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Tons of rotting fish are piled in skips in scenes which campaigners claim show disease is rife in Scotland’s farmed salmon industry.

Investigators shot footage of seafood dumped in tanks at two sites off the west coast.

The £600million industry is Scotland’s single biggest food exporter and provides nearly 2500 jobs. But it faces problems such as sea lice, which attach themselves to the skin of the fish.

(Image: UGC)

Scottish ministers launched measures earlier this year to tackle soaring levels of salmon mortality amid concerns of a disease crisis.

Don Staniford, of Scottish Salmon Watch, captured the images earlier this month.

He said: “This is symptomatic of factory farming – it’s the underbelly of battery factory salmon farming. Infectious diseases are rife in the industry and about a fifth of farmed salmon stock is dying.

“The fish in these tanks are not going to shops but they have been swimming alongside ones that are.”

The images were taken at Marine Harvest’s site at Gorsten, near Fort William, and Scottish Salmon Company’s Strondoir Bay site, near Ardrishaig on Loch Fyne.

Staniford said: “These fish are dying of horrible infections and diseases.”

We told in June how about 300,000 fish died at the Marine Harvest site at Carradale, Argyll, after a heavy storm.Marine Harvest Scotland’s Ian Roberts accused Staniford of “misrepresenting” the firm.

He said the survival rate of the salmon at Gorsten is above 92 per cent, which is “exceptional”.

(Image: UGC)

He added that veterinarians and fish health professionals cared for the salmon and regularly test the population for naturally occurring fish health challenges.

He said: “The care and health of our stock is top priority.”

The Scottish Salmon Company said: “We are fully committed to responsible farming practices. Everything possible is done to ensure the health and welfare of our stock.”

The Scottish Government said it was not unusual for some fish to die farms were required to safely store mortalities on site before disposal.”