Anti-salmon farming lobby threaten M&S protest

PROTESTS against Marks & Spencer were being planned earlier this month after it was revealed that the supermarket buys fish from a farm that culls seals.

The anti-salmon farming lobbyist Global Alliance against Industrial Aquaculture was threatening the demonstrations against retail outlets that source from ‘seal-killing’ salmon farms.

The number of seals culled on fish farms – a legal practice - has dropped 66 per cent in the past four years, as more sophisticated seal deterrents and stronger nets are installed.

Scott Landsburgh, chief executive of the Scottish Salmon Producers’ Organisation, said: ‘We have championed deterrence techniques that are designed to keep seals away from our fish, and shooting is always a last resort.’

The 80 seals shot by salmon farms in 2014 were from a total population of 148,000.

Meanwhile, up to 40 per cent of Scotland’s west coast cod stocks are being eaten by seals, according to a report by the University of Strathclyde.