Spies, Lies, and Salmon Farms
Imagine taking your child out for the day, only to find out later you were being tailed by ex-military spies — all because you dared to question an industry. That’s life for activists who exposed the Scottish salmon farms.
According to The Guardian’s investigation, private “spies for hire” were deployed to stalk activists Corin Smith and Don Staniford. These activists had documented sea lice-infested fish, twisted spines, and gaping wounds inside salmon farms — footage that sparked public outrage and featured on the BBC.
Behind this surveillance was Blue Square Global, a private intelligence firm run by Damian Ozenbrook, a former British paratrooper who boasts about transferring “hostile environment” skills into corporate spying. Ozenbrook and his operatives — many ex-military or ex-police — weren’t tracking terrorists or violent criminals. They were following people who dared to film fish.
The activists weren’t just watched. They were catalogued, their social media scoured, and personal data like home addresses and phone numbers listed in so-called “intelligence reports.” Smith even found a tracker on his car in 2021. Ozenbrook denies knowledge of the device, but the message is clear: speak out, and we’ll follow you home.
All this to protect an industry already swimming in controversy. Scottish salmon is Scotland’s biggest food export, propped up by a handful of opaque offshore investors. The fish-farming company behind the surveillance was once owned by financiers tied to murky post-Soviet deals and offshore tax havens. They’re multi-million-dollar operations, fiercely defending their image while animals rot in underwater cages.
This surveillance game isn’t new. Private intelligence firms — sometimes run by ex-MI6 or special forces officers — have infiltrated Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth, and climate groups, all at the behest of corporate giants. No oversight. No transparency. Just ex-soldiers playing private eye, with your data as collateral.
State surveillance at least pretends to play by the rules, with supposed checks and balances. But in the private sector? It’s a free-for-all. Legal experts call it “a wild west,” where privacy and human rights are collateral damage in the pursuit of profit.
When activists like Smith and Staniford uncover cruelty and call for justice, they’re met not with public debate, but with corporate espionage. Tracking devices. Threat letters. And shadowy men with cameras.
This is the reality when you challenge industries built on domination — whether it’s salmon farms, fur factories, or slaughterhouses. If you expose suffering, you become the target. If you ask for transparency, you get a tail.
These tactics are designed to silence. To scare activists into stepping back. To protect business as usual, even as fish waste away in cages and ecosystems collapse around them. The Scottish salmon industry doesn’t just exploit fish — it’s willing to stalk humans to keep the conveyor belt of profits turning.
Ozenbrook claims his firm acts “legitimately, lawfully, and proportionately.” Meanwhile, families are followed, children photographed, and homes invaded by paranoia.
Staniford refuses to stay silent. He’s faced court orders trying to block his investigations. Smith, too, persists despite the psychological toll of constant surveillance. Because here’s the inconvenient truth: if you don’t have anything to hide, you don’t need spies. If your industry can’t withstand scrutiny, maybe it shouldn’t exist at all.
The activists weren’t the criminals here. They were the conscience. And that’s exactly why they were hunted.
What can you do?
Besides boycotting the fishing industry and encouraging others to do the same...
👉 Sign our petition demanding the immediate closure of Bakkafrost’s Portree salmon farm and a halt to new fish farm approvals.