Barbed wire jellyfish kill 200,000 at Scottish salmon farms

22/01/2025
Filippo Fratini, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Filippo Fratini, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Scottish salmon farms have suffered severe losses caused by barbed-wire jellyfish (Apolemia uvaria) which killed 200,000 salmon across two sites, believed to be the worst jellyfish attack on record in Scotland. The farms reported the mortalities for October and November 2024. Surviving fish at both locations were harvested following emergency procedures to prevent further losses.

The jellyfish cause severe burns on the gills, skin and eyes of salmon, often leading to death from infections. The fish, crowded in open net pens, cannot escape the attacks.

The jellyfish has already caused major damage in Norway, where they killed over three million salmon last winter. Norwegian regulators issued warnings and advised farmers to cull affected stocks as soon as possible.