The credibility of the salmon farming industry has come under attack after it admitted underestimating by 66 per cent the amount of antibiotics used to treat diseased fish in 2024.
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The credibility of the salmon farming industry has come under attack after it admitted underestimating by 66 per cent the amount of antibiotics used to treat diseased fish in 2024.
The salmon farming industry has admitted mistakenly underestimating the amount of drugs used to treat sick fish by 66 per cent, following inquiries by The Ferret.
Salmon Scotland, which represents multinational fish farming companies, said it had made an “error” on figures reported to the UK Government and highlighted in a news release. It has promised to correct the public record “as a matter of urgency”.
Last autumn the industry body reported that its total antibiotic use for 2024 had reached a “record low” of 940 kilograms. But when we questioned this in January 2025, it amended the figure to 1,564 kilograms, rebranding it as “the second lowest level on record”.
Campaigners condemned the gaffe as a “hammer blow” to the industry’s credibility that would undermine public trust. Reporting “misleading” figures raised “serious questions about transparency and accountability”, they said.
But Salmon Scotland stressed it was working to reduce the use of antibiotics, which were used “responsibly” and only when needed to protect fish health and welfare. The industry was “committed to transparency”, it said.
Salmon farmers, along with land-based farmers, have been trying to curb antibiotic use to reduce the risk of viruses, bacteria, fungi and parasites developing resistance, and becoming more difficult to combat.
Known as antimicrobial resistance, this is regarded by health authorities as one of the biggest global threats to public health.
On 4 September 2025, Salmon Scotland published a news release headlined “Scottish salmon farmers cut antibiotic use to record low”. It claimed that farmers had “reduced their use of antibiotics to the lowest level on record, cutting use by nearly 80 per cent in a single year.”
Usage fell from 24.8 to 5.1 milligrams per kilogram of salmon between 2023 and 2024, the release said. Salmon Scotland’s technical head, Dr Iain Berrill, was quoted saying that this was “a major milestone for Scottish salmon farmers”.
In November 2025, Salmon Scotland reported slightly different figures to the UK Government’s Veterinary Medicines Directorate. It said that 940 kilograms of antibiotics were used in 2024, representing 4.9 milligrams per kilogram of salmon – the “lowest” since detailed records were first published in 2017.
But campaigners noticed that this figure was much lower that the 1,268 kilograms recorded for 2024 by the Scottish Government’s green watchdog, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa).
When The Ferret asked Salmon Scotland about the discrepancy, it disclosed its mistake. The September 2025 news release was corrected on 8 January 2026, with a new headline saying that antibiotic use had been cut to “historic lows”, rather than a “record low”.
Instead of claiming an 80 per cent cut, it said there had been a reduction of “more than two thirds in a single year” to 1,564 kilograms, or 8.15 milligrams per kilogram in 2024. Rather than saying it was the lowest on record, it said it was “the second lowest level on record”.
Salmon Scotland explained that its corrected figure was higher than Sepa’s because it included antibiotics used in the early freshwater stages of salmon production. Sepa’s figure only covered those used in marine salmon cages in seawater.
There were two antibiotics used in 2024, oxytetracycline and florfenicol. They can treat a range of potentially lethal salmon infections, including gill disease, heart disease, ulcers and septicaemia.
Since 2017 the total amount of antibiotics used at salmon farms has varied widely. The lowest was 1,011 kilograms in 2018 and the highest was 8,850 kilograms in 2021, as previously reported by The Ferret. In 2022 it was 3,141 kilograms and in 2023, 3,743 kilograms.
Rob Edwards
The campaign group, WildFish, argued that The Ferret’s revelations came as the salmon industry was under increasing pressure to improve its environmental performance. “This correction is another hammer blow to its credibility and undermines the trust these companies rely on to operate in Scotland,” said Scotland director, Nick Underdown.
“The public is repeatedly told that salmon farming is the most tightly regulated industry in the world, yet this is not true as key reporting is voluntary and breaches rarely result in meaningful sanctions.”
Underdown claimed that the 1,564 kilograms of antibiotics now known to have been used in 2024 were “the equivalent of around three supermarket trolleys of medicines entering Scotland’s sea lochs and coastal waters every single week.”
The Green MSP, Ariane Burgess, described Salmon Scotland’s admission as “really concerning”. She called for “stronger oversight” and a “pause” on new salmon farm licences.
"This seriously undermines the credibility of Salmon Scotland and the claims they make about the impact of their industry,” she told The Ferret.
“The public and regulators have to rely on accurate reporting from industries that impact our environment and food systems. Misleading figures undermine that trust and raise serious questions about transparency and accountability.”
According to Salmon Scotland, fish health was overseen by qualified veterinarians, and antibiotics were used responsibly and only where necessary to protect fish welfare. “We have identified an error in the previously reported 2024 antibiotic use figure and have published a correction on our website," said a spokesperson.
“We are committed to transparency and have informed the Responsible Use of Medicines in Agriculture Alliance and the Veterinary Medicines Directorate, and have initiated the process to update the public report as a matter of urgency.
“Antibiotic use in 2024 remains the second lowest level on record, and we continue to work to reduce use while protecting fish health.”
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