> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.theferret.scot/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # New salmon farmers scheme condemned as “greenwashing opportunity” - URL: https://www.theferret.scot/salmon-farmers-scheme-greenwashing/ - Published: 2026-10-13T05:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-13T04:59:59.000Z - Description: A new scheme to penalise salmon farmers when fish escape has been launched. But we found it is controlled by the industry prompting criticism. - Author: Richard Baynes - Tags: Salmon Farming, Investigations, 24 hours **A new scheme to penalise salmon farmers when farmed fish escape is wholly controlled by the industry, The Ferret can reveal, prompting claims it is “a major step backwards for wild salmon conservation in Scotland”.** Three million farmed salmon – from Norwegian stock, and bred for fast growth rather than survival fitness – are estimated to have escaped into Scottish waters in the last 30 years. Escaped fish can breed with wild ones, reducing the strength of Scotland’s endangered native salmon population, and they compete with wild fish for resources. The new scheme to try and address this problem is called the[ Salmon Interactions Association](https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/SC893956/officers?ref=theferret.scot). It was launched in June with the aim of encouraging better fish farm security and the provision of cash to help wild fish survival. Under the scheme, salmon farmers will pay into a conservation fund when their stock escapes, on a rising scale, according to the number of fish escaping. But Salmon Scotland, the industry body, has controlling interest in the scheme and it is not compulsory, with penalties capped at £50,000. ****You don’t get stories like this elsewhere** The Ferret publishes investigations that go beyond the daily news cycle, dig deeper, and ask difficult questions. Help us stay independent. [Become a member (from £5/month) ](https://www.theferret.scot/signup/) The scheme was condemned by conservation group WildFish, and a leading international academic researcher on salmon farming who said the fact that it is voluntary is “scandalous”. In Chile, fines of up to £6m are imposed, one critic pointed out. Even the[ Salmon Interactions Association’s](https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/SC893956/officers?ref=theferret.scot) own conservation partners have suggested the scheme has limitations, arguing that further measures are needed to solve the problem of farmed salmon breaking free. Industry body[ Salmon Scotland](https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/SC893956/officers?ref=theferret.scot), however, has staunchly defended the scheme. It rejected claims it is not a genuine partnership as “simply wrong” while claiming it will cover all salmon farmers in Scotland. The attacks on the scheme come after a[ recent study](https://academic.oup.com/icesjms/article/83/8/fsag153/8751554?ref=theferret.scot) by Scottish Government scientists fuelled concerns about escapes. The research showed that nearly three-quarters of rivers in the Lochaber area, at the Scottish salmon industry’s heart, have fish with farmed-salmon genes. The escapees' penalty scheme has been portrayed as a partnership between [Fisheries Management Scotland](https://fms.scot/?ref=theferret.scot) and Salmon Scotland . [Sepa branded ‘toothless’ after salmon farm accused of 15 environmental breachesThe Scottish Government’s green watchdog sent seven letters over three years alleging multiple breaches at a fish farm – and then issued a final warning letter.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2d/e2/2de2844d-80a7-4c7b-8025-6f1f39724aa6/content/images/icon/TheFerret_Favicon_White-1-0813e012-1d83-4607-a5b8-ec5af427f05b.png)The FerretRob Edwards![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2d/e2/2de2844d-80a7-4c7b-8025-6f1f39724aa6/content/images/thumbnail/iStock-2286725963-cb7d5afc-4e55-4592-b8a4-e79f6109ac3a.jpg)](https://www.theferret.scot/sepa-toothless-salmon-farm-breaches/) The levy on farmers starts with a payment of £500 for up to 50 fish getting loose. Payments go up in steps from there, with 51 to 200 escaped fish meaning a £1,000 payment, 201 to 500 escaped fish costing £2,500, and a £5 per fish levy for 501 or more. The maximum is capped at £50,000, and will be paid to the Salmon Interactions Association, a private company. On both the[ Fisheries Management Scotland](https://fms.scot/new-joint-agreement-to-support-wild-salmon-conservation-following-escapes/?ref=theferret.scot) and[ Salmon Scotland websites](https://www.salmonscotland.co.uk/news/new-joint-agreement-to-support-wild-salmon-conservation-following-escapes?ref=theferret.scot), the voluntary scheme is reported under the headline: “New joint agreement to support wild salmon conservation following escapes.” The articles also state: “A new independent company will administer the scheme, with directors drawn from both the farmed and wild fisheries management sectors.” A[ search at Companies House](https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/SC893956/persons-with-significant-control?ref=theferret.scot), however, reveals the body with a controlling interest in this private firm is Salmon Scotland. That means the industry body can change how it operates, ignoring its two directors from the fisheries conservation side, who sit on the board alongside Salmon Scotland chief executive,[ Tavish Scott.