THE biggest fishfarming company in Scotland, MOWI, has won a permanent interdict that says kayak-campaigner Don Staniford – or any of his associates – cannot go within 15 metres of its fishfarms.
In Scotland breaking an interdict carries the threat of jail. This ruling effectively means any of the environmental campaigners who work with Staniford are barred from this exclusion zone.
The case (which will go to appeal) is internationally recognised as a SLAPP, a "strategic lawsuit against public participation". That definition essentially says that the law is being unfairly used by the rich and powerful.
The locations involved are far from the media’s normal haunts and the case got little attention – “The Fishfarmer” probably covered it in the most detail. So what is going on?
READ MORE: What are SLAPPs and why should Scotland take action to end them?
The background
Don Staniford, a long-time anti-fishfarm campaigner who lives in the north of England, takes a position many people would regard as extreme, because he doesn’t believe a migratory species like salmon should be farmed at all.
He describes farmed salmon as “the foie gras” of the sea. He thinks the conditions are cruel and that lead to unacceptably high mortality – much higher than is tolerated in any form of land farming. (Staniford traveled to a fishfarm area recently with Herald journalist Vicky Allan and Allan calculated the average death rate as 25% - compared to 5% for chickens.)
READ MORE: Row over plans to build new type of fish farm in Scottish loch
Staniford regularly posts photos and videos of diseased and dying fish in fishfarm pens online, and is accused by MOWI of painting a distorted picture, by editing together images in a way that makes the pens look worse than they are.
MOWI used to be known as “Marine Harvest”. It is the largest fishfarm group in the world, producing 70,000 tonnes of salmon from Scottish waters alone. Owner, multi-billionaire John Fredrikson, initially made his money from tankers. Once the richest man in Norway, he is now a naturalised Cypriot, although he lives in a mansion in Chelsea.
What did Staniford do?
A salmon farm is a row of nets with circular hoops at the top, containing the fish. There is usually a fixed platform nearby where the workers are based – but fishfarm operation is increasingly mechanised, so much of the time there is nobody there.
In 2019, Scottish Sea Farms, who supply Marks and Spencer, called police to move on Don Staniford, who was in a yacht near their farm. There was no suggestion at the time that he was doing anything other than photographing the fish. Staniford responded by accusing Police Scotland of acting as security guards for a private company.
In 2020, a similar thing happened and Staniford filed a formal complaint, saying that he had a right to film the conditions at the farms from the open sea.
Police Scotland later apologised to Staniford, saying that there would be “learnings” from the incidents.
In 2021, Staniford (below) filmed lice-infected salmon at four MOWI farms and made an official complaint to Police Scotland’s wildlife crimes unit. MOWI claimed the filming had distressed the fish and was selective, and they also made an official police complaint.
In October that year, MOWI’s lawyers served an interdict on Staniford, which asked the courts for a permanent interdict to prevent Staniford or associates from going within 15 metres of the cages. That was put in place as a temporary measure and finally granted as permanent by a court in Oban last week – though Staniford says he will appeal.
A legal expert who is familiar with the case but did not want to be named said: “I have been aware for some time that this case was pending. I am extremely concerned for its implications for campaigning generally, as well as against the salmon farming industry. The water is an area where the public should pass freely.
"MOWI has argued successfully in the first instance that it’s harassment/dangerous to fish or people for the activist to be allowed within 15 metres of the cages. This effectively means no one can scrutinise the activities of these farms which are basically self-monitored as it is. It’s a very, very dangerous ruling.”
What is MOWI’s case?
The Fishfarmer quoted Mowi Scotland COO Ben Hadfield: “While our company will listen to and engage with people who may be critical of our business, we will not stand by and accept individuals harassing and intimidating our employees at their workplace. We had sought this interdict to protect the safety and wellbeing of our employees, our fish, Mr Staniford and his associates, and we are pleased that the court has agreed with Mowi’s position.”
The publication reported that Scottish Sea Farms is now planning to seek a similar interdict.
What is a SLAPP?
The definition of a SLAPP includes: “Threatening or taking abusive legal action on fully or partially unfounded claims and exploiting imbalances in financial, political or societal power while doing so.”
In a draft submission to the Council of Europe, the UK Anti-SLAPP coalition wrote:
“In Scotland there is currently a case, which the Coalition Against SLAPPs in Europe (CASE) has identified as a SLAPP, where MOWI, a salmon farming multinational company has attempted to prevent Don Staniford, an environmental campaigner who documents and reports on the welfare and conditions of farmed salmon, from accessing the farms. After requesting that Staniford take down videos, graphics and blogs he’d created about the company’s salmon fish farms, while threatening legal action, in October 2021, MOWI sought permission for an interdict (injunction) against Staniford, preventing him from going within 15 metres of MOWI’s fish farms, as well as other prohibitions such as not being able to fly drones within 50 metres of any farm, recording or speaking to employees or encouraging others to act on his behalf.”
The draft goes on to explain that SLAPPS in Scotland can have very serious consequences.
“While this will generally mean a civil lawsuit, in some jurisdictions it is possible to trigger misdemeanours, administrative measures or criminal charges against their critics, including through the use of injunctions.”
Conclusion
MOWI accuses Don Staniford of editing photos and video in such a way as to misrepresent the condition of the fish. If that is the case, surely the best remedy might be to put webcams up so that anyone who wishes to can view the pens in real time and see how healthy the salmon are? Creating a legal exclusion zone may give the impression there is something to hide.
There are many other reasons to be concerned about the expansion of the salmon farming industry. I wrote last week how the clouds of nutrients, feaces, fishfood and other detritus they spread across Scotland’s sealochs are deforming the marine ecosystem, and may threaten the spawning grounds of many other species of fish. Does this ruling mean that citizen scientists who want to monitor the state of Scotland’s maerl beds near fishfarms could be forbidden from doing that too?
People have a right to monitor and cherish the health of Scotland’s beautiful sea lochs, and the creatures within them.
This article by Jackie Kemp first appeared on her Substack, a Letter from Scotland.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel