Following a complaint lodged with the Advertising Standards Authority regarding the use of the term “Sustainable“ by Loch Duart, ASA found Loch Duart to be in breach of the Advertising Code of Practice and upheld the complaint. They will rule that Loch Duart will not be allowed to use the misleading and false claim to describe or advertise their farmed Salmon products.
For the complaint, we offered a variety of independent sources of study and provided evidence of unsustainability throughout the supply chain and growth production cycle of farmed Atlantic Salmon. Examples were supplied of various companies, the Scottish Salmon Producing Organisation, Scottish Government and Government agencies using the term. The only company we found to be using the term on their fish boxes and images thereof were Loch Duart and therefore we targeted them specifically. However, the complaint was intended for the entire industry as we found no evidence of “sustainability” in the open-cage Salmon farming industry anywhere in the public domain.
This is the first time that we know of where the term “Sustainable” in the Salmon farming industry has been challenged through ASA and it is reassuring that they have approached this very serious matter with the conviction and finality shown.
If we are to believe Loch Duart’s further claims that they grow “extraordinary Salmon” and that their welfare, husbandry and feed products are indeed of a higher calibre than other Salmon producers, then it is fair to say that the entire open-cage Salmon farming industry is inherently “unsustainable“.
The first blog on this subject can be found here:
https://www.fishybusiness.co.uk/blog/unsustainability
It is now imperative that the feedlot operators, the SSPO, Scottish Government, SEPA and all other agencies cease & desist from using the term and start a process of full transparency and honesty in how they market farmed Salmon products.
Until they do, we can only assume that they are intent on misleading the public and consumers.