Legal bills top £150,000 for anti-salmon farming activist

Anti-salmon farming activist Don Staniford has been handed another legal bill in connection with efforts by companies to prevent him climbing on to their fish pens and entering property.

Staniford already owes Mowi Scotland around £123,000 in costs after a failed appeal against an interdict (injunction) granted to the company that prevents him climbing on to pens.

He has now received a bill of nearly £29,000 from Scottish Sea Farms for costs incurred in SSF’s pursuit of a similar ban, which resulted in Staniford giving a permanent undertaking to a court that he wouldn’t enter onto or into the company’s property.

The £28,824.80 costs are comprised almost entirely of SSF’s bill for services provided by legal firm Shepherd and Wedderburn, dating from a period between August 2, 2022, and September 12, 2025. The remainder is for court costs incurred by the lawyers.

Another salmon farmer, Bakkafrost Scotland, has also been awarded costs against Staniford for a recent hearing to fix a date for its own interdict request, although he has not yet received the bill.

Can't pay, won't pay

Staniford has previously said he can’t and won’t pay Mowi’s costs. He has cited his “impecunious position” to the court, and said Mowi had “more chance of getting blood out of a stone” than receiving costs from him.

SSF, owned by holding company Norskott Havbruk that is owned 50-50 by Norwegian salmon heavyweights SalMar and Lerøy Seafood Group, is also unlikely to see any money returned.

Referring to the latest bill from SSF, Staniford said: “Norskott Havbruk can sling their hook all the way back to Norway.”

Mort bins

Staniford has been campaigning against salmon farming for around 20 years, and has been dubbed the “kayak vigilante” by supporters. His modus operandi is to kayak to a salmon pen, usually before farm technicians have started their shift or after they’ve finished, so that he can film moribund or dead fish near the surface by using a GoPro camera on the end of a long pole.

The activist, who also films dead fish in mort bins in shore bases, uses the images to make social media videos criticising the sector. He claims the bans imposed by Mowi and SSF are SLAPPs - Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation – preventing him revealing what he regards as the truth about fish farming.