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Organic Salmon Under Fire: Inspection Reports to Be Revealed
29 Jan
Summary
- Tribunal orders Soil Association to disclose salmon farm inspection reports.
- Campaigners claim 'organic' salmon labels are misleading greenwashing.
- Reports detail pesticide and formaldehyde use on organic salmon farms.
An information tribunal has mandated that the Soil Association must reveal its inspection reports for salmon farms to the WildFish campaign group. This decision follows an 18-month legal battle initiated in May 2024, after WildFish requested the documents under environmental information regulations.
WildFish contends that certifying farmed salmon as 'organic' constitutes unacceptable greenwashing. They argue that these operations, conducted in open-net cages, release fish waste and chemical treatments directly into the environment. Past reports by WildFish have documented the use of the pesticide Deltamethrin and the carcinogen formaldehyde on organic salmon farms, despite claims of organic standards.
The Soil Association Certification initially argued it was not a public body and that disclosure obligations lay with the environment department (Defra). Their appeal against an Information Commissioner's Office decision was dismissed by the first-tier tribunal.
Soil Association Certification's chief executive stated the organization did not intend to withhold information but sought clarity on reporting channels. The organization is currently consulting on tightening its standards for organic salmon and previously warned it might withdraw from the sector.
