Follow King Charles, land-owning MSP tells Scottish Government
Tory hopes SNP will be spurred into action by monarch's removal of royal trade mark from Mowi
A Conservative MSP who is a distant relative of King Charles has said he hopes the monarch’s decision to remove the Royal Warrant from salmon farmer Mowi Scotland will spur the Scottish Government “into action” to protect wild salmon from damage allegedly caused by the industry.
Alexander Burnett’s family has owned the Leys estate on Deeside since the 14th century, and the estate’s business includes salmon fishing on the Dee.
Eton-educated Burnett, a fourth cousin once removed of Charles III, was speaking in a sparsely attended Scottish Parliament debate about protecting Scotland’s rivers last Thursday, after news emerged that Mowi had lost the warrant.
The MSP’s primary demand was for the government to allow the licensed shooting of seals that he said were eating between 4,000 and 5,000 of the Dee’s 11,000-strong salmon population anually, but he also took aim at salmon farming.
'The dangers are clear'
“The recent Storm Amy saw 75,000 farmed salmon escaping to the detriment of wild salmon,” said Burnett, who added that the “dangers of salmon farming are clear”.
“I’m glad to see this morning that even if the Scottish Government won’t act, the King has continued his purge of titles by removing his Royal Warrant from Mowi, Scotland’s largest salmon farmer, a move described as a wake-up call by campaigners, and one I hope that spurs the government into action,” added the MSP.
Filming employee
Buckingham Palace never gives a reason for withdrawing a Royal Warrant – a logo that producers or service providers can use on packaging to indicate that they supply the monarchy – but anti-salmon farming groups claim it was the result of activist filming of an employee at Mowi’s Loch Harport farm who was using repeated blows to despatch sick fish with a club.
The video prompted the RSPCA to suspend the farm’s RSPCA Assured accreditation, although that has now been restored. All Mowi Scotland farms are currently certified under the RSPCA Assured scheme.
In response to news of its loss of the Royal Warrant, Mowi Scotland said it had been honoured to have held the Royal Warrant but “does not comment on decisions made by the Royal Household”.
