90,000-tonne land-based salmon farm planned for Lewis

render of a fish farm embedded in a mountain, with a boat alongside

A Norwegian salmon company is hoping to build a 90,000-tonne land-based fish farm in a remote part of Lewis, in the Outer Hebrides. The story was broken this week by local paper the Stornoway Gazette, which was tipped off following a presentation for investors. The company concerned, Norwegian Mountain Salmon (NMS), already has plans underway…

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Subsea awards recognise underwater expertise

Aberdeenshire firm J+S Subsea was one of the big winners at last night’s Subsea Expo Awards in Aberdeen, picking up two accolades. The Kintore-based firm collected the Company of the Year Award – under 50 employees, which was sponsored by Ocean Installer, reflecting its strong growth in recent years.  A second award came in the…

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Applecross and wellboats leading Bakkafrost Scotland fightback

Increased treatment capacity and investment in the Applecross hatchery are enabling Bakkafrost to address fish health issues in its Scottish operations, the company has reported. “Dual treatment” – tackling sea lice and gill health issues at the same time in wellboats like the Ronja Star, pictured – is helping to improve fish gill health while…

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What shall I talk about?

Salmon fillets with Nick Joy cartoon logo

There’s hardly been any news about farming, so what on earth can I talk about? With French farmers dumping God knows what on their parliament and Brussels trying to fend them off the EU, there’s hardly anything interesting going on. Yet the media are finding it hard to cover. Occasionally they mention the green agenda…

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Faroes shines for Bakkafrost as Scotland steadily improves

Bakkafrost’s Scottish business began to turn the corner during the final three months of 2023, the company reported today. After a difficult time with biological challenges between July and September Bakkafrost said “The fourth quarter gave opportunities with good biological development to grow the fish, resulting therefore in reduced harvest volumes, concentrating on growing into the…

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RSPCA standards extended to cover cleaner fish

A new version of the RSPCA Assured standards for farmed Atlantic salmon welfare comes into effect from 19 May this year, with more than 300 new standards and amendments. The standards will apply to the vast majority of salmon production in Scotland. The new standards include a new set of rules covering non-medicinal treatments for…

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Vónin Scotland lands £955K for new aquaculture net facility

Vonin image

In a significant advancement for the Scottish aquaculture sector, Vónin Scotland Ltd, a leader in aquaculture services and supplies, has received £955,000 in funding from the Scottish Government. The grant will contribute towards the large investment required to develop a comprehensive facility for the maintenance, cleaning and treatment of fish farming nets. Vónin’s new operation…

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Scottish salmon is named UK’s top food export for 2023

Scottish salmon was the UK’s top food export by value in 2023, figures from HMRC show. Export sales for the calendar year totalled £581m, up by 5% year-or-year and equivalent to £1.6m every day. France – which is a key processor for on-sale to other countries as well as a major consumer of salmon –…

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Scottish Sea Farms situation beginning to improve, SalMar reports

Scottish Sea Farms could be turning the corner with its biological problems, new figures suggest today. The business has still to get back into profit, however. SalMar, which jointly owns the business with the Leroy Seafood Company, says in its 2023 fourth quarter report that SSF (also known as Norskott Havbruk) showed an improvement from…

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Mowi Scotland battling back against severe biological issues

Mowi Scotland continued to be plagued by biological problems during the final quarter of 2023, company figures show today. Challenges were unusually intense, with a high level of amoebic gill disease (AGD) which the company said was linked to the El Niño cyclical climate phenomenon and all-time high seawater temperatures. Jellyfish had also contributed to…

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