A government decision to remove the word “farmed” from Scottish salmon labels has prompted a bitter legal battle.
Animal-welfare campaigners insist shoppers are being misled by dropping the tag because all Scottish salmon sold in mainstream UK supermarkets comes from farms.
Charity Animal Equality UK has won permission to take the government to court a second time to fight the decision.
In 2023, trade body Salmon Scotland proposed dropping the word “farmed” from Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) labels so that packs would read just “Scottish salmon”.
The organisation said most consumers knew all supermarket Scottish salmon was farmed and had been for decades.
The government’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) approved the change in April last year.
Appeals against the decision by both Animal Equality UK and another campaign group, WildFish, were rejected, and since then, PGI labels on most salmon on sale has been missing the word “farmed”, even if it is sometimes in small print elsewhere on the packet.
The charity cites surveys suggesting shoppers wrongly believe supermarkets sell wild Scottish salmon. A 2021 Fidra Survey found that only 6 per cent of people knew all Scottish salmon was farmed, and a 2024 YouGov poll commissioned by Animal Equality found that 41 per cent of adults believed that at least some Scottish salmon was wild.
PGI labels demonstrate regional products’ origins, such as Cornish pasties and Champagne.
The tribunal had ruled that changing “Scottish farmed salmon” to “Scottish salmon” was not likely to mislead consumers because “true origin” PGI designations referred to geographical origin only.
But the activists say the term should also refer to the method of production.
In a highly unusual move, chamber president Judge Mark O’Connor granted permission to appeal against his own decision to the Upper Tribunal, on an “exceptional” basis.
The Independent has revealed how several salmon farms in Scotland have been accused of poor welfare, lice infestations and causing environmental harm.
Footage has shown salmon suffocating to death, entering stun-kill machinery backwards, being thrown by workers and having their gills cut while conscious.
More than 17 million fish died on Scottish salmon farms in 2023, with over 10 farms reporting over 50 per cent mortality.
Abigail Penny, executive director of Animal Equality UK, claimed that dropping the word “farmed” was “a blatant assault on consumer transparency”, saying: “These animals spend their entire lives confined in underwater cages that are frequently plagued by lice infestations and disease outbreaks.
“Scotland’s farmed salmon industry is in deep crisis. A Scottish government committee recently issued a scathing report calling for urgent regulatory reform and tighter scrutiny.”
Edie Bowles, of law firm Advocates for Animals, said: “The law on Protected Geographical Indications clearly requires that the public cannot be misled. There is strong evidence suggesting the public could be misled if Scottish farmed salmon is labelled as Scottish Salmon, as it could suggest wild-caught.”
A spokesperson for Salmon Scotland accused campaigners of “wanting to make people unemployed” and of wasting thousands of pounds of taxpayers’ money with appeals.
He said Scotland’s salmon farming companies were investing more than £1m into work to save wild salmon. He added: “Consumers know Scottish salmon is farm-raised in the cold, pristine waters off the coast of Scotland, demand at home and abroad is rising, and we are confident this latest appeal will be dismissed like all the other ones.”
A Defra spokesperson said they would not comment on legal proceedings.
