Disturbing Green Britain Foundation footage from Mowi’s Loch Harport salmon farm shows repeated animal welfare breaches. The RSPCA has suspended the site and ordered supermarkets to remove products.
The Green Britain Foundation has released disturbing video evidence showing workers at a Mowi organic salmon factory farm in Loch Harport, Scotland, repeatedly violating RSPCA Assured standards by beating salmon to death and leaving them to suffocate for extended periods.
The footage — documenting over 18 incidents of animal cruelty across multiple days in March 2025 — has prompted major supermarkets to remove Mowi salmon products from shelves following direction from the RSPCA, which has described the footage as “extremely upsetting” and “totally unacceptable for any animal to be treated in this way.”
The RSPCA has suspended Mowi’s Isle of Skye farm from its Assured certification scheme, pending a full investigation.
The Soil Association told The Telegraph it has “launched its own investigation,” adding that it was “shocked and saddened to see an unacceptable level of animal welfare that we shouldn’t be seeing in an organic certified system.”
Major retailers have also responded:
Sainsbury’s has “suspended supply from Mowi while the investigation is ongoing.”
Waitrose says it is “investigating this footage as a matter of urgency with our supplier.”
The farm, certified organic by the Soil Association and supplying major UK retailers, was filmed systematically breaching welfare standards that require:
Time out of water to “never exceed 15 seconds for a live fish”
Moribund fish to be given “a non-recoverable percussive blow to the head” to render them immediately insensible
The footage reveals:
Fish left to suffocate for over one minute
Multiple fish taking 20–50 seconds to die after repeated beatings
Workers playing with cleaner fish while salmon suffocate
A worker crushing a fish’s head with their heel
Fish still showing signs of life after seven minutes out of water, placed into mortality boxes
Calling on the RSPCA to withdraw Mowi’s entire company certification, Dale Vince, founder of the Green Britain Foundation, said:
“This footage of cruelty on a Mowi fish farm is absolutely horrifying. These are not isolated incidents, this is systematic cruelty showing a complete disregard for animal welfare and for sentient life.
Workers are literally playing games while salmon suffocate to death. One worker was recorded crushing a fish's head under their heel. This isn't just a breach of standards, it's a culture of cruelty that has no place in any industry, let alone one claiming to meet RSPCA welfare standards.
The RSPCA has a clear precedent here. In Australia, they dropped an entire aquaculture company for a single incident of suffocation. We have documented over 18 incidents across multiple days.
If one suffocated fish warrants removing certification from an entire company in Australia, then surely this pattern of systematic abuse demands the same response here. The RSPCA must act decisively and drop Mowi entirely; not just this one farm. Anything less would be a betrayal of their own standards and the animals they claim to protect.”
The Green Britain Foundation is calling for:
RSPCA to immediately withdraw certification from all Mowi operations
A full investigation into animal welfare practices across the salmon farming industry
The Soil Association to review its organic certification of the site
Major retailers to suspend sourcing from Mowi pending investigation
The footage has been submitted to APHA, Soil Association, RSPCA, Police Scotland, and Trading Standards.
Video is free to use, credit: Green Britain Foundation
All footage was legally captured from publicly visible locations and using a permitted drone, in full compliance with privacy and aviation regulations.
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