The Salmon Farm Monitor
An rud bhios na do bhroin, cha bhi e na do thiomhnadh
"That which you have wasted will not be there for future generations"

Home | The Problems with Salmon Farms | About Us | Contact Us | Links | What You Can Do
| Latest News | Media and Docs Archive | Press Releases | Rod McGill | Guest Column



The Salmon Farm Protest Group's 'Supermarket Salmon Watch' Campaign

On 28th March, EU regulations making it compulsory for supermarkets and fishmongers to label salmon as farmed or wild became law in England, Wales and Scotland. The Salmon Farm Protest Group believe it essential that such laws be enforced to provide the public with the information they deserve to help preserve our natural environment and safeguard their own health. We've launched a 'Supermarket Salmon Watch' campaign to check up to see if supermarkets and fishmongers are obeying the law, and we are hoping that you'll join us.

For more, take a look at the Salmon Farm Monitor's brief guide to the details of the new law. If you'd like to present the details of the law to supermarkets or fishmongers, you can download the guide here in word format and print it out. The Food Standards Agency have also produced detailed guidelines.

Become a Supermarket Salmon Monitor:

Next time you are in the supermarket or fishmongers check what salmon products are on sale and how they are labelled:

  1. Does the label on the salmon state whether the fish is farmed or wild?
  2. Is the country of origin identified on the label?
  3. If your supermarket has a 'wet' fish counter, or if you are in a fishmonger, is there a notice to tell customers if the salmon steaks or whole fish on display are farmed or wild?

If the salmon is not properly marked:

  • Please tell us. Simply fill out our on-line Supermarket Monitor form by clicking here. We'll collect the information, take up any cases with the supermarkets, and keep you informed of progress.
  • We're also asking supporters to send the product wrapping, date and place of purchase, and a purchase receipt to us: The Salmon Farm Protest Group, Hysbackie, Tongue, by Lairg, Sutherland IV27 4XJ. This will help us take the case forward.
  • If you'd like to take a complaint forward yourself, you can contact your local Environmental Services Department or Trading Standards Office. Trading Standards have an on-line complaints service. Both will be in the phonebook. The more people that can do this, the better. Do please let us know how you get on.

Latest news from the campaign

The Supermarket Watch Campaign updated list of violations reported by our supporters ...

31st July: The Irish government finally implements the EC Fish Labelling Regulations

23rd July: Government officials in Belgium contact the SFPG to offer thanks for drawing the matter to their attention

22nd July: The SFPG are now working with Trading Standards officers in the UK on a “Fish Survey” of supermarkets to monitor compliance

21st July: The UK’s Seafish Industry Authority, over 18 months after the Fish Labelling Regulations became law, finally issued a press release referring to “new rules on the labelling of fish” ...

14th July: The Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources pledged that a new statutory instrument should be in place in Ireland “within weeks”

13th July: After radiation from Sellafield was detected in Scottish farmed salmon the Irish Salmon Farmers Association renewed their calls for proper labelling

10th July: The SFPG lodged a complaint with the Radio Authority over a misleading advert by Sainsbury’s: web-link to the complaint

7th July: In the Irish Times An Taisce (National Trust for Ireland) criticised the Government for failing to implement EU law

2nd July: The Irish Salmon Growers Association called on the Irish Government to introduce legislation immediately

1st July:Patricia McKenna, Green MEP for Dublin, lodges a similar complaint ...

1st July: The SFPG lodge a complaint with the EC over the UK's failure to implement Commission Regulation No 2065/2001

29th June: Safeway's Ferry Road branch in Edinburgh is still selling illegally labelled salmon stakes and fillets. The SFPG has written to the Safeway Chief Executive Officer asking for 'clarification'

25th June: Wirral Trading Standards pass several SFPG complaints onto Sainsbury's head office in London

24th June: Trading Standards in Cumbria tell the SFPG that businesses have asked for and been granted "indulgence in enforcement"

24th June: Two supermarkets chains in Edinburgh caught selling illegally labelled salmon (Edinburgh City Council refuse to name which supermarkets were involved)

22nd June: Safeway in Bath still ignoring the law with its fresh salmon steaks and fillets

20th June: Trading Standards in Swindon tell Sainsbury's to take "remedial action" to correct their labelling

18th June: The Food Standards Agency finally inform Edinburgh City Council of the Fish Labelling Regulation

18th June: Sainsbury's claim Cumbria Trading Standards have given them permission until 11th July to break the labelling law

15th June: An article in The Sunday Herald newspaper - "Food agency caught out over salmon labelling delay" - exposes the Food Standards Agency' s role in failing to notify enforcement agencies

14th June: Sainsbury's in Cheltenham selling illegally labelled 'Pinney's of Scotland' smoked salmon

13th June: Sainsburys caught selling farmed salmon products without the required labelling across the UK ...

12th June: Edinburgh City Council tell the SFPG that they are not aware of the Fish Labelling Regulation

11th June: Sainsbury's stores in Edinburgh, Lancaster, Liverpool and Oxford caught selling unlabelled John West smoked salmon

11th June: Co-op in Edinburgh caught selling illegally labelled 'Youngs' smoked salmon (Young customer careline claims no labelling laws exist!)

4th June: SFPG accuses Waitrose of breaking the law ...

2nd June: The European Commission tell the SFPG that the UK, Ireland, Greece, Luxembourg and Belgium are all breaking EU law

May: Safeway continue to defy the new labelling laws, despite an exchange of correspondence with SFPG Chairman Bruce Sandison in which they stated that they would fully comply ...

5th May: SFPG supporter Richard Archer from Salisbury informs us that Waitrose are selling improperly labelled salmon. A month previously, Waitrose had acknowledged SFPG's campaign, but made no commitments ...

22nd April: SFPG supporter Jim Boyd reports improperly labelled salmon on sale in Tesco's; a week earlier, Tesco's had written to SFPG Chairman Bruce Sandison assuring him that all Waitrose salmon products had been properly labelled. ...

17th April: SFPG Chairman Bruce Sandison has written to Safeway CEO, Carlos Criado-Perez, drawing his attention to the widespread mislabelling of salmon products in Safeway stores ...

8th April: SFPG has been in discussions with Waitrose and Safeways concerning allegedly improper descriptions of their salmon products. Read the latest letters from Bruce Sandison concerning Waitrose's misplaced claims to be selling 'Tweed' salmon ...

1st April: SFPG Chairman Bruce Sandison writes to the major UK supermarkets announcing the campaign and requesting them to comply with the new laws on labelling. Read his letter ...