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tavish%5FScott?ref=theferret.scot) Fisheries Management Scotland said in response to criticism that it deliberately decided not to make organisations from the wild salmon sector legally part of the scheme, so they could criticise it. The Scottish Government’s[ Salmon Interactions Working Group](https://www.gov.scot/groups/salmon-interactions-working-group/?ref=theferret.scot), which looked at sea-lice infestations and escapes, came up with a series of recommendations in 2020\. One said that Scotland's finfish aquaculture regulatory regime “should be reformed to ensure that it is fit for purpose, comparable with the highest international and domestic regulatory standards”. [Seven million lice-eating fish have died at Scottish salmon farmsA campaigner has made the first estimate of the total number of cleaner fish that have died while grazing lice on farmed salmon. It’s condemned as a “colossal waste of life” that should cease.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2d/e2/2de2844d-80a7-4c7b-8025-6f1f39724aa6/content/images/icon/TheFerret_Favicon_White-1-13832ddd-fcc8-44e8-8dea-01d52197becb.png)The FerretRob Edwards![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2d/e2/2de2844d-80a7-4c7b-8025-6f1f39724aa6/content/images/thumbnail/iStock-1173111833-82b87f84-9e3b-4fa4-a9a2-8e3c359e4806.jpg)](https://www.theferret.scot/million-lice-eating-fish-died-at-salmon-farms/) The Salmon Scotland and Fisheries Management Scotland websites say the new system “builds on recommendations set out by the Salmon Interactions Working Group.” But Nick Underdown, Scotland director at charity[ WildFish](https://wildfish.org/?ref=theferret.scot), which works to protect wild Atlantic salmon, said: “This arrangement is a major step backwards for wild salmon conservation in Scotland. It works directly against the recommendations of the Salmon Interactions Working Group.” Escapes should not be a “greenwashing opportunity” for salmon farm firms, he said, pointing out that Chile, where allowing escapes is an offence, has imposed[ fines of up to £6m](https://www.seafoodsource.com/news/business-finance/chilean-supreme-court-confirms-usd-8-million-fine-for-mowi-2018-salmon-escape?ref=theferret.scot). Norway, where Scotland’s biggest fish-farm operators are based, has imposed[ penalties of almost £400,000.](https://www.seafoodsource.com/news/aquaculture/norway-court-sides-with-directorate-of-fisheries-on-escape-case-fines-aller-aqua-nok-5-million?ref=theferret.scot) Underdown claimed that a lack of government action had created a vacuum into which the industry had stepped, adding: “Farmed salmon escapes should be a public environmental offence. It should never have been outsourced to a voluntary arrangement controlled by the industry responsible for the pollution.” Comparing genetic mixing in salmon to domestic dogs breeding with depleted wolf populations, he added: “Those domesticated genes enter wild populations, weakening the vital adaptations they need to survive.” [Salmon farms broke the law by letting fish suffer, say government regulatorsTwo salmon farming companies have been accused of allowing fish to die in pain at three farms in Scotland, after the release of covert video footage.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2d/e2/2de2844d-80a7-4c7b-8025-6f1f39724aa6/content/images/icon/TheFerret_Favicon_White-1-5f758bc4-9e11-4f05-88e3-7222f2ac3622.png)The FerretRob Edwards![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2d/e2/2de2844d-80a7-4c7b-8025-6f1f39724aa6/content/images/thumbnail/iStock-1177873606-1654bd5b-26ed-4213-b060-a7d554c56856.jpg)](https://www.theferret.scot/salmon-farms-broke-law-fish-suffer/) [Professor Charlie Mather](https://www.mun.ca/geography/people/faculty/charles-mather/?ref=theferret.scot), from the Memorial University of Newfoundland, who studies how salmon farming around the world regulates escapes, argued that the scheme would maintain the status quo. “These systems never work,” he said. “What they do is allow firms to continue farming salmon, which we know is environmentally destructive.” He