chefs, restaurants - the number one thing we can do NOW is stop buying, serving, selling or eating farmed salmon. Assurances of "higher welfare", "organic" production or "responsible" sourcing do not reflect the realities of this industry in the water - as this latest story demonstrates. It's time to take farmed salmon #offthetable ✊ Follow the link 👇 to read more on this breaking news story. https://lnkd.in/ejHeXgnN

Today every single river in the UK is flooded with chemicals ⚠️ that cause irreversible damage to the environment and have a deadly impact on our wild fish populations. Professor Gary Fones and PhD student Ros Robinson from the University of Portsmouth have been sampling the rivers Test and Itchen - chalk streams as ecologically important as the Amazon Rainforest and Great Barrier Reef -  for signs of continued chemical pressure. Follow the link below👇 to discover what they found. https://lnkd.in/ewkTCysJ

Salmon farms have huge welfare, environmental and sustainability issues. This article from Bella Caledonia 👇 reminds us that TEN Scottish salmon farms reported over 50% mortality in 2023 😡 It's time to take farmed salmon #Offthetable https://lnkd.in/e7EwFZ2c

Did you know that sea lice infestations originating from salmon farms are one of the biggest threats to the survival of wild salmon? We've prepared an update on the latest academic research about the environmental impacts of open-net salmon farming and the science is clear. Open net salmon farming has introduced acute and chronic threats to wild Atlantic salmon populations, as well as the wider marine ecosystem. Follow the link below 👇 for the the latest on this fundamentally unsustainable industry. https://lnkd.in/e6utjPQR