Animal Justice has filed a legal complaint with animal welfare authorities after an employee witnessed sentient fishes being violently abused and killed at Sustainable Blue, a so-called “sustainable” land-based salmon farm in Burlington, Nova Scotia. A video of these shocking acts shows fishes being stomped to death and bashed against tanks.
At Sustainable Blue, fishes are killed regularly if they are deemed sick or slow-growing. In the video, a worker is seen stomping on a salmon’s head twice to kill the fish. In another clip, a supervisor is seen killing two fishes—one who is pregnant—by brutally slamming them multiple times against the side of a tank.
This supervisor claims there is no protocol for killing the fishes, and that there is “no right way” and “no wrong way” to carry it out.
Fishes are complex, sentient beings who can feel pain and suffer, and it’s illegal to subject them to abuse. These methods of killing clearly cause suffering to the fishes, and violate provincial and national animal cruelty laws. Animal Justice is urging authorities to investigate these brutal acts and hold the facility to account for illegal animal cruelty.
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Fish Protection Laws Explained
Fishes are legally protected from abuse under the Criminal Code and provincial animal welfare laws.
Provincial law prohibits causing distress to animals, including fishes, and prohibits an animal’s custodian from permitting them to be in distress. Unlike most other provinces, Nova Scotia doesn’t have an exemption for standard farming practices. The Criminal Code also makes it an offence to cause unnecessary pain, suffering, or injury to animals, including fishes.
While there are currently no laws that specify how fishes should be slaughtered, the industry’s voluntary guidelines don’t permit the horrifying actions shown in the whistleblower video.
Those guidelines are created by the National Farm Animal Care Council (NFACC), an industry-led group that produces “codes of practice” for the treatment of animals in farming. The code for salmon farming states that fishes intended for slaughter must be treated in a way that prioritizes their welfare until the moment of death. Blunt force trauma can only be used to kill salmons if a secondary killing method is used—which doesn’t appear to be the case at Sustainable Blue. It specifies that acceptable killing methods should cause rapid, irreversible unconsciousness, followed by a swift death, and that the most humane method for the situation should always be used.
Fishes suffer to an unimaginable degree on Canadian fish farms. Although fishes are not counted as individuals in Canadian statistics (their lives are only measured in tonnes), Animal Justice’s analysis suggests that Canada slaughters around 30 million salmons on fish farms every year. This number doesn’t include fishes who die on fish farms before they can be slaughtered for food—like the ones killed on camera at Sustainable Blue.
Sustainable Blue’s Public Image Vs. Reality
Sustainable Blue markets itself as a “responsible” and “sustainable” fishing operation, promising zero fish escapes, zero wastewater, and no antibiotics or hormones. They claim their staff works to “ensure fish are healthy and happy 24/7.”
However, the reality is far more troubling. The facility confines hundreds of thousands of salmons at various growth stages in densely-stocked, barren, unnatural conditions. Despite their claims, Sustainable Blue relies on the mass suffering of sentient fishes, who face abuse behind closed doors.
In November 2023, Sustainable Blue experienced a mechanical failure that killed 96,000 salmons, after a filter that removes dissolved carbon dioxide failed. The corporation is currently in receivership after significant financial loss from the deaths. Since the equipment failure, the facility has not been able to slaughter fishes.
Fishes are Sentient Beings Who Feel Pain
Scientific research has proven that fishes and other aquatic animals are sentient creatures who can experience sensations and emotions, including pain and suffering. Fishes have a nervous system that includes pain receptors similar to those found in mammals and birds. When these receptors are stimulated by harmful stimuli, they send signals to the brain, triggering pain responses.
Fishes have been shown to be vastly more intelligent than many people previously assumed. Fishes have been observed engaging in complex behaviors like cooperation, memory recall, and problem-solving.
Call for Charges Over Sustainable Blue Abuse
The fishes at Sustainable Blue deserve justice and protection—and the violent cruelty depicted on camera should be taken seriously by the public as well as animal law enforcement.
Please join us in calling on the Nova Scotia Minister of Fishes and Aquaculture, Kent Smith, to initiate an investigation into Sustainable Blue and the violent abuse of salmons, and to hold the corporation to account.
