Scottish Sea Farms has promoted its regional manager for Orkney, Richard Darbyshire, to the new role of Northern Isles regional manager, with responsibility for the company’s Shetland and Orkney farms. The position will be supported by two new area manager roles.
The Stirling, U.K.-headquartered producer explained that the three newly created roles are part of a restructure aimed at helping the company “set a new benchmark for sustainability in the sector.” The move will see its three existing farming regions consolidated into two: Northern Isles and Mainland Scotland.
“We will now have two farming regions of a similar size in terms of number of farms, each one overseen by its own dedicated regional manager: Innes Weir, who joined us in December 2019, with responsibility for our farms on Scottish mainland, and Richard Darbyshire in his new Northern Isles role,” Scottish Sea Farms Managing Director Jim Gallagher said. “Richard has been instrumental in the stand-out results achieved on Orkney: from the exceptional team he has built around him and the superior fish they have reared together, to his work identifying the best growing conditions for possible new farms. Combined, it’s delivered some of the strongest biological performances across our farming estate. We’re now looking to Richard to bring this same unwavering focus on fish health and appreciation of the local environment to our Shetland farms, helping identify and make the necessary changes to bring about similar scale improvements as achieved on Orkney.”
Darbyshire, who has worked in the Scottish salmon farming sector for 31 years, including 19 years at Scottish Sea Farms, will divide his time between Orkney, where he is based, and Shetland.
“I’m ready and raring to go in terms of helping the Shetland team achieve consistently high standards across all farms and functions: infrastructure, equipment, staffing, health and safety, reporting, training, and development,” he said. “This is a really exciting time for all of our marine farmers – Orkney, Shetland, and Mainland too – with our new Barcaldine RAS Hatchery producing significantly bigger smolts that require less time at sea. We’ve also got more tools at our disposal than ever before to proactively protect fish health. I’m keen to do whatever I can to help both of our Northern Isles teams maximize this strong start and deliver their best biological performances yet.”
The recruitment of two area managers is now underway, with one to be based in Shetland and the other in Orkney.
“It’s really important that we have local boots on the ground in each area; sector-experienced figures who understand the local marine conditions and have their sleeves rolled up ready to support our farm teams, ensuring they have the resources they need and enabling timely discussions around any additional support they might need,” Gallagher said.
In December last year, Scottish Sea Farms divided its former production manager position into two new roles with separate remits: Regional manager for Scottish mainland with responsibility for all marine farms in the area; a role taken up by Innes Weir during the same month – and director of farming with responsibility for all freshwater and marine activities; a role assumed by Gideon Pringle in March 2020.
Photo courtesy of Scottish Sea Farms
