Water Quality/Profile – Paul Finnegan Small fish in a BIG pond
ONE OF SCOTLAND’S LAST INDEPENDENT SMOLT PRODUCERS DISCUSSES OPERATING AS A ONE MAN BAND
ROB FLETCHER P 22
aul Finnegan is a well-known face in the aquacul- ture industry, having been involved in fi sh farming since 1984, when he enrolled at the SAC in Dumfries. Since then he’s worked in a number
of sides of the business – ranging from trout farms, to marine salmon sites, to hatcheries. He has held numerous job titles, including project
manager for Stolt Sea Farms and freshwater manager for West Minch Salmon, and in 2006 he decided to set up his own independent hatchery at Meavag, on Harris, which he runs with his wife, Maria, together with oc- casional help from casual and seasonal staff.
What’s it like being an independent during a period of consolidation in the industry? There are very few independent fry or smolt produc-
ers left in the business and a number of producers have closed down in the last year – it’s getting harder and harder for us to survive. Perhaps the toughest issue we face is getting long term
contracts. This lack of commitment makes it almost im- possible to plan and invest in the business or to get any
Paul Finnegan is currently converting his hatchery from flow-through to recirculation
funding from the banks. For as long as I can remember, the big companies have
been saying that they won’t need independent produc- ers in a year or two’s time because they will be self-suf- fi cient. However, this has not been the case and if these companies were to commit to long term contracts it would give them the quality they demand and the inde- pendents the long term stability they need – it would be a win-win situation.
What challenges do you face moving from fry- only into smolt production? Previously, when I was only producing fry, I was able
to produce up to 1.8 million a year, but I’m currently growing 240,000 smolts instead, so we’re a pretty small operation, though we have the capacity to do a lot more. The practical process is not too diffi cult and the biggest challenge is probably the increased costs and the new gear needed – the last time we had a quote for four 9m2 steel smolt cages the fi gure came to £73,000, which is a horrendous cost, so we’ve had to improvise and use second hand 12m2
steel cages instead. The time required to grow the smolts is another big
www.fishfarmer-magazine.com
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