Sustainability

When it comes to providing tasty, nutritious meals in an environmentally friendly way, Scotland’s salmon farmers are well placed to deliver.

We have a lower carbon footprint than most other farming sectors, use less freshwater and produce more edible meat for every tonne of feed used.

We’ve also been investing on a multi-million pound scale to minimise our use of veterinary medicines, reduce any impact on the seabed, work within regulatory limits on what the marine environment can naturally sustain and safeguard other freshwater and marine life.

Scottish salmon is not only a fantastic healthy food, it is also a responsible way for people to get the high quality protein and Omega-3 oils required as part of a balanced diet.

A 2016 United Nations report highlighted the key role aquaculture is playing in contributing to global food security.

The findings of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) were delivered as the world prepares to feed more than 9 billion people by 2050.

Over the last five years there has been a marked reduction in the licensed shooting of seals as the Scottish salmon farming sector continues to move towards zero by investing and innovating in new predator management methods.

In Scotland it is an offence to kill or injure a seal except under licence or for welfare reasons. In 2019 Marine Scotland granted 45 licenses to shoot seals .

Generally salmon farms, seals and other marine mammals co-exist without any conflicts of interest. However, seals occasionally cause significant damage to salmon farms, and when they do the results can be devastating.

Hundreds of salmon can be killed or harmed in a single attack. In 2018 alone, over half a million farmed salmon in Scotland died as a result of seal attacks, either directly from the physical attack or indirectly from injury or stress.

The Scottish government has launched a '10-Year Farmed Fish Health Framework' which sets out measures to support sustainable growth across the Scottish fish farming sector. 

The scheme aims to “ensure that fish health remains the focus of sustainable production and growth in Scotland”. It also wants to ensure ‘the right people, organisations and resources come together to address new and developing challenges efficiently’. 

The Code of Good Practice for Scottish Finfish Aquaculture (CoGP) is the result of an agreed industry action arising from the 2003 Strategic Framework for Scottish Aquaculture.

First published in 2006, it is an evolving document, regularly reviewed to incorporate elements of change in legislation and emerging priorities in environmental management.