The Scottish government on Tuesday announced that it's providing financial aid to Shetland salmon farmers hurt by the infectious salmon anemia (ISA) outbreak. The package is valued at about GBP 1.5 million (USD 2.2 million, EUR 1.6 million).
Three cases of ISA were confirmed at southwest Shetland salmon farms on 2 January, 30 January and 20 March. The fish were immediately eradicated from the pens to prevent the spread of the virus. Distribution restrictions were also implemented in the area.
Some of the financial aid will be used to compensate QA Fish, a small independent salmon farm whose fish weren't hit by ISA but were held up due to the distribution restrictions.
European Fisheries Fund aid will also be available to other small and medium-sized operations that were due to sell smolts to the southwest Shetland salmon farmers but couldn't because their pens aren't being restocked during a fallow period.
Compensation will not be offered for ISA-affected fish farms, similar to other salmon-producing countries in Europe, according to the Scottish government.
"Salmon farming is a vital part of the economy in many remote and rural communities in Scotland. The industry supports about 5,000 direct and indirect jobs in Scotland, including those in salmon processing, and its output has a value of about GBR 324 million," said Roseanna Cunningham, Scotland's environment minister.
"It is therefore vital that we do all we can to support the industry through the difficulties caused by the ISA outbreak," added Cunningham. "We have decided to focus our support on those small and medium-sized enterprises which are least able to endure an occurrence such as this. The package of financial support we have announced today will help the affected businesses stay on their feet, which is particularly important in the current economic climate."
"We are pleased that the Scottish government has seen fit to offer compensation to assist us through this difficult period," said Gordon Johnson, director of QA Fish. "Due to the measures imposed, our small family-owned business was facing a very uncertain future, which this assistance will go some way to alleviate."
ISA is a highly contagious virus that can be deadly to fish but does not affect humans. Chilean salmon farmers have been battling to contain an outbreak of the disease since mid-2007.
March 24, 2009
