Scotland saw big jump in salmon production in 2024

The Scottish Government’s survey, based on returns for the calendar year 2024, shows that fish farmers in Scotland produced 192,000 tonnes of Atlantic salmon in 2024, an increase of 41,051 tonnes. The harvest forecast for 2025 is estimated to be 195,182 tonnes.

 

This increase was driven by a rise in the mean harvest weight of year 0 salmon, grilse and pre-salmon, as well as an increase in the number of fish produced across all categories (year 0, grilse, pre-salmon and year 2). The mean harvest weight for year 2 salmon remained unchanged.

 

Survival from smolt to harvest declined from 68.7% in the 2021 year class to 61.8% in the 2022 year class, possibly reflecting a very challenging 2023 for farmed salmon at sea. For 2025 so far, the industry has reported greatly improved monthly survival rates but the outcomes for 2025 have yet to be evaluated. 

 

2024 saw only one significant escape incident, involving an estimated 300 fish.

 

The number of staff directly employed on the farms decreased by 118 employees (8%). Overall, there was an increase of productivity, in tonnes produced per person, from 102 to 141.

 

The trend towards concentrating production in larger sites was maintained with 89% of production being concentrated in the sites producing over 1,000 tonnes per annum.

 

During 2024, there was a slight decrease in the number of ova produced to 55.7 million. The number of ova laid down to hatch increased by 20% to 89.5 million. 2024 saw 59% of ova being imported with the remaining 41% being derived from GB broodstock (an increase of 1% on the 2023 figure). Smolt production decreased to 44.6 million, with 52% being produced as S½ smolts and 48% as S1 smolts.

 

Projections for 2025 suggest that more smolts will be produced than in 2024, followed by a further increase in 2026.

 

Tavish Scott, chief executive of Salmon Scotland, commented: “These figures reflect another successful period for our sector, with farm-raised Scottish salmon production up by more than a quarter, demonstrating the incredible hard work of our farmers and the growing demand for our highly nutritious fish.

 

“With sales of the UK’s most popular fish increasing at home, and exports approaching £1 billion, we sustain thousands of rural jobs and enable coastal communities to thrive.

 

“While salmon face natural challenges in the sea like any fish, our farmers also uphold the highest animal welfare standards anywhere in the world and have invested more than £1 billion in new tech, leading to significantly improved survival rates in 2024 and 2025.”