Iceland farmed fish exports continue to surge

By Vince McDonagh ICELAND’S fish famers enjoyed one of their best export periods during the month of February, the latest statistics show. The value of overseas sales, mainly salmon, totalled 2,927 million Icelandic kroner (ISK) – or around £16.6-million sterling. This is the second highest month since figures for farmed fish exports were issued. It…

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Scottish salmon producers spell out Covid battle plans

By Vincent McDonagh THE Scottish Salmon Producers Organisation has issued a Covid-19  information update and more useful advice through  a series of questions and answers from its chief executive Julie Hesketh-Laird. They show that despite the obvious challenges thrown up by the crisis the industry is managing to steer a steady, if difficult,  course in…

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Supermarkets join forces to keep food on shelves

SUPERMARKETS are to work together to help feed the nation during the coronavirus outbreak, after the government relaxed competition laws. The move allows retailers to share data with each other on stock levels, cooperate to keep shops open, or share distribution depots and delivery vans. It would also allow retailers to pool staff with one…

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Scottish Salmon Company hires former Mowi boss

FORMER Mowi Scotland chief Alan Sutherland has been appointed as marine director of the Scottish Salmon Company. Sutherland was managing director at what was then Marine Harvest for nine years until 2016, when he was replaced by the company’s current boss, Ben Hadfield. With a career in aquaculture spanning almost four decades, Sutherland will be…

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Mowi loses 73,600 fish at exposed site

Mowi Scotland lost 73,600 salmon after storm Brendan damaged a net pen at the company’s Colonsay site. The company, which revealed the loss on its website and has reported it to the regulator, said the fish were an average weight of 1.9kg. A post-storm inspection showed structural failure of the pen, causing a tear in…

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Fish farmers anxious as Norway faces political turmoil

NORWAY’S fish farmers were nervously looking over their shoulders yesterday as the prospect of a general election and a possible left leaning Labour led government loomed. The country has been plunged into political crisis after the Progress Party decided to leave Erna Solberg’s Conservative coalition administration. The storm centres on a decision to allow a…

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BBC says sorry for salmon sector bias

COMMENTS made by BBC presenter Nicky Campbell against Scotland’s salmon industry ‘should have been more accurate’, said the corporation as it apologised for bias. The head of news at BBC Radio 5 Live, Jonathan Crawford, issued an apology after the Scottish Salmon Producers Organisation (SSPO) complained about Campbell’s broadcast earlier this month. In two programmes,…

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China fuels October Norway salmon surge

STRONG demand from China and other parts of Asia helped fuel a 14 per cent growth in Norwegian salmon exports during October, the latest figures show. Salmon sales totalled 117,000 tonnes last month and were worth NOK 6.7 billion  (£566 million) an increase of just four per cent, probably due to the fall in salmon…

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Bakkafrost buys larger stake in SSC

BAKKAFROST yesterday completed the acquisition of more shares in the Scottish Salmon Company, taking its holding to almost 78 per cent. The Faroese salmon farming company bought a 68.6 per cent controlling interest in the Edinburgh based business last month in a deal eventually worth a total of £517 million. CEO Regin Jacobsen later said…

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Record half year sales for Scottish Salmon Company

THE Scottish Salmon Company has announced a strong financial performance with record sales during the first six months of this year, despite facing a number of market related challenges. It was only two months ago that the Edinburgh based company, which operates some 60 sites on the west coast of Scotland and in the Hebrides,…

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