Shetland Salmon Farmers Association condemns use of illegal chemicals Olympic rebuff as SQS hits back at bathtub slur Scottish Quality Salmon has condemned a report on the Scottish farmed salmon industry for being misleading and out of date. The producers' organisation said the report by the Compassion in World Farming Trust was inaccurate when it stated that each farmed salmon was allocated the equivalent of a bathtub of water. An average salmon farm pen was equivalent to two Olympic size swimming pools in volume of water. Because salmon occupy only a maximum of 2% of the space available, the remaining 98% of water was available for swimming, said the organisation. The CIWF report was written by animal welfare consultant Philip Lymbery. Scottish Quality Salmon, representing 65% of Scottish salmon farm production, insisted its members already implemented his recommendations as standard practice. Scottish Quality Salmon farmed fish are: l Reared according to independently assessed quality standards l Welfare is inspected on a daily basis and veterinary advice is always on hand l Harvesting is carried out and independently inspected in accordance with the quality assurance guidelines l Further inspection and handling procedures are implemented at processing Quality and safety standards are enforced at every stage of production. The dispute comes after the voluntary withdrawal of Setter Ness Salmon from the Shetland Seafood quality scheme after it admitted using the banned Ivermectin at sites in Lunna Voe and Wadbister Voe in 2000. The company was fined £6,000 at Lerwick Sheriff Court. David Sandison, chief executive of the Shetland Salmon Farmers Association, said his organisation wholly condemned the use of illegal chemicals in salmon farming and pointed out that since the incident the farm had been sold. "The new owners are committed to producing salmon that conforms to the strict tests carried out for us by Shetland Seafood Quality Control," he said. Geir Synnevag, a director of Setter Ness Salmon, said the company had made changes to ensure such an incident would not happen again. {{MEAT }}

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