Scottish salmon message reaches new audiences

FLYING into Kirkwall’s tiny airport you would be hard pressed to imagine anywhere else in the UK where a population of only 26,000, spread across 16 or so inhabited islands, could deliver such an incredible breadth of fine quality food and drink. The islands’ produce ranges from renowned whiskies, gins, cheeses and meats to chocolate…

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Fast test to detect deadly heart disease

AN early warning system for one of farmed salmon’s deadliest diseases is being developed by a Scottish research consortium. Cardiomyopathy syndrome (CMS), a fatal viral disease which causes inflammation of the heart, is known to be caused by piscine myocarditis virus (PMCV), although the triggers for the disease are not fully understood. It can lead…

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Cooke buys Skretting’s UK feed plant

CANADIAN owned salmon farmer Cooke has bought Skretting’s Scottish feed mill in Invergordon, which ceased production in April this year. New Brunswick based Cooke announced today the establishment of Northeast Nutrition Scotland at the Easter Ross site. Skretting, owned by Nutreco, said last year that the decision to close its UK operation was due to…

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Cooke plans to expand in Shetland

COOKE Aquaculture is planning to expand its Scottish operations with a proposed new farm in Shetland. The Canadian owned company has submitted an application for a 2,500-tonne, 12 x 120m circumference cage farm off Fetlar, the Shetland News reported. The development, at the Wick of Gruting, will cost more than £2 million and provide four,…

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AKVA lands new Cooke deal

AKVA group’s land based division has announced a deal with Cooke Aquaculture for ‘several larger land based smolt projects’. The first of these is a project in Chile, due to be finalised in Q3 2019, with delivery expected from Q4 2019 to Q4 2021, said AKVA. The Norwegian based company’s land based business has experienced…

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SSC suitors ‘could come from outside industry’

BIDS for the Scottish Salmon Company could come from outside the industry, a leading Norwegian seafood analyst has suggested. As speculation continues to mount, Carl-Emil Kjølås Johannessen, who works for the Nordic financial services company Pareto, said there could be a number of potential buyers for the business, but ruled out Mowi as he believes…

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Industry pays tribute to Tavish as he bows out of politics

THE Scottish salmon industry has paid tribute to one of its staunchest champions, Tavish Scott, as he stands down from frontline politics. The former Liberal Democrat leader and MSP for the Shetlands was elected to the first parliament 20 years ago and has long celebrated the impact of aquaculture in his constituency and beyond. During…

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$570,000 boost for Nova Scotia seafood

NOVA Scotia, Canada’s most important seafood export province, is to spend more than half a million dollars expanding its fishing and aquaculture businesses. The two-year programme will see the state invest $570,000 over the next two years. The fund, called the Seafood Accelerator Programme, was announced by the province’s Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture Keith…

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Early success at new wave farm

COOKE Aquaculture’s newest site in Orkney, East Skelwick, lies 2.5km from the nearest landfall or, as farm manager Stewart Rendall puts it, ‘on the edge of the ocean’. Described as a trial site, it is Scotland’s most exposed high energy farm, and its success could help change the way salmon are farmed in the future.…

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Study explores impact of RAS on salmon

THE impact of recirculation aquaculture systems (RAS) on salmon smolts is to be investigated by a consortium led by Stirling University’s Institute of Aquaculture (IoA). The £2 million Robust-Smolt study – involving 14 institutions and organisations – will compare the robustness and susceptibility of RAS reared Atlantic salmon to pathogens. Over the next three years,…

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