Mowi defends salmon farming against latest BBC attack

SCOTLAND’S biggest salmon farmer, Mowi, has defended its farming practices ahead of a potentially damaging BBC broadcast next week. The Panorama programme, titled ‘Salmon Farming Exposed’, airs on Monday night and Mowi said in a statement issued today that it expects this to provide ‘an unbalanced and negative portrayal of our industry and company’. Mowi…

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Algal bloom hits Loch Fyne farm

THOUSANDS of fish have died following an algae outbreak at the Scottish Salmon Company’s Quarry Point farm on Loch Fyne, the BBC reported. The company said it believed recent warm weather was to blame for the mortalities, which were removed yesterday by lorries. ‘Following the warmer water temperatures in recent weeks, a suspected algae bloom…

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Industry talks to itself about growth

AQUACULTURE industry representatives from around Scotland are holding a meeting in Edinburgh today to discuss how to accelerate the sector’s growth. But despite industry leaders’ stated aim of improving transparency as a criteria of expansion, the gathering, of nearly 100 delegates, is to take place behind closed doors. The decision not to invite press and…

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Focus on Brexit effect at summit

RURAL Economy minister Fergus Ewing will address the Seafood Summit in Aberdeen on Wednesday as the industry awaits the outcome of the latest Brexit deliberations. The focus of the summit, organised by industry body Seafish, is on the impact of the UK leaving the EU, which was due to take place this week, on March…

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Women in aquaculture group launched

REPRESENTATIVES from across the aquaculture industry in Scotland are meeting today to launch Women in Scottish Aquaculture (WiSA), which aims to encourage more women to join the sector. Aquaculture professionals from industry, academia and the public sector, gathering at Stirling University, will celebrate International Women’s Day by pledging to support women in the industry. The…

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Prize winning Prof is new Stirling boss

PROFESSOR Selina Stead has been appointed director of the Institute of Aquaculture at Stirling University. She takes up her new post on March 1. Stead (pictured) is currently Dean, Public Orator and Professor of Marine Governance and Environmental Science at Newcastle University, where she has worked for the past 15 years. In July 2017 she…

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Marine Harvest loses 24,572 fish in storm

WEATHER damage to an offshore salmon farm off Barra in the Outer Hebrides in November caused the escape of 24,572 fish. The incident, at Marine Harvest’s Hellisay sea site, was reported to Marine Scotland. The company said notification of the sustained storm event and potential for escape were reported on November 11, and confirmed when…

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Farmed and wild salmon sectors seek consensus

THE first meeting of the farmed and wild salmon interactions group, held yesterday in Edinburgh, got off to a good start, according to its chairman, John Goodlad. The group, established by Scotland’s Rural Economy Secretary Fergus Ewing in May as part of the Strategic Framework for Farmed Fish Health, includes representatives from the farming and…

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Boat builder plans Clyde hub

A SCOTTISH boat builder has plans to establish a marine engineering hub on the Clyde with the potential to create 1,000 jobs. Malin Group, which entered the aquaculture market earlier this year, bringing a 16.2m workboat to the Aviemore trade show in May, has commissioned an economic impact assessment on a 47-acre site in West…

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Cooke’s recipe for offshore success

SCOTLAND’S rural economy minister, Fergus Ewing, learnt about advances being made in offshore salmon farming during a recent trip to Orkney. The minister visited Cooke Aquaculture’s Kirkwall base to hear about progress at the company’s new, high energy site at East Skelwick in Westray. Granted planning permission last summer, the farm is 2.5km offshore, and…

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