FIN FISH
30 years of Scottish Aquaculture
ARDTOE: a plaice in aquaculture history
AN ISOLATED YET INFLUENTIAL RESEARCH FACILITY By Craig Burton & John Dye
Introduction D
espite being a small Highland township, with just five houses, Ardtoe occupies a pivotal place in the development of UK aquaculture and its name is well known throughout the aquaculture industry. Indeed, Ardtoe’s in- fluence and reach is worldwide – former staff and students have dispersed around the globe, conducting groundbreaking research and helping to develop aquac- ulture wherever they have settled. Many have gone on to occupy key industry or governmental posts. Such personal contacts and networking have also led to numerous unofficial collaborations that often transcended commercial and politi-
cal considerations at a higher level. However, thanks to its diminutive size and its remote location on the Ardna- murchan peninsula, few people would be able to locate the research facility on the map.
In 1965 the White Fish Authority chose Ardtoe as the location for its Marine Farming Unit. Thanks to favourable natural conditions a shallow portion of the head of the bay could be separated from the main bay by two dams to form a marine ‘pond’. A third dam was quickly added when the volume of freshwater run-off from the surrounding hills began to cause the salinity of the pond to fluctu- ate too much.
For many years, the cold-water Ard- toe site was complemented by a sister warm-water unit, at Hunterston, but the latter closed in 1976, and a series of field locations were also used over the years – including one for oysters at Brynsiencyn on the Menai Straits.
The original intent at Ardtoe was to build upon work dating back to World War II. According to the initial plan the pond would be fertilised to encourage a bloom in plankton as food for juvenile plaice introduced from Port Erin (before the adjacent hatchery was built). How- ever, the project was not an outstanding success – mainly due to technical hus- bandry issues and the problems caused
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