The salmon farming industry, which produces Scotland’s biggest food export, is coming under new scrutiny as use of antibiotics has soared in four years as use elsewhere slumped.
Analysis produced Salmon Scotland accepts that 8.9 tonnes of drugs with an antibiotic ingredient were used in 2021, over two-and-a-half times more than when data was first published in 2017.
Meanwhile, use in other food-producing species such as turkeys and chickens has slumped.
In 2017, the World Health Organisation was recommending that farmers and the food industry stop using antibiotics routinely to promote growth and prevent disease in healthy animals.
It warned then that over-use and misuse of antibiotics in animals and humans is contributing to the rising threat of antibiotic resistance.
While salmon use of antibiotics has soared trends compiled by the animal industry on a voluntary basis for the Veterinary Medicines Directorate shows that usage has plummeted with other animals since it was first analysed.
According to directorate data use in ducks has dropped by 89% since 2014, in turkeys it is down 81% since 2014, in broiler chickens there’s been a drop of 72%, in trout and pigs there has been a decline by 69% since 2017 and 2015 respectively, in game birds the dip is 55% since 2016 and in laying hens, there has been a 50% slump.
Salmon Scotland said that the cattle and sheep industry – which is significantly larger- does not publish any antibiotic figures – and so the analysis is an “incomplete” picture of all farming. It also said that the pig farming sector uses double the amount of antibiotics of salmon farming.
The most used antibiotic used by the Scots salmon industry is Oxytetracycline accounting for 86% of total use.
Salmon is Scotland’s single biggest food export – worth over £600 million – and is estimated to support 12,000 jobs and 3,600 suppliers in Scotland.
International sales of Scottish salmon were valued at £280m in the first half of 2022 alone, and the industry has said it is on course for record exports this year.
Campaigners have been pushing for fish farm companies to end the drug dependency and for tougher regulation of salmon farms.