
Fish farms have broken environmental rules more than 100 times in the last two years, according to Scottish Government regulators.
Figures released by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) suggested that the industry’s record was one of the worst in Scotland. Breaches included waste discharges, pesticide misuse, seabed pollution, misplaced fish cages and excessive numbers of fish.
The biggest offender was Norwegian-owned salmon farming company, Mowi, which had 60 breaches at 40 sites. Other salmon multinationals with significant numbers of breaches were Scottish Sea Farms with 22, Bakkafrost with nine and Cooke Aquaculture with eight.
The companies said that the breaches were often “not submitting mountains of paperwork on time”. They insisted that the industry was one of the most regulated in Scotland, and that compliance was “extremely high”.
According to Mowi, the majority of the breaches were “administrative”. There was “little to no evidence” to suggest lasting negative impacts on the marine environment, the company said.
Campaigners, however, attacked the industry for harming the environment and “putting profits before planet”. They demanded a “crackdown” on offending companies and a moratorium on any new or expanded fish farms.
They also criticised Sepa for being a “toothless regulator”, allowing fish farms to break the rules “with impunity”. Companies should be fined and prosecuted if they keep breaking the rules, they argued.
Sepa also came under fire from salmon companies for failing to replace its compliance assessment scheme, which was lost after a cyber attack in 2020. Sepa said it was developing a “new approach”, which will be subject to public consultation.
Sepa released a list of recent “non-compliances” by all industries in Scotland in response to a freedom of information request by The Ferret. On 12 January 2025 we revealed that there had been a total of 1,616 breaches at 966 sites.

Breaches by fish farming companies were the second highest of any sector regulated by Sepa. There were 117 breaches listed at 85 sites, including 36 in 2024 (up to 4th September), 79 in 2023, one in 2022 and one in 2021.
That was higher than the metals industry (116), the packaging industry (106), landfill sites (101), poultry production (71), whisky distilleries (60), chemical manufacturers (31) and oil and gas plants (10). Only water and sewage sites recorded more breaches (426).
Sepa categorised 53 of the breaches by fish farming companies as “major non compliant” and 64 as “non compliant”. In its released spreadsheet, the agency just said these were due to “emissions”, “monitoring, recording and reporting”, “site management” or “unauthorised” activities.
When asked to explain further, Sepa told The Ferret that the breaches included “the failure to comply with effluent quality standards at fish hatcheries”, and “failures to comply with the authorisation conditions relating to the use of medicines at fish farms.”
Other breaches were fish cages “located outwith the area identified in authorisation conditions” and “exceedance of the authorised biomass”. Another was the impact on the seabed “being greater than that which is permitted”.
Of the 85 sites with breaches, 25 recorded two or more. There were 60 breaches at 40 Mowi sites, 22 at 20 Scottish Sea Farms sites, nine at four Bakkafrost sites and eight at seven Cooke Aquaculture sites. There were 18 breaches at 14 other sites.
Sepa said it intervened “swiftly and effectively where necessary” and was “dedicated” to tackling non-compliance. It expected operators to “comply with their obligations in legislation,” a spokesperson added.
“Where Sepa identifies non-compliance, we will communicate this in writing to the authorisation holder. This approach is central to our efforts to ensure environmental responsibilities are met and maintained.”
Sepa said it was “developing a new approach to compliance assessment”. It was planning to introduce an “environmental performance assessment scheme” which would be subject to public consultation.
Compliance at fish farms ‘extremely high’
Salmon Scotland, which represents salmon farming companies, defended the industry. “Fish farming is one of the most regulated sectors in Scotland and environmental compliance across the sector is extremely high,” said a spokesperson.
“Non-compliance is often simply a matter of not submitting mountains of paperwork on time. But on rare occasions when genuine issues are raised our members take full remedial action as quickly as possible.”
The industry body added: “All this would be much easier, however, if Sepa would put in place a new compliance assessment system which was lost after the cyber-attack in 2020, an issue we have raised with the First Minister.”

Mowi, the largest producer of farmed salmon in the UK, agreed. “The majority of the breaches you refer to are administrative,” the company’s chief operating officer in Scotland, Ben Hadfield, told The Ferret.
“Mowi spends around £750,000 per year undertaking seabed audits, analysing those results and reporting them to Sepa. There is little to no evidence to suggest lasting negative impacts on the marine environment, as these are fully recoverable.”
The company pointed out that sustainability and animal welfare at its salmon farms had been accredited by a series of independent bodies.
Cooke Aquaculture stated that it upheld “the highest standards for sustainable processes within all statutory requirements” at its Scottish farms. “We are committed to working collaboratively with all stakeholders and regulatory agencies to ensure we continue to comply with all regulations,” said a spokesperson.
Scottish Sea Farms and Bakkafrost said Salmon Scotland could comment on their behalf.
Moratorium on fish farm expansion?
The “slow rate of progress in improving regulation and enforcement” of the salmon industry was highlighted by MSPs in a report to the Scottish Government on 17 January 2025. The Scottish Parliament’s Rural Affairs and Islands Committee called for a “clear timetable” for the implementation of recommendations first made in 2018.
The committee backed off, however, from recommending a moratorium on industry expansion because of the “lack of certainty” of the impact this would have on workers and local communities. Two MSPs dissented because they backed a moratorium: the SNP’s Emma Roddick and the Scottish Greens’ Ariane Burgess.
According to Burgess, the environmental breaches revealed by The Ferret showed why a moratorium was needed. “We had industry representatives sit in front of the committee telling us things were good, and where it wasn’t they were working on it – all the while knowing that they were failing to comply with the environmental rules that protect Scotland’s waters for people to enjoy,” she said.
“The fish farming industry is in desperate need of improvements; for our environment, the welfare of the fish, and for the workers and local communities. Lack of progress and putting profits ahead of the planet have likely played a big role in the levels of damage that these kinds of breaches have reached.”
Burgess demanded a “crackdown” on the companies breaking the rules. The industry, she added, was using “a failing business model when it comes to their environmental and social licence” – and this warranted a moratorium.
The campaign group, WildFish, pointed out that there seemed to have been breaches at most of Mowi’s 48 farms in Scotland. “What enforcement, if any, has Sepa taken in response to these breaches?” said the group’s Scotland director, Rachel Mulrenan.
“The salmon farming industry is breaching environmental regulations with impunity. Far from taking action to curb its damaging activities, we have a government that continues to support it beyond all comprehension, and a toothless regulator hamstrung by this support.”
The veteran anti-salmon farming campaigner, Don Staniford, said: “Salmon farms are riding roughshod over environmental regulations.
“Shame on Sepa for failing to close the net on polluting salmon farms. If salmon farms cannot follow basic rules then prosecutions, fines and the cancellation of licences would act as a deterrent.”
Another disgusting Stonyrood failure to get real about this stinking industry – full marks to MSPs Roddick and Burgess for trying. The rest of the Rural Affairs Committee should be sacked for continuing to suck up to MOWI and whale-clubbing Faroese Bakk[hand]afrost. Must be some large manila envelopes circulating around Edinburgh…