Cooke Scotland 'committed to raising organic standards even higher'
Salmon farmer responds to time-limited ultimatum by NGO
Cooke Scotland today said it was committed to working with organic standards accreditation body the Soil Association after the organisation delivered a change-or-’bye ultimatum to the sector.
The Bristol-based NGO has issued a list of demands to producers of organic salmon and to the non-organic industry and Scottish Government, too, and has warned that it will withdraw from the sector if “meaningful progress” is not delivered in the next year.
Only two salmon producers – Cooke and Mowi – produce organic salmon in Scotland, following the demise of Skye fish farmer Organic Sea Harvest. Mowi Scotland produced 5,500 gutted weight tonnes of organic salmon last year, less than 10% of its total harvest volume.
Cooke is understood to have produced a higher volume as part of its 29,000 gwt harvest in 2024.
Mowi also produces organic salmon in Ireland, but this is certified by a different body, the Irish Organic Association.
Key areas of reform
The Soil Association’s call for reform follows an 18-month review looking at welfare and environmental problems facing salmon farms across the entire Scottish salmon farming industry. Managing director James Cashmore said that while the Association was proud of helping to drive up standards for the past 20 years, the evaluation revealed more could be done by the sector and the Scottish Government.
“We’ve therefore identified key areas of reform that we consider essential over the next year. If we don’t see meaningful progress within a year, we will need to withdraw our involvement in setting organic standards for salmon.”
Proposed changes to Soil Association organic standards include:
- suspension and a full site suitability reassessment after two mass mortality events.
- extra welfare checks in addition to the daily checks already carried out.
- phasing out of the lice treatment deltamethrin, starting by preventing the medicine being released into the environment.
- a ban on organic salmon farmers using whole fish from certified sustainable fisheries in feed and instead using only sustainably sourced waste and trimmings.
Looking at the salmon sector as a whole, the Soil Association wants the Scottish Government to regulate on site suitability, sea lice, and mortality, alongside legislation that would set specific baseline standards for the welfare of farmed fish.
Pathway for change
These policy changes are needed, the Soil Association says, as the biggest challenges faced by organic farms are sector wide. The NGO says it will be consulting with the salmon industry and Scottish Government over the coming weeks to share the proposals and lay out “a pathway for change”.
Soil Association chief executive Helen Browning said she was aware that some campaigners who fed into the review want to see the Soil Association withdraw from the salmon sector, “but our research has shown there is a possible route to getting organic salmon farms on to a more sustainable footing while giving organic fish a good life”.
Fully compliant
Cooke Scotland said: “As Scotland’s oldest organic salmon farming company, Cooke Scotland fully complies to strict regulations and external audits to minimise impacts on the environment and are permitted to use a restricted list of veterinary products to protect the health and welfare of salmon when there is an identified risk. Cooke Scotland has never used deltamethrin on any of its sites and has no intention of using it in the future.
“We have a strong track record in consistently meeting the high standards set by the Soil Association and this is testament to our trained farmers, dedicated fish health teams and licensed veterinarians who care for our salmon daily to ensure exceptional standards of animal welfare are maintained.
“We have been raising organic Scottish salmon for more than a decade and are committed to working closely with the Soil Association to continue raising standards even higher than they are today.”
A spokesperson for Mowi said: "Mowi supports the most stringent certification schemes for organic salmon. Deltamethrin is not used in the production of organic salmon in seawater as the preferred treatment for gill health and naturally occurring sea lice. Mowi has not experienced high mortality on any of our organic certified sites."
