TROUT
30 years of Scottish Aquaculture
Dalsgaard in 1975, Richard struggled to find a competent man- ager to replace the Dane. ‘It was hard to find anyone with any experience in fish farming, let alone anyone with qualifications in it,’ he explains. ‘Indeed, we even tried employing a chicken farmer, as I thought someone who could produce 5 million chickens a year was probably capable of doing the same for trout.’
Richard Haldane at the remains of his original site * Continued from page 41
In 1974, buoyed up by this success, Richard set up two other sites nearby – at Frandy and St Mungo’s. And, although his initial business consisted of small orders to independent table farms, a visit to the first Sparsholt Conference saw him receive an order to supply 300,000 fish to Arthur Humbert of Kimbridge Trout Farm in Hampshire, immediately followed by even larger orders from Chris Saunders-Davis of Test Valley Trout. ‘In subse- quent years Chris became a close personal friend and a director of Cloan, a monument to his input being the Frandy Fish Farm as it is today. From here on the business went from strength to strength and we sold 2 million five gramme fish in 1975 and some 3.5 million the following year,’ Richard explains. However, perhaps inevitably, this exponential growth rate didn’t last forever and, following the departure of Kris
This experiment, however, had disappointing results, and it was not until 1985, with the return of one the hatchery’s early workers, Ken Mackenzie, that production figures began to climb once more – peaking at 10 million in 2005, by which time the industry had changed and evolved considerably. ‘When we started,’ Richard continues, ‘it was rather a glam- orous business; populated by a genial band of people. It was fun and dozens of people wanted jobs – even if it meant living in bothies and working outside without any cover. As a result probably at least 50 people learned the ropes here and, many of these, such as Ken McKenzie and Calvin Knight, are still in the business today. Nowadays, however, it is seen as quite the opposite and it’s a real struggle to find people to do the work.
Changes
Richard leased his four farms to Scot Trout in 2006 and, follow- ing the company’s demise in 2008, the leases were taken on over by Dawnfresh, but he still keeps an interest in the industry and how it has changed over the years. One of the biggest changes he perceives is how the spectre of disease is no longer as frightening as it once was. ‘When we started,’ he explains, ‘disease was a terrifying word. The merest mention of IPN, in particular, sent shivers down the spine, because if your fish were infected by it, it would likely mean instant bankruptcy.’ Other diseases also posed a threat to the business. ‘The way fish with BKD were treated was, and in my opinion still is, one of the biggest nonsenses in the industry – not only was it endemic to Scotland, as it had been found in Dee salmon in the 1930s, but it is also unusual for it to cause serious losses amongst trout. Yet, despite this, its presence could seriously damage your operation, with threatened closure and compulsory slaughter – without any compensation! ‘Other threats periodically posed by the likes of ERM and fry anaemia, were less frightening, as they could all be dealt with, but were still fairly virulent – largely because we didn’t re- ally appreciate the crucial role of good husbandry and careful monitoring of fish health. This lead to our instituting what we called ‘Cloan Health Check’, every different batch of fish being checked for parasites, bacterial problems and diseases once a fortnight.’
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Landmark moments in his 34-year career included the initial production of all female trout in 1983, a technique he was the first to attempt on a large scale – perhaps with good reason. ‘We had to wait until the children had gone to bed,’ he ex- plains, ‘and then treat the trout food with nasty chemicals and alcohol – a process we had to conduct on the kitchen table behind locked doors to keep the children out, as I was terrified that one of the children would inadvertently be treated!’ Automation also made a huge difference. ‘While the most
When we started it was rather a glamorous business populated by a genial band of people
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