Big win: factory fish farm stopped!

Wiltshire Council has overturned its decision to approve an intensive land-based salmon factory farm, following a legal challenge brought by our allies at Communities Against Factory Farming.

Land-based salmon: a catastrophic new form of factory farming

Globally, around 70% of all salmon we consume is farmed. Most of this salmon is produced in open net pens, giant floating cages in coastal waters, fjords and lochs where there is no barrier to waste feed, faeces and chemicals contaminating the surrounding waters.

Now, a new trend has emerged, with companies around the world experimenting with producing salmon on land, bringing a new wave of environmental and ethical concerns.

Using costly, high-tech systems, salmon are raised in captivity in indoor tanks. These warehouses are sterile, artificial, unnatural and built for mass production. Salmon are crammed into barren indoor tanks, denied natural light and space, suffering until slaughter or premature death. This is nothing more than factory farming.

These systems can still result in shocking mass mortality events, in which thousands of fish can die, as well as huge water demands. A 10,000-tonne salmon farm, for example, would require wastewater-treatment capacity equivalent to that of a town of up to 100,000 people.

Additionally, land-based farming also does not solve the feed problem. Salmon are carnivores meaning that no matter where they are produced, whether on land or at sea, they rely on wild fish as feed. Research from 2024 shows that producing 1 kilogram of salmon can require up to 6 kilograms of wild fish. Many of these wild fish could otherwise have been used directly for human consumption, highlighting the staggering inefficiency baked into this industry.

Despite claims that land-based salmon farms have little impact on their surrounding environment, reporting has revealed cases involving pollution, tank collapses and fish escapes – all of which can pose risks to surrounding ecosystems and, in some cases, wild fish populations.

The current situation in the UK

In the UK, interest in land-based salmon farming is growing. While no large-scale commercial land-based salmon facilities are currently operating, multiple projects are already in the pipeline, including the one in Wiltshire.

The proposed facility would have been located just metres from the River Avon, an area of conservation for the protection of certain species including chalk stream salmon. Chalk stream salmon are classified as ‘vulnerable’ by the IUCN, just one major shock could push them beyond recovery. We simply cannot afford any additional risks to this species.

More than 1,100 people objected to this planning application. However, in May, despite fierce opposition, Wiltshire Council approved plans for a land-based salmon factory farm in Downton without properly assessing its potential environmental impacts.

Ramping up the pressure, Communities Against Factory Farming challenged the council over its failure to consider animal-welfare harms and its alleged failure to properly assess serious risks to the River Avon. As a result, Wiltshire Council has overturned its decision to grant planning permission, meaning that this proposed land-based factory fish farm has been stopped in its tracks.

How can you help?

The legal proceedings undertaken by Communities Against Factory Farming in this case still need to be covered.

If you can, please help Communities Against Factory Farming cover the legal costs incurred in stopping this intensive fish farm by donating via the link below.

Donate here

Together, we can halt the development of land-based salmon factory farming in the UK for good!

Read our briefing about land-based salmon farms here.