According to the main news channels, Mowi, Grieg and Scottish Sea Farms operating in Scotland and elsewhere in the EU have been raided by Anti-Trust Regulators:
BBC:
"Raids have been carried out at several salmon farming sites in Scotland in connection with an EU-wide probe into alleged illegal cartels.
Officials visited offices in Shetland, Stirling and Fife amid concerns they may have violated anti-trust rules.
The European Commission (EC) has said the investigation is at a preliminary stage."
Price fixing has long been suspected in the industry as has an undercurrent 'Ponzi scheme'. Operating as a cartel breaks EU Anti-Trust and Anti-Monopoly Laws.
Companies in violation of EU antitrust rules can be fined up to 10% of their global revenue. Undercurrent News reports that could be as much as €850.
Curiously, the Scottish Salmon Producers Organisation spin machine was revolving very quietly on the matter:
“The SSPO is aware of the inspections carried out by EC officials at premises belonging to salmon companies in relation to allegations of anti-competitive practices. However, we understand the focus of the investigation is another jurisdiction, not Scotland. The companies concerned are co-operating fully with the investigatory authorities and all further inquiries should be referred to the EC.”
What are we to make of that? Norway isn't part of the EU so the EC can't investigate them in Norway. They are being investigated on Scottish soil and they can't spin anything out of that. The SSPO have been proven liars in the past, so how can we believe a word they say? They wash their hands of any disparaging remarks - acting as they are untouchable, irreproachable and immune from criticism.
One commentator said:
"It has got to the stage that to criticise them is to criticise Scotland. They should not be allowed to wrap themselves up in tartan the way the Whisky and Wind Power industries do."
These investigators don't mess about though. The same regulators caught and fined European Shrimp traders 28Million Euro in 2013 - which put one of them out of business. And in 2014 we saw Russian importers heavily fined for the same dodgy game.
But what of these Norwegian companies operating in and polluting Scottish waters? They are the recipients of Scottish taxpayers cash through grants, loans, investments, shares. Scotland is "in it", despite the SSPO washing their hands of it.
You only need to watch a few minutes of a cartel movie to know that the first thing the runners do is offload the goods to another country and get Government Ministers on their side. Fergus Ewing has been handling dodgy foreign salmon like some obsequious addict for nearly 3yrs, Richard Lochhead before him and Ross Finnie before that. It's time the cover was blown.
We know they are handling dirty fish, dirty money and dirty business practices, this inquiry may very well prove the activists and whistleblowers were right all along.
Here we have a film from 2016 on the "Salmonopoly" going on in Norwegian Salmon: