Marine Harvest invest £3 million on Muck

LEADING salmon farming company, Marine Harvest, is investing £3 million on its Small Isles salmon farm, on the remote isle of Muck, off the west coast of Scotland.

Part of this investment will fund the construction of new homes to house the employees who will fill the six new jobs the site will create.

The farm is one of the first ‘open-sea’ farms planned for Scotland’s west coast, and is currently being stocked with smolts. The project is part of a wider £80million investment programme, designed to meet the growing demand for Scottish salmon.

The new farm comprises 10 circular pens, around 400ft in diameter, which will produce up to 4,000 tonnes of salmon every two years. A 300-tonne feed barge is in the process of being built in Inverness by Gael Force Marine.

The fully grown fish will be transported by well boat to the harvesting station at Mallaig, then by road to Fort William to be gutted.

Once grown, the salmon will be transported by well-boat to the harvesting station at Mallaig and then by road to Fort William for gutting.

Commenting on the new site on Muck, Alan Sutherland, MD of Marine Harvest, said: ‘Scottish salmon continues to be a great success story and we need to increase our capacity across the entire process.

‘This new seawater farm has been stocked with smolts grown in our new £16 million hatchery at Lochailort.

‘We work in a sector that brings much needed jobs and prosperity to some of the most remote and fragile communities in Scotland and we’re delighted to be playing our part in creating a sustainable future for this lovely island.

‘One of the things that can hold back development in remote communities is a shortage of housing. We’ve solved the problem by building five new homes.

‘They are suitable for families so the development of the farm should hopefully help sustain the local primary school.’

The company has also established a community fund, to help support local projects.