Research

What is wrong with open cage salmon farming in Scotland and what do we do about it? “Stop salmon farming, for good".  We want:

• Local communities having the final say on all salmon farm developments and the right to review and amend the planning permissions for all existing salmon farms • An end to the dumping of salmon farm sewage, chemicals, plastic, and parasites in our sea lochs • All government grant funding and subsidies being given to overseas salmon farming corporations to be diverted into our local community action and development groups • Vibrant and diverse local economies that don’t require us to destroy the places we live and in which we have more of a say and share in more of the benefits

In 2023, the RAI Committee agreed to undertake a follow-up inquiry into salmon farming at the earliest opportunity and this inquiry commenced in April 2024. The RAI Committee's inquiry focused on the implementation of the main recommendations made by the REC Committee, spread across four key themes:

• fish health and welfare;
• environmental impacts;
• interactions between wild and farmed salmon; and
• salmon farm consents and planning.

Eide’s closed loop farming system raises the question: Why isn’t the entire industry farming salmon this way? By Rob Schmitz.

Overabundance of fish farms is a risk to both the marine environment and the economy. By Christos Logaras

Without a law to prohibit the salmon industry in Tierra del Fuego, Antártida and Islas del Atlantico Sur (TFAIAS), Argentina, one of the world’s most untouched places was in danger: the Beagle Channel. 'Contracorriente' illustrates the effects of salmon farming and the crucial need to safeguard these pristine waters. The documentary was screened for the local community to inform them about the impending threat – their government had just signed a deal with a salmon company. Thanks to this film and other efforts, Tierra del Fuego achieved a remarkable feat: becoming the first location to ban open-net salmon farming, making Argentina the pioneer country to do so, even before it could take root. (From Global Salmon Farming Resistance, thegsfr.com )

Independent journalist Francesco De Augustinis explores the impact of the Area of Industrial Development of Aquaculture planned for Aetolia-Akarnania in Western Greece, where fish cages will occupy 100 hectares and another 100 hectares will be used for other activities. Inhabitants of the islands and villages protest against the fish farms and any further expansion project. In the past ten years they have watched their sea become contaminated and poor in natural resources. The industrial fisheries at Western Greece have also had an impact on Posidonia meadows, which is now absent or very deteriorated.