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The Global Alliance Against Industrial Aquaculture is an international network dedicated to advancing environmentally and socially responsible aquaculture. GAAIA recognizes that salmon, shrimp, tuna and 'Frankenfish' farming jeopardizes sustainable and safe seafood production. By highlighting worst aquaculture practices, GAAIA will lead the fight against standards-setting and certification schemes for farmed salmon and shrimp farming in particular.

A farmed salmon processing plant operated by Wester Ross Fisheries is named and shamed as a source of a decade of environmental pollution, illegal discharges and 'seriously non-complaint' operations. FOI requests were prompted by a whistleblower and former employee at Wester Ross Fisheries who testified to sea lice infestations at the farmed salmon processing plant in Dingwall, Ross-shire.

*** BREAKING NEWS - 'Salmon Farming Kills' back online! ***

Following the shocking decision (13 February 2014) by the Supreme Court of Canada to dismiss GAAIA's application for leave to appeal, the www.salmonfarmingkills.com web-site is now back online (it was taken down subject to legal advice in August 2013).

In reaction to the Supreme Court of Canada dismissal, Don Staniford said:

"Cermaq's SLAPP suit is a slap in the face of public dissent and freedom of speech. Shame on the Norwegian Government - as owner of the plaintiff, Mainstream (now re-named Cermaq) - for bankrolling such Draconian legal action. Norway may have a monopoly on salmon farming globally but Norwegian corporations surely cannot be allowed to own the law? That the Canadian legal system has given the Norwegian Government free reign to muzzle freedom of speech speaks volumes of how undemocratic Canada has become under the Harper Government. Freedom of speech and critical dissent is a basic democratic right."

July 2013

The appeal judgment in the "Salmon Farming Kills" lawsuit will be published by the BC Court of Appeal on Monday 22nd July - read online here

"Win, lose or draw, the Norwegian Government should hang their heads in shame for abusing the Canadian courts to clamp down on free speech," said Don Staniford, the Defendant. "This is a blatant SLAPP suit designed to kill global criticism of Norway's disease-ridden salmon farming industry. However, far from stemming dissent this lawsuit has served only to amplify the campaign to clean up the Norwegian-owned salmon farming industry. 'Salmon Farming Kills' is now common parlance – even at home in Norway where Norwegian newspapers recently reported on the health hazards and scientists warned against the consumption of contaminated farmed salmon."

Watch this space for comments and reaction to the judgment - more details online here!

Scottish Salmon In a Pickle!

FishyLeaks (20 January 2013) exposes the illegal use of the carcinogenic chemical Formalin in a Special Area of Conservation in Scotland. Formalin is a highly toxic water-based solution of the known carcinogen Formaldehyde which is used as a preservative for biological specimens including artist Damien Hirst’s pickled sharks, cows and sheep.

“I’d rather eat one of Damien Hirst’s pickled sharks or pickled horses than chemically embalmed Scottish salmon,” said Don Staniford of the Global Alliance Against Industrial Aquaculture. “It’s nauseating to think that the Scottish salmon farming industry’s warped idea of preservation is discharging the carcinogenic preservative Formalin into a Special Area of Conservation. No wonder ‘fresh’ Scottish salmon has such a long shelf life!”

- 1,400 litres of Formalin was discharged into Loch Roag “against SEPA advice”
- Formalin is a ‘carcinogen’, ‘toxic’ with a “danger of very serious irreversible effects”
- SNH warned of “significant toxicological impacts on marine life of Loch Roag”
- The Scottish Government fast-tracked Formalin use within one week instead of 8 weeks with SEPA and SNH given only 48 hours to respond
- The Scottish Salmon Company failed to consult with conservation bodies despite admitting discharges took place in a Special Area of Conservation and National Scenic Area

FishyLeaks Exposes Murky Waters of Fish Farming!

FishyLeaks - the watery world's response to WikiLeaks - trawls the murky waters of the fish farming industry for leaked documents from whistleblowers and documents obtained via Freedom of Information.

Read FishyLeaks for damning documents including data exposing sea lice infestation in Ireland; toxic chemical use in Scotland, the spread of infectious diseases in Canada and new revelations from a whistleblower inside the Scottish Salmon Company!

Fit for the Queen - Loch Duart’s Chlamydia-Contaminated Salmon?

A warning letter from the Association for the Preservation of the Eastern Shore in Nova Scotia will be delivered later today (19 November) to Loch Duart’s office in Lochmaddy. GAAIA has also written to Her Majesty the Queen (who served Loch Duart farmed salmon at her Diamond Jubilee in June) asking her to screen her farmed salmon for Chlamydia and other infectious diseases which were reported this year in Loch Duart's "sustainable" farmed salmon.

Skye Waters Against Fish Farming!

