Scottish Fish Farm Production Survey 2011

The annual production survey of fish farms in Scotland for 2011 was carried out

by Marine Scotland Science (MSS). This survey collates annual production data from

Scottish fin fish farm sites operated by authorised aquaculture production businesses.

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2. ATLANTIC SALMON ( Salmo salar) - OVA AND SMOLTS

Production survey information was collected from all 28 companies actively involved in the freshwater production of Atlantic salmon, farming 98 active sites. This figure represents the entire freshwater industry operating in Scotland.

Company and Site Data

Table 12: Number of companies and sites in production during 2003-2011

Year No. of companies No. of sites
2003 48 176
2004 48 172
2005 41 148
2006 39 135
2007 37 135
2008 38 130
2009 30 105
2010 31 104
2011 28 98

In 2011 the number of companies authorised by the Scottish Government and actively engaged in the freshwater production of Atlantic salmon decreased by three to 28. A total of 98 sites were actively engaged in commercial production.

Production and Staffing

Table 13: Number (000's) of smolts produced, staff employed and smolt productivity during 2001-2011

Year 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
Number (000's) of smolts produced 47,546 47,161 44,414 39,999 36,326 40,827 38,125 36,450 36,868 36,872 43,626
Staffing Full-time 317 312 291 259 200 209 217 209 216 233 225
Part-time 111 93 82 60 74 62 62 54 54 56 68
Total 428 405 373 319 274 271 279 263 270 289 293
Productivity, 000's of smolts per person 111.1 116.4 119.1 125.4 132.6 150.6 136.6 138.6 136.5 127.6 148.9

Smolt production in 2011 increased by 18.3% compared to 2010. The number of staff employed increased by four and productivity increased by 16.7%, to a figure of 148,900 smolts produced per employee.

Escapes

There was one incident involving the loss of 1,500 fish from a freshwater Atlantic salmon site in 2011.

Smolts by Age Group

Table 14: Number of smolts (000's) produced by type during 2000-2011

Year S1 S1½ S2 Total
2000 11,841 33,722 0 20 45,583
2001 14,684 32,732 110 20 47,546
2002 15,791 30,527 843 0 47,161
2003 14,907 28,836 671 0 44,414
2004 14,428 24,862 709 0 39,999
2005 12,639 22,197 1,489 1 36,326
2006 16,953 23,172 698 4 40,827
2007 15,431 22,694 0 0 38,125
2008 12,431 24,019 0 0 36,450
2009 13,837 23,031 0 0 36,868
2010 14,116 22,756 0 0 36,872
2011 17,233 26,393 0 0 43,626

In 2011, production was dominated by S1 smolts, numbers produced increased by 16.0%. The production of S½ smolts increased by 22.1%. There was no production of S1½ or S2 smolts.

Production Systems

Table 15: Number and capacity of production systems during 2007-2011

System No. of sites with system Total capacity, 000's cubic metres
Year 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
Cages 56 53 47 45 44 327 385 388 401 325
Tanks and Raceways 79 77 58 59 54 37 41 37 38 49
Total 135 130 105 104 98 364 426 425 439 374

The principal types of facility used for the production of smolts in fresh water are cages or tanks and raceways. In 2011, the number of farms using tanks and raceways decreased by five and the number of farms using cages decreased by one. In terms of volume, tank and raceway capacity increased by 11,000 m³ and cage volume decreased by 76,000 m³. This resulted in a net decrease in volume of 65,000 m³ available for the production of smolts in Scotland during 2011.

Table 16: Number (000's) of smolts produced and stocking densities by production system during 2007-2011

Number of smolts produced (000's) Stocking densities (smolts /m 3)
Year 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
Cages 19,440 17,065 17,041 20,333 23,135 59 44 44 51 71
All others 18,685 19,385 19,827 16,539 20,491 505 472 536 435 418
Total 38,125 36,450 36,868 36,872 43,626 - - - - -

The average stocking densities of cages increased from 51 to 71 fish per m³ in 2011 compared to 2010 while densities in tanks and raceways decreased from 435 to 418 fish per m³.

Ova Production

Table 17: Number (000's) of salmon ova produced during 2004-2011

Year 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
No. of ova 128,866 73,211 60,941 83,822 135,230 91,964 91,655 78,208

Just over 78.2 million ova were stripped in 2011, a decrease of over 13.4 million (14.7%) on the 2010 season.

