Instead, ministers decided to regularly publish graphic photos from official fish health inspections of caged salmon farms in line with their duties under freedom of information law.

The government has been praised by anti-fish farming campaigners for standing up to “desperate legal threats” from companies. The companies stress that the vast majority of their fish are healthy.

The Ferret reported in June 2018 that the Scottish Government had released more than 300 photos taken by fish health inspectors since 2015. Campaigners called them “shocking and stomach-churning”.