Leaked email reveals deep split in salmon farming opposition over ties to animal rights activists.
An email sent in January by a prominent anti-salmon farming photographer and activist, and leaked anonymously to SalmonBusiness this week, reveals growing internal divisions within the coalition opposing open-net salmon farming in Scotland.
The message, addressed to a senior staff member at WildFish and now circulating publicly, demands the removal of all his images and video from WildFish platforms due to the group’s increasing alignment with what he calls “vegan/animal rights extremists.”
The photographer, a long-time contributor to campaigns scrutinising the environmental impact of salmon farming, accuses WildFish and the Coastal Communities Network (CCN) of undermining the credibility of the movement by associating with activist groups such as Free Salmon, Viva, Animal Equality, and Abolish Salmon Farming.
“Please take this email as a formal request to remove all my images/video from the WildFish platform, present and past, including but not limited to websites, literature and social media,” he wrote. “All previous proposals and agreements to use images and video are withdrawn, on the basis that continued use of my images/video and name is resulting in a negative portrayal of me, by associating me with animal rights extremists.”
The activist, who has helped shape public and parliamentary scrutiny of salmon farming practices over the past decade, said he had warned WildFish previously about what he saw as the reputational risks of partnering with “hardcore elements from the vegan/animal rights movements.”
He expressed particular alarm over being featured in a January social media post alongside Dale Vince of the Green Britain Foundation and Jamie Moyes of Abolish Salmon Farming, calling it “the final straw.”
“I cannot allow any confusion or conflation between myself and vegan/animal rights extremists,” he wrote, citing what he described as publicly visible patterns of harassment, political radicalism, and hostility to rural communities.
The email also condemns campaigns targeting individuals, including the MacDonald family behind Whiteshore Cockles, stating: “It’s akin to trying to destroy a small family business recycling plastic, because you’re opposed to Oil.”
The photographer warned that allowing these alliances to take the lead on salmon farming issues would erode the “mandate and moral authority” that had been built over years through reasoned public support.
“England-based animal rights orgs and activists have no place in the salmon farming debate in Scotland. Morally or tactically,” he wrote.
He gave WildFish 14 working days to remove all materials featuring his work, expressing regret that a decade of progress could be lost to what he described as “the social media froth of the animal rights movement.”
The email, which had remained private until now, casts new light on strategic fault lines in the salmon farming opposition movement. While some campaigners focus on regulatory reform and environmental monitoring, others are increasingly advocating for total abolition, often through confrontational or activist-led tactics.
WildFish has not commented on the leaked correspondence.