A Scottish parliamentary committee has called for regulators to be given powers to shut down salmon farms with persistently high mortality rates, warning that stronger oversight is needed to secure the industry’s long-term future.
Members of Holyrood’s rural affairs committee said the Fish Health Inspectorate should be able to halt or limit production at sites with unacceptable fish death levels.
Committee convener Finlay Carson wrote to rural affairs secretary Mairi Gougeon expressing disappointment at the pace of progress in improving welfare standards.
The intervention follows figures showing 35,867,778 salmon deaths were reported on Scottish farms between 2023 and 2025, alongside 103 recorded welfare violations last year.
Industry body Salmon Scotland said the Scottish government’s own analysis concluded that persistently elevated mortality is “not a systemic problem for Scottish marine salmon farms” and called for modern regulation that supports sustainable growth.
