Video Reveals Maggot-Infested Salmon on Scottish Farms

Shocking video footage obtained by the organisation Scottish Salmon Watch has revealed that salmon on The Scottish Salmon Company’s farms in Loch Fyne endure disease and miserable conditions.

The footage shows worms and beetles crawling all over the rotten, maggot-infested bodies of dead fish. According to Scottish Salmon Watch, the mortality rate on Scottish salmon farms is a staggering 26.7 per cent. In 2017, that equated to the deaths of 15 to 20 million salmon – over 25,000 tonnes of fish – as a result of lice infestations, infectious diseases, deformities, and other “welfare” problems.

The salmon bred by this industry aren’t its only victims: other animals who suffer because of its cruel practices include the huge numbers of “cleaner fish” used by farmers in an attempt to avoid sea lice infestations, seals, and other marine animals.

The footage quashes industry marketing claims that Scottish salmon farming is “high-welfare” or “sustainable” and shows the gruesome reality of the way animals are treated by those who see them as “products” and nothing else.

Salmon and other fish are smart and most certainly feel pain. Scientists who study pain are in agreement that fish’s pain-response systems are basically identical to those of mammals and birds. Imagine the agony that these salmon must have endured, swimming in their own faeces and denied anything and everything that’s natural and important to them.

This is the same misery felt by most living beings killed to be eaten. The only way to end this suffering is to go vegan.

More Reasons to Leave Animals off Our Plates

Eating fish can be extremely hazardous to human health. The fish observed in Scotland were deformed, diseased, and infested, but even the flesh of apparently healthy fish can contain hidden health risks. Sure, no one wants a mouthful of sea lice or bloody sores, but what about arsenic, mercury, dioxins, or lead? How about PCBs, the synthetic chemicals that pollute water and concentrate in fish flesh? Did you know that your salmon fillet could come with a side of cancer-causing toxins?

These hazards aren’t limited to salmon from Scottish farms – they can be present in fish raised or caught anywhere in the world by any method. But keeping them out of your food is simple – just keep fish (and all animals) off your plate.

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