said the fact that the scheme is voluntary was “scandalous” and that the level of fines is too low to fund any meaningful work. “The scale of fines is bizarre... any single escape poses an environmental risk. What can you do realistically with £50,000?” he added. Fisheries Management Scotland said the crisis in the wild salmon population, which has seen numbers crash, meant urgent progress has been needed. It said the creation of the Salmon Interactions Association was a constructive step forward, while conceding it “does not resolve all of the issues associated with escapes and their impacts”. “On the question of independence, it was a deliberate decision not to make organisations from the wild fisheries sector legally part of the Salmon Interactions Association,” a spokesperson for Fisheries Management Scotland said. > “This arrangement is a major step backwards for wild salmon conservation in Scotland. It works directly against the recommendations of the Salmon Interactions Working Group.” — Nick Underdown, WildFish They added: “It was important that our involvement in developing and supporting the scheme does not diminish our ability to challenge, scrutinise and advocate for a different approach where we believe that is necessary. The Salmon Interactions Association is not intended to be the final word on farmed salmon escapes.” A spokesperson for Salmon Scotland said: “Claims that this is not a genuine partnership are simply wrong. The scheme was developed jointly with Fisheries Management Scotland and is run by three directors: two river and fishery managers and one representative of the salmon farming sector.” They added that the scheme is “treated as a requirement by salmon farming companies and retailers,” and is in the sector’s Code of Good Practice, which “all salmon farmers adhere to.” The £50,000 cap “reflects the maximum fine available under the relevant legislation**”** for some marine crimes, Salmon Scotland added. Campaign group WildFish pointed out that the courts can refer those marine crimes to higher courts for punishment by unlimited fines or even prison, whereas no such option exists in the privately-run Salmon Interactions Association scheme. Underdown said: “Fisheries Management Scotland argues that £50k per escape incident is benchmarked against marine conservation law, but this is a false equivalence asthe Marine Scotland Act creates offences that can be referred to higher courts and punishable by unlimited fines or even prison.” [Three-quarters of ‘sustainable’ salmon farms broke environmental rules. None lost their accreditation.We looked at inspection reports from the body which certifies “highest standard” farms with a public-facing ‘green tick’ — and found there have been breaches of its rules at dozens of fish farms.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2d/e2/2de2844d-80a7-4c7b-8025-6f1f39724aa6/content/images/icon/TheFerret_Favicon_White-1-7675cd1e-3f8a-48a8-8d26-ef12e4837374.png)The FerretDaniel Shailer![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2d/e2/2de2844d-80a7-4c7b-8025-6f1f39724aa6/content/images/thumbnail/iStock-1177725754-c39ff59c-bf96-4909-a565-d98523042a20.jpg)](https://www.theferret.scot/three-quarters-of-sustainable-salmon-farms-broke-environmental-rules-none-lost-their-accreditation/) Fisheries Management Scotland said that despite the cap, payments for an escape can end up being up to £150,000, if the escape is “deemed significant,” with the payment being repeated over the next two years. Alternatively, instead of paying the subsequent years’ fines, the fish farm firm involved could fund a study into genetic mixing in wild salmon. The report in August, by scientists from the Scottish Government’s Marine Directorate on mixing farmed salmon genes with wild populations, drilled down into the geographical spread of farmed salmon mixing. It showed that 72.4 per cent of rivers in Lochaber have fish with farmed salmon genes, as do more than half of those around Skye. These are the areas with the highest concentrations of salmon farms, and this level of introgression is six times higher than in some areas without farms. The report said: “The spatial patterns of introgression were broadly consistent with the intensity of aquaculture production in marine and freshwater, although there was also evidence of pressures outside these areas.” ButSalmon Scotland said it is “wrong to claim this study proves farm escapes caused the genetic changes found in wild salmon,” and said farm-bred salmon were deliberately stocked into west coast rivers in the 1970s and 1980s. ****Keep The Ferret independent** The Ferret does things differently: sharp fact checking, and public-interest investigative journalism backed by our readers. [Become a member from £5/ ](https://www.theferret.scot/signup/)