Mowi farm suspended from RSPCA scheme; Sainsbury’s freezes supply.
A Mowi salmon farm in Scotland has been suspended from the RSPCA Assured animal welfare scheme and delisted by Sainsbury’s, following the publication of a video by an animal rights group, according to a report in The Telegraph.
The UK newspaper reported on Saturday that the Green Britain Foundation, an organisation founded by renewable energy entrepreneur Dale Vince, had filmed what it alleges were breaches of animal welfare standards at Mowi’s Loch Harport site on the Isle of Skye. The group said the footage was taken over a one-month period from a public location.
In response, the RSPCA said it had suspended the farm from its welfare certification scheme and launched an investigation. A spokesperson for RSPCA Assured told The Telegraph that while the matter is under review, no products from the farm can be marketed under its label.
The Soil Association, which certifies organic salmon under UK standards, is also conducting its own inquiry. Both investigations remain ongoing.
Sainsbury’s confirmed to The Telegraph that it had paused supply from the farm. Other retailers supplied by Mowi, including Waitrose and Tesco, are understood to be reviewing the matter internally.
Mowi responds to RSPCA suspension at Loch Harport farm
Mowi has confirmed that its farm at Loch Harport on the Isle of Skye has been suspended from the RSPCA Assured scheme following the release of activist-filmed footage. The company said the suspension applies only to that individual site, and that its other 54 farms in Scotland remain certified and continue to supply UK retailers under the RSPCA Assured label.
In a statement to SalmonBusiness, a spokesperson for Mowi Scotland said:
“Mowi’s farm at Loch Harport on the Isle of Skye has been suspended from the RSPCA Assured label scheme. This suspension relates only to this farm and Mowi continues to supply UK retailers with farm-raised salmon from our other 54 farms in Scotland, all of which are still certified under the RSPCA Assured label scheme.”
The company described the organisation that captured the footage as, “known for its opposition to farming animals for people to eat and its funding or encouragement towards vegan activists to film and oppose salmon farming operations at all costs.”
Mowi said the footage depicts the removal of “around 12 poor performing salmon from a large pen holding more than 40,000 healthy salmon.” The company added that the fish “are in great condition, are looked after and are reared in clean water off the west coast of Scotland.”
“We are fully cooperating with the RSPCA whilst its team conducts a full investigation and whilst we do understand that the footage showing these fish being dispatched may be concerning to some people, percussive stun to dispatch fish is the most effective and humane method in these circumstances,” the statement continued.
Mowi said the footage appears to show staff working on a windy day on floating pens and suggested that multiple blows to some fish were intended to ensure a rapid dispatch.
“We have now spoken to the farm staff to support them and ensure that they feel valued as farmers and not persecuted by activists,” the company said. “We will also be issuing further refreshers across our other farming teams as well to ensure the requirements of the RSPCA welfare standard are held to the highest standard in our business at all times.”
The RSPCA Assured scheme confirmed that it is investigating the footage and that while suspended, the Loch Harport farm cannot market fish under the label.