Iceland looks to Scottish salmon success

ICELAND should look to the success of fish farming in Scotland and other neighbouring countries as a benchmark for the future development of its own aquaculture sector, fishing industry chiefs heard recently. Jens Garðar Helgason, chairman of the Icelandic Confederation of Fisheries Companies, which has included fish farming firms since January, told his organisation’s annual…

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Top salmon farmer denies price fixing

MANY of Norway’s biggest salmon companies are being sued in the US over alleged price fixing, according to reports yesterday. The move follows raids by European Commission officials in February at the Scottish offices of Norwegian owned producers. Mowi, Leroy, SalMar, and Grieg are among those named in a class-action lawsuit alleging customers were harmed…

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Industry talks to itself about growth

AQUACULTURE industry representatives from around Scotland are holding a meeting in Edinburgh today to discuss how to accelerate the sector’s growth. But despite industry leaders’ stated aim of improving transparency as a criteria of expansion, the gathering, of nearly 100 delegates, is to take place behind closed doors. The decision not to invite press and…

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Wild salmon stocks at ‘crisis point’

WILD salmon catches in Scotland are at their lowest level since records began, according to Fisheries Management Scotland. The body, which represents fisheries boards, said figures due to be published later will show stocks of the fish are at their lowest levels since 1952 and at ‘crisis point’, the BBC reported this morning. Environment secretary…

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Shetland welfare course goes global

AQUACULTURE students from around the world have enrolled on a fish welfare course run from Shetland, thanks to online learning. More than 200 students – from Norway, Denmark, Switzerland, Spain, Portugal and Canada – have signed up to the course since it was launched, by the NAFC Marine Centre UHI. The course was developed by…

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Tromsø dilutes ban on sea farms

THE northern Norwegian city of Tromsø has rowed back on its controversial plan for an outright ban on open sea fish farms within its municipal area. The left leaning city council caused a big stir last November when it declared that all future development should be centred around closed, land based farms. The decision brought…

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Mowi plans to farm in the depths

NORWEGIAN salmon farmer Mowi plans to lower its fish farms far below the surface of the sea, combining technology from the Norwegian aquaculture, subsea and offshore industries. The company has applied for 36 development licences for the realisation of its AquaStorm concept, it announced in a press release. ‘This is the largest development project we…

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Salmon veteran to run Tasmania mill

FEED company BioMar has appointed farming veteran David Whyte to run its new plant in Tasmania, due to open in early 2020. Whyte, a marine biologist with 32 years’ experience in aquaculture, was chief operating officer at New Zealand King Salmon for a period last year. He has had leading roles at Marine Harvest Scotland…

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Salmon farmers a good bet, says bank

A LEADING Nordic financial institution has said it expects salmon farming companies to continue to show an increase in earnings this year. Danske Banke, which is Danish owned and has operations in at least 16 countries, believes prices are expected to rise or at least remain stable this year and this means salmon stocks constituted…

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Ace scoops second Queen’s Award

DUNDEE based Ace Aquatec has won a prestigious Queen’s Award for the second year in a row after its electronic stunner was recognised for animal welfare innovation. The Award for Enterprise Innovation marks the success of the company’s in-water electric stunning system in rendering fish unconscious before being processed. The honour, which coincides with the…

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