Norwegian-headquartered salmon breeder and egg supplier AquaGen has purchased Scottish Sea Farms’ freshwater hatchery at Holywood, near Dumfries.
The acquisition follows a successful trial production of eggs under license in fall 2018 and will enable AquaGen to supply eggs from its locally-grown broodstock to Scotland’s salmon farmers. The deal will also facilitate a targeted breeding program to identify the genetic and biological traits most suited to Scottish farming conditions.
“We’re planning a series of upgrades to the existing facilities at Holywood, using Scottish suppliers as much as possible, then we will go into full production later this year. Deliveries will be from November to June initially; longer-term we hope to extend to year-round production of up to 50 million eggs annually,” AquaGen CEO Nina Santi said.
AquaGen Scotland which was established in 2017 and is headquartered at Stirling University Innovation Park will oversee the production and research. Four team members will be based full-time at Holywood, and two new roles will be created at the hatchery as production develops.
Scottish Cabinet Secretary for the Rural Economy Fergus Ewing welcomed the investment. He said that it would support the aims of the country’s 10-Year Farmed Fish Health Framework, by helping to improve the security of its ova supply.
Photo courtesy of AquaGen
