Fish Farmer February 2026

With costs rising across the Scottish seafood sector and pressure on margins increasing, it is no surprise that companies are looking to extract more value from what is already being landed.

Last March, The Scottish Ocean Cluster was launched with the view of bringing together key sectors to work collaboratively to find higher value uses for side-stream products that have traditionally delivered little or no return.

We talk to Project Manager Dr Tracy White to find out what has been happening recently to take the project forward.

Sea lice are a significant problem for the salmon industry, with farmers using an armoury of tools to help deal with the issue, including models to help them understand what sea lice are doing.

We speak to Dr Andrew Dale, a physical oceanographer and Principal Investigator in Numerical Modelling for a project being run by a team of scientists from the Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS), to hear about the progress they are making with their research into sea lice larvae.

Elsewhere, Benedikte Ranum dips her toes into the waters of seaweed bathing to find out why this ancient coastal tradition is making a comeback, and Nick Joy takes a critical look at the denial running through the very heart of the aquaculture industry.

We also provide a sneak peek of what you can expect at this Seafood Expo Global in Barcelona this April, while Mathias Engell Holmstrup reports on new research that has been looking into how African aquaculture can reduce its losses from pollution and disease.