The Soil Association announced it would withdraw its logo from organic farmed salmon after a review raised concerns over animal welfare and environmental performance.

The charity will stop setting its own standards for organic salmon, having concluded it lacked confidence that improvements could be delivered quickly enough.

The decision followed a two-year review of its involvement in the sector, which identified high mortality rates that were not significantly better than those at non-organic sites.

Soil Association chief executive Helen Browning said: “The evidence suggests that welfare and environmental outcomes are not sufficient for us to continue.”

The review highlighted rising sea temperatures, parasite outbreaks, jellyfish blooms and disease, with some mortality events outside producers’ control.

It also raised concerns that organic feed requirements created excessive reliance on wild fish stocks, while traceability challenges limited the potential to switch more quickly to marine by-products and trimmings.

However, the move will not prevent qualifying salmon from being sold as organic under existing regulations.

Soil Association Certification will honour its contracts in the short term, certifying businesses against those regulations while next steps are agreed.

The charity will work with suppliers on a timetable for removing its logo, allowing processors time to change packaging and account for products with longer shelf lives.

Salmon Scotland said it had received assurances from the UK government that farms would continue to be assessed against organic standards without losing certification.

The Soil Association acknowledged that its standards had helped improve practices across the industry, including restrictions on veterinary treatments, and said it would continue advocating for better salmon farming outcomes.

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