The Independent var að birta í morgun hrikaleg myndskeið úr sjókvíaeldi við Skotland. Velferð eldisdýra er fótum troðin í þessum iðnaði alls staðar þar sem hann er stundaður.
Í frétt Independent kemur fram að 14,5 prósent eldislaxa drepast í sjókvíum við Skotland.
Hér við land er ástandið miklu verra. Tæplega 20 prósent eldislaxa drápust í sjókvíaeldinu hér í fyrra og hlutfallið fer nálægt 30 prósent þegar talin eru með sá fiskur sem var “fargað” vegna sjúkdóma.
Þetta er matraðarkennt ástand.
Í frétt Independent kemur m.a. fram:
„Campaigners from the Animal Equality organisation captured rare drone footage of farmed salmon and trout being sucked onto boats and slaughtered, saying it raises questions over practices at British fish farms, where they have little legal protection.
The organisation claimed some fish suffocated to death, while others were left bleeding or semi-conscious after “mis-stunning”.
…
Salmon industry figures show a mortality rate of 14.5 per cent.
The video shot at a salmon farm (the turquoise boat) allegedly showed:
- Fish caught on top of a net were left to slowly suffocate
- Blood was in the water as salmon come out of a chute, suggesting they had been knocked and cut inside it
- Workers appeared to throw several fish at colleagues
- A worker threw a bucket of fish overboard – said to be a biohazard
- Fish entered the stun-kill machinery backwards so stunning was likely to have been ineffective
The investigators said that at a rainbow trout farm, the footage – seen in the more grainy clips – suggested:
- Small fish showed signs of life after coming out of the stun-kill machine
- Workers failed to notice smaller fish did not go into the killing machine, and seemed to suffocate in the empty bucket
- The stun-kill machine was not adjusted for different sizes so for smaller fish was likely to produce a mis-stun
- A fish still moved after being clubbed by a worker, who then tore its gills apparently with his fingers
- Trout, which are naturally solitary, would have been stressed by the “extremely cramped” pen
Mark Borthwick, an aquatic animal expert from the Open University, said the videos were “among the very worst instances of fish abuse I’ve seen in my career”.