Local communities across Scotland are rising up against the "carpet-bombing" of the West coast by Norwegian-owned salmon farming corporations. On the Isle of Skye in the Western Isles, a new group called Skye Waters Against Fish Farming (SWAFF) was officially launched this week at a public meeting in Armadale (8 November) to fight Marine Harvest's plan for a super-sized salmon farm in Loch Slapin.

Scotland & Ireland Tour - November 2012

From November 2nd to 30th, Don Staniford of GAAIA and Elena Edwards of Wild Salmon First will be touring salmon farms in Scotland and Ireland. The itinerary includes a public hearing on the Isle of Mull (5th) as well as public meetings in Armadale on Skye (8th), Ullapool (12th), Harris (15th) and Bantry Bay (23rd). Protests are planned in Edinburgh (21st) and Dublin (29th) - see below for the itinerary in full.

Mainstream Canada appeals lawsuit loss (15 October)!

"Mainstream Canada and their parent company Cermaq have once again ignored the first rule of PR: when in a hole stop digging," commented Don Staniford who will be fighting the appeal. "Cermaq's knee-jerk reaction to appeal is yet another case of this multi-million dollar company shooting itself in the foot. Common sense is clearly not a currency this Norwegian-owned multinational is used to dealing in"

"The ugly truth is that Norwegian-owned salmon farming kills all around the world," continued Staniford. "No amount of sabre-rattling, intimidation and bullying by this Norwegian Government-owned corporation will alter the fact that salmon farming kills sea lions, spreads infectious diseases and even results in the death of their own workers."

Judgment Day in Salmon Farming Kills Lawsuit (28 September)

If Cermaq’s lawsuit and injunction are successful, over fifty statements will be deemed illegal and “any person”, “servants” or “agents” will be ordered to remove the ‘Defamatory Words’ from the internet:

“GAAIA believes that further expansion of salmon farming in the Marlborough Sounds will inevitably trigger waste pollution, benthic contamination, toxic algal blooms as well as the spread of infectious diseases and mass mortality events,” said Don Staniford in his testimony (26 September 2012). “If the history of salmon farming tells us anything at all it is the fact that overproduction causes problems wherever salmon farms operate. New Zealand ignores the global warnings at its peril.”

“Permitting salmon farming expansion is an open invitation for disaster and would jeopardise New Zealand’s green and clean image abroad,” continued Staniford. “Sanctioning even one new farm (let alone nine farms) in the Marlborough Sounds would be 100% irresponsible. There is only one Marlborough Sounds and once the Malaysian-owned King Salmon has fouled New Zealand’s nest it will simply move on and pollute somewhere else.”

Scotland’s Seal Killers Named & Shamed!

- Ban on ‘Seal Unfriendly’ Farmed Salmon?

The shocking extent of seal killing by salmon farming companies across Scotland can be revealed for the first time today (28 June) following a FOI request. According to data supplied by Marine Scotland, over 300 seals were killed during 2011 and 2012 (up to April) by serial killers including Marine Harvest, Loch Duart, Scottish Seafarms (Leroy & Salmar), Meridian (Morpol), Hjaltland Seafarms (Grieg Seafood) and The Scottish Salmon Company.

"GET OUT of Hardangerfjord" say the Green Warriors of Norway!

The Green Warriors of Norway have launched a new campaign against the Norwegian salmon farming industry. Banners and billboards (in Norwegian and English) were posted around the Hardangerfjord region urging salmon farms to ‘Get Out’.

The 20-day trial between the Norwegian Government (via the state owned corporation Cermaq) and Don Staniford ended on Friday (10 February) with Cermaq's lawyers asking the judge (Justice Elaine Adair) for an immediate injunction.

"Put that in your pipe and smoke it," said Don Staniford (author of the forthcoming report
'Smoke on the Water, Cancer on the Coast'). "Norwegian-owned salmon farming is blowing smoke all over the globe. The industry's PR campaigns are nothing more than smoke and mirrors which must be exposed. For the sake of wild salmon, fishermen, First Nations, bears, eagles, orcas, future generations and our global ocean we must stub out salmon farming from the face of the blue planet."

"The warning message to the Norwegian multinationals who are spreading disease-ridden salmon farms around the world like a malignant cancer is simple," Staniford continued. "Quit salmon farming and quit spreading lies and misinformation. For consumers the choice is clear - Quit eating farmed salmon or keep endangering the health of wild salmon and our global ocean. We need to speak for the salmon and stand tall against the Norwegian-owned corporations killing our wild fish, spreading infectious diseases and misinformation about the health of farmed salmon. The writing is on the wall for this Norwegian-owned salmon farming industry."

For more details on the 'Salmon Farming Kills' lawsuit Vs. Cermaq (owned by the Norwergian Government) - online here

The court case started in the Supreme Court of British Columbia in Vancouver on 16th January 2012 and is scheduled to last 20 days - Justice Elaine Adair is the presiding judge and the court sits from 10am to 4pm (Monday to Friday) and the courtroom # is 52 (Hornby/Nelson St. entrance).