British farmed salmon loses its organic certification
The Soil Association, a British accreditation body, is withdrawing its organic certification of farmed salmon after 20 years, saying environmental and welfare outcomes fall short of its standards. Campaigners welcomed the move, while the industry insists its standards are high.
The Soil Association, a British accreditation body that certifies organic products, announced this week that it is ending its organic certification of farmed salmon after 20 years. Following an extensive review, it concluded that environmental and welfare outcomes were not meeting its standards and that there was too little evidence they could improve quickly enough. The decision affects the British salmon farming industry, most of which is based in Scotland.
Helen Browning, the Soil Association's chief executive, said the organisation had hoped two decades ago for a marine aquaculture system that could deliver organic principles, but progress had been negligible.
Scale of the industry
The first farmed salmon harvest in Britain was 14 tonnes, produced off Scotland's west coast in 1971. Today the sector is worth about £1bn a year, produces roughly 205,000 tonnes of fish and employs 2,500 people in Scotland. British families eat 65,000 tonnes of salmon annually. Over the same period, wild Atlantic salmon numbers off British shores have fallen by more than 70%.
Criticism and inspections
The Soil Association's two-year review of its certified farms found concerns about suffering and high mortality that was not significantly better than on non-organic farms. In 2023, a record 17.4m salmon died on farms before harvest. The charity WildFish has spent two years seeking publication of inspection reports; a tribunal ordered their release, but the Soil Association is appealing. WildFish chief executive Nick Measham called the withdrawal a start in exposing the problems of salmon farming. More than 120 chefs from 26 countries have signed an open letter pledging to keep ocean-farmed salmon off their menus unless practices change.
Industry response
The trade body Salmon Scotland said the UK government had assured it that farms would continue to be assessed against organic standards with no loss of certification. A spokesperson said the sector operates to high standards and undergoes more than 1,600 audits and inspections each year.
