AquaGen hires Butler for hatchery role

Aquaculture breeding and genetics specialist AquaGen Scotland has appointed Steven Butler as Development Manager for its Holywood Hatchery, near Dumfries.

Butler, from Errol near Perth, comes to AquaGen with a strong background in aquaculture engineering project and hatchery management, having worked for several of the major salmon producers over the past thirty years.

He has consulted for AquaGen over the past 12 months, helping to make improvements to the hatchery, which AquaGen – which is headquartered in Norway – purchased in 2019. The plant has undergone a complete refit and transformation from a high quality smolt production unit, into a state-of-the-art hatchery and broodstock unit, with capacity to incubate up to 40 million eggs at any one time.

Butler said: “It is a great opportunity for me to bring my experience to a company that plays such an important role in the Scottish aquaculture value-chain. I believe that attention to detail in all aspects of environmental control systems is key to reliability in any production facility,” Butler said. “My mechanical and electrical engineering background, combined with my expertise in managing fish farming operational procedures, will enable me to ensure that the Holywood breeding centre is operating at maximum efficiency.”

AquaGen Scotland Managing Director Andy Reeve commented: “Over the past three years, we have grown from a core of just two people to 14 today, and we continue to invest to grow the business and enhance our reputation as a reliable supplier of top quality, Scottish eggs. The key appointment of Steven Butler takes us one step further along the road to achieving this.”

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