Scotland is striving to grow an additional 66,000 metric tons of farmed salmon over the next decade, the Scottish Salmon Producers’ Organization (SSPO) announced in its annual report, released on Tuesday.
According to the SSPO, the region’s annual farmed salmon production is expected to reach 210,000 metric tons by 2020, up from 144,000 metric tons today — that’s an annual increase of 4 percent.
Scotland is celebrating the 40th anniversary of the region’s first commercial salmon farms, and the SSPO is confident that the industry will continue to grow in a steady, sustainable manner.
“Forty years ago, some people hailed the salmon industry as the ‘replacement for the oil bonanza,’ while others questioned the credibility of the technology involved, said Scott Landsburgh, CEO of the SSPO. “We may not have matched the oil industry’s revenue — although two of our companies now feature strongly on Scotland’s top 120 companies list — but we have stood the test of time. We would now like to grow steadily and responsibly over the next 10 years to effectively increase production by half to keep pace with growing global demand.
“The industry is confident and prepared to meet the challenges ahead. It is committed to adopting the best in advanced science and technology to maintain its position as a leading Scottish food sector,” added Landsburgh. “This confidence, when set against a background of challenging market circumstances for the Scottish and UK economy as a whole, augurs well for the long-term viability of the remote rural economies of the west Highlands and Islands and the Northern Isles of Scotland.”
