Atlantic salmon production now accounts for 90 percent of the total value achieved by Scottish aquaculture and represents 95 percent of the country’s finfish production, finds a new report looking at the growth of the industry for the 10 years from 2005 through 2015.
Produced on behalf of Marine Scotland and the Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE), “The Value of Aquaculture to Scotland” study states that overall, the country’s aquaculture industry contributes GBP 620 million (USD 788.1 million, EUR 704.9 million) to the economy every year and that total production has increased by a third in the aforementioned period to 188,000 metric tons (MT).
Between 2005 and 2015, the volume of salmon produced in Scotland increased by 32.5 percent from 129,588 MT to 171,722 MT. At the same time, the structure of salmon production shifted towards fewer sites with higher production capabilities.
Indeed, ownership of production operations is concentrated among five multinational companies, which between them accounted for 92 percent of Scottish production in 2015.
The report also highlighted that the value of farmed salmon exports increased by 150 percent between 2006 and 2016 to nearly GBP 500 million (USD 635.6 million, EUR 568.6 million) last year, and estimates that around 40 percent of the salmon produced in Scotland is exported from the United Kingdom.
The other main finfish species farmed in Scotland is rainbow trout, with production totaling 8,588 MT in 2015, an increase of 23 percent compared with 2005. The value of its farmed shellfish, meanwhile, was GBP 10.1 million (USD 12.8 million, EUR 11.5 million) in 2015, with the volume of mussels increasing by 72.3 percent to 7,270 MT between 2006 and 2015.
In October 2016, Scotland’s aquaculture industry published its strategy “Aquaculture Growth to 2030,” which sets out its ambition to increase finfish production to between 300,000 MT and 400,000 MT, with a medium production figure of 350,000 MT for salmon, and annual mussel production to reach 21,000 MT.
