This page contains a Flash digital edition of a book.
INTRODUCTION


30 years of Scottish Aquaculture


responsible for their outstanding success and what the future holds for the UK’s most dynamic food production sector.


A potted history of Scottish aquaculture


Early beginnings


Although the main boom in Scottish aquaculture has been over the last 30 years, the industry’s origins go back much further. One of the first attempts to develop a commercial-scale fish farm was at Howietoun, near Stirling, in the 1870s, in a bid to produce stock for angling waters. Meanwhile, rainbow trout were introduced to the UK from the United States in 1885 and farming them had become established in Scotland in the 1960s. In a similar way, the origins of salmon farming sprang from the desire to re-stock angling waters. Salmon were relatively easy to hatch but hard to grow in captivity because they were harder to feed and had to be grown on in saltwater. The first ef- forts to grow salmon for direct human consumption in Scotland occurred in 1965 – a story that will be told in more detail by Steve Bracken. Meanwhile, in Norway, companies such as Mowi started growing salmon in enclosures and the Grønvedt broth- ers had begun growing salmon on the island of Hitra in floating net pens. The first Scottish salmon was harvested in 1971 while, by 1972, there were five farms in Norway producing a total of 46 tonnes a year.


1970s – exciting times


The 1970s saw the establishment of many new Scottish fish farming companies, as well as the growth of support services for the industry. The Unit of Aquatic Pathobiology was set up at the new campus university in Stirling in 1971, while the White Fish Authority was breeding a range of species in Ardtoe and


6


Hunterston. It was exciting time of expansion and investment in Scottish aquaculture, but only a handful of companies were profitable at this stage.


1980s - commercialisation


This was to change in the 1980s as production levels started to build significantly. Indeed, Scottish salmon production rose through the decade – from 598 tonnes in 1980, to 28,553 tonnes (worth £100,000) by 1989. Industry expansion was backed by grant funding and, by the end of the decade, there were over 100 companies farming salmon at 300 or so sites across Scotland. Most were cage-based, but companies such as Otter Ferry and Landcatch developed land-based on-growing systems too.


1990s – growth


The 1990s saw very rapid expansion of salmon production – from 30,000 tonnes per year at the start of the decade, to 126,000 tonnes in 1999. Inevitably this also led to casualties, as the market did not expand so rapidly and prices collapsed. Unilever sold their stake to Marine Harvest in 1992.


Post-millennium realities


Nutreco continued their expansion into salmon aquaculture by acquiring Hydro Seafood in 2000, although the Scottish sites belonging to Hydro had to be sold off separately because of a Competition Authority ruling. This led to the creation of Scot- tish Seafarms, a 50:50 joint venture between two Norwegian companies – Leroy and Salmar.


For most salmon farming businesses the only way to survive was to get bigger, which has resulted in a trend of ever-fewer, ever-larger companies. Indeed, back in 1996 there were 106 companies actively farming salmon in Scotland, while by 2000 there were only 90 companies farming 346 sites. And this proc-


www.fishfarmer-magazine.com


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100
Produced with Yudu - www.yudu.com