Loch Duart wins top export prize

INDEPENDENT Scottish salmon farmer Loch Duart has scooped the Exporter of the Year prize at the 2019 Insider Made in Scotland Awards, held in Glasgow last night. The company’s managing director, Alban Denton, and co-founder, Andy Bing, arrived back in Scotland just in time for the awards, after a busy three days at the Brussels…

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Loch Duart up for export prize

SCOTTISH salmon farmer Loch Duart has been shortlisted as Exporter of the Year in the 2019 Insider Made in Scotland Awards. The independent Scottish business, which farms in Sutherland and the Uists, has seen export sales increase by 68 per cent over the last two financial years to an all-time high for the business. Loch…

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Salmon farmers soar in top firms list

SCOTLAND’S salmon companies have been recognised among the country’s top performing firms, with several leading producers moving up in an annual league table of businesses. Mowi Scotland (formerly Marine Harvest Scotland) moves up 12 places to rank 31st in Scottish Business Insider’s Top 500 (2019) table, published this month. Mowi’s value-added processing business, based in…

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New barges will boost farm growth

SCOTTISH salmon farmer Loch Duart is to invest in new feed barges after securing £1.2 million finance from a local bank. The money, from HSBC, will enable the company, which exports salmon globally, to continue developing sustainable farming methods. The additional barges, to be built by Gael Force and significantly bigger than the producer’s existing…

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Scotland invests £3.5m in gill health

A £3.5 million research initiative has been launched in Scotland to improve the health of farmed salmon, it was announced today. Two Scottish consortiums, backed by the Scottish Aquaculture Innovation Centre (SAIC), are embarking on projects to improve gill health and resilience in salmon. The first study will explore the factors that can cause gill…

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Third of salmon farming staff under 30

A THIRD of the workforce in Scotland’s salmon farming sector are under the age of 30, according to a new report published today by the Scottish Salmon Producers’ Organisation (SSPO). The majority work in Highlands and Islands communities, employed on farms, and in engineering, veterinary, processing, sales and marketing, and HR roles, as well as…

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SEPA plans ‘will hurt smaller farms’

NEW plans to tighten regulations for Scottish salmon farms will negatively impact smaller operators, a leading producer warns. The recently published proposals by SEPA (Scottish Environment Protection Agency) aim to strengthen environmental controls over the sector, and usher in a new approach, with larger farms sited in ‘sustainable locations’. Announcing its recommendations two weeks ago,…

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Salmon star in BBC special

A LEADING salmon farmer said the industry in the future would need to ‘think a little bit differently’ if it wants to produce more fish. Interviewed for a special BBC Scotland documentary about the impact of farmed salmon on wild stocks, Steve Bracken, who worked at Marine Harvest for 41 years until his retirement in…

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Loch Duart recognised in rural awards

SALMON farmer Loch Duart has been named runner up in the Best Food Business category at the Rural Business Awards North, held in Bolton, Lancashire. The awards, which are supported by online retailer Amazon, celebrate ‘all that is great’ about rural business in the north of the UK, said the organisers. Alban Denton, managing director…

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Prize supplier up for three awards

INVERNESS based Gael Force Group has been shortlisted for three prizes at the annual Highland Business Awards. The leading aquaculture supplier has been recognised in the Outstanding Performing Business for 25+ employees and Inverness and Ross-shire Business of the Year categories. And Gael Force’s group managing director and founder, Stewart Graham, is up for the…

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