30 years of Scottish Aquaculture
By the late 1990s it was clear there was money to be made from mussel farming
SCOTTISH SHELLFISH
tion always just around the corner, despite the introduction of several orders for scallop ranching.
Mussel sales pushed ahead, driven by the development of su- permarket outlets, better packaging and value-added products. Mussel prices also rose steadily – while, in the late 1980s, a price of £500-600/tonne was acceptable, by the mid-1990s the norm was almost £1,000/tonne.
While oyster production benefited from the discontinued use of TBT on salmon farm nets, the oyster price remained disap- pointingly low. Indeed, a report from the early-1990s showed that farms were still getting the same price (18 pence per shell) as in the early 1980s. As a result, there were calls for promo- tional work to develop a public taste for cooked oysters – a call that is still being made.
1990 saw the first algal toxin closure on the west coast of Scotland caused by PSP and, although we had been warned to watch out for this by the Irish industry, it still came as a shock. There was a flurry of headlines predicting how ‘Mad Prawn Disease’ spelt doom for the industry and, once the problem had passed, there was speculation as to whether the toxin would return.
Unfortunately, as we know, it is now an unwelcome but ex- pected annual occurrence – along with DSP, ASP and various other new toxins. Although the industry as a whole has survived algal toxins, the frequent disruption in sales has meant the end for many individual businesses and the demise of virtually the whole of the once promising Orkney industry. 1993 saw the UK join the EU single market and the harmo- nisation of all the rules and regulations concerning shellfish production. This created another tier of administration for the industry to deal with – including a huge increase in paperwork and the need to keep a careful watch on how legislation from Brussels might impact business.
One of the major changes to come from this was the Shellfish Harvesting Waters Directive, the testing and classification of
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waters, which brought an end to the days when we could sell shellfish as ‘pure’ merely because they were produced in the pristine waters off the remote Scottish coast. Suddenly, many of our sites were deemed to be no more pure than parts of the Thames estuary, and below those sites used in Dutch bottom culture. As well as a certain sense of incredulity, this development brought with it a need for expensive puri- fication plants, regular sampling, traceability and even more paperwork. Inevitably this was the cue for more exits from the industry, but the survivors continued to develop new markets and expand production, and the SSMG increasingly began to set the pace for the industry. By the late-1990s there was clearly money to be made from mussel farming; there were knowledgeable consultants avail- able, and a brand new farm could be put into the water in a few weeks if you had the money. This change brought big new companies and outside investment into the industry. Outside investment was nothing particularly new; the earlier years had seen the rise and fall of Scallop Kings and Kishorn Shellfish, which had both ultimately failed because of poor understanding of the technical issues. The new influx of fund- ing seemed content to rely on existing expertise, but investors created a new business model with better finance to make its advances. This model amalgamated smaller units, centrally managed production, processing and packaging, and increased mechanisation to boost production. Shetland has been the leader in growth under this model and is now the principal production area.
2003 brought devolution for Scotland and, although there were fears that this would bring yet another layer of bureaucra- cy, there has been a streamlining effect – and it is much easier to bend the relevant Minister’s ear. All the administrations have been positive in their attempts to help the industry and our full potential will hopefully be realised one day in the not too distant future.
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