?The world’s biggest salmon farmer has lost its royal warrant amid concern over the escape of half a million fish.
Mowi’s 35-year patronage? has been removed by the King in a move welcomed by activists including Feargal Sharkey and the naturalist Chris Packham.
A recent escape of 75,000 farmed salmon from the Norwegian firm’s Gorsten site at Loch Linnhe during Storm Amy brought the total number of escapes from its Scottish farms to 500,000 since 2000. Activists have warn?ed that such escapes risk genetic pollution and disease in wild fish populations.
Campaigners, including Don Staniford, the director of Scottish Salmon Watch, are demanding that the RSPCA and Soil Association revoke their certifications, condemning what they call continued ? “greenwashing?” of the industry.
Sharkey, a clean waterways activist? who first found fame as the singer with the Undertones, told The Times: “Amazing to see the King yet again leading from the front, prepared to stand up for his morals and defend what is the right thing to do.”
Sharkey has previously compared salmon farming with tobacco companies. Packham said the King’s actions should be “a wake-up call” for the industry. “It is great news,” he said. “It would be significant to be awarded a royal warrant and significant when you have it withdrawn.”
Dale Vince, director of the Green Britain Foundation, ?said: “It’s good to see the King, an environmentalist, distancing himself from Mowi. This decision places animal welfare and environmental responsibility firmly before corporate PR. We need more organisations to follow King Charles’s lead.”
Mowi ?s?aid it is investigating the latest escape. “Mowi is rightly proud of its healthy and nutritious salmon and has been honoured to have held the royal warrant,” a spokesman said. “Mowi does not comment on decisions made by the royal household.”
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