Table 18: Source, number (000's) and previous year's estimate of ova laid down to hatch during 2000-2012

Year In-house broodstock Out-sourced GB broodstock GB wild broodstock Foreign ova Total Previous year's estimate
2000 38,674 33,592 1,605 4,660 78,531 69,220
2001 40,086 32,002 615 10,720 83,423 83,458
2002 40,732 30,664 120 15,184 86,700 80,679
2003 38,766 21,138 0 20,822 80,726 73,193
2004 31,390 20,024 27 19,138 70,579 74,464
2005 43,261 22,465 71 9,896 75,693 65,741
2006 19,063 17,768 63 27,157 64,051 58,385
2007 18,837 14,366 78 42,022 75,303 68,032
2008 19,831 14,261 171 26,409 60,672 75,302
2009 17,148 20,158 65 30,200 67,571 64,693
2010 13,744 26,220 0 29,657 69,621 61,011
2011 15,664 14,630 0 34,322 64,616 54,526
2012 55,723

The number of ova laid down to hatch was 64.6 million, a decrease of just over 5 million (7.2%) on the 2010 figure. The majority of the ova (53.1%) were derived from foreign sources this being an increase of 4.7 million (15.7%) on the 2010 figure. Supplies derived from GB broodstock decreased by 9.7 million this being a 24.2% decrease on the 2010 figure. Producers' estimates for the number of ova to be laid down in 2012 has decreased from the actual number of ova laid down in 2011. No ova from GB wild broodstock were laid down in 2011, however, in previous years the ova derived from wild stocks were generally held and hatched for wild stock enhancement by the aquaculture industry in cooperation with wild fisheries managers.

Smolts Produced and Put to Sea

Table 19: Actual and projected smolt production and smolts put to sea (millions) during 2002-2013

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
Actual smolts put to sea 50.1 43.8 39.1 37.2 41.1 37.8 36.6 38.5 38.5 42.7
Smolts produced 47.2 44.4 40.0 36.3 40.8 38.1 36.4 36.9 36.9 43.6
Estimated production 49.3 44.2 40.0 36.2 33.2 41.2 34.9 32.6 28.7 35.9 31.3 43.6
Ratio of ova laid down to smolts produced 1.8 1.8 1.8 2.1 1.6 2.0 1.7 1.8 1.9 1.5

The figure for the number of smolts put to sea includes smolts produced in England and fish imported from elsewhere, whereas smolt production data relate only to those produced in Scotland. Farmers estimate putting 31.3 million smolts to sea in 2012.

The ratio of ova laid down to hatch to smolts produced in 2011 was less than the ratio in 2010.

Scale of Production

Table 20: Smolt-producing sites grouped by numbers (000's) of smolts produced during 1999‑2011

Year Scale of production No. of sites in production Total smolts produced
1-10 11-25 26-50 51-100 101-250 251-500 501-1,000 >1,000
1999 1 1 15 25 29 24 21 7 123 39,763
2000 1 2 10 17 36 24 24 9 123 45,583
2001 0 1 7 19 30 26 13 14 110 47,546
2002 1 1 11 17 29 34 17 10 120 47,161
2003 2 0 7 20 32 31 12 10 114 44,414
2004 3 3 9 14 31 22 18 7 107 39,999
2005 2 1 4 15 25 22 21 4 94 36,326
2006 1 4 2 9 19 21 18 10 84 40,827
2007 2 2 4 7 21 21 14 11 82 38,125
2008 2 1 5 8 21 20 15 9 81 36,450
2009 0 0 3 7 14 18 10 12 64 36,868
2010 1 0 4 4 16 15 10 14 64 36,872
2011 1 0 4 5 11 14 9 17 61 43,626

Note: These data refer only to sites producing smolts. The sites holding only ova, fry or parr are excluded.

The number of sites producing smolts has decreased to 61 in 2011. The number of sites producing less than 101,000 smolts has increased by one and there has also been a decrease of seven in the number of sites producing more than 100,000 but less than one million smolts. The number of sites producing in excess of one million smolts per year has increased by three.

Production of Ova and Smolt by Production Area

Table 21: Staffing 2011, ova laid down to hatch 2010-2011, smolt production 2010-2011 and estimated production 2012-2013 by region

Region Number of staff employed in 2011 Ova laid down to hatch (000's) Smolt production (000's) Estimated smolt production (000's)
F/T P/T 2010 2011 2010 2011 2012 2013
North West 132 31 34,316 31,950 21,927 23,420 16,665 23,615
Orkney 2 0 0 0 100 118 120 120
Shetland 12 13 2,010 1,710 1,300 1,706 1,185 1,560
West 36 9 15,395 16,501 7,328 9,631 7,000 9,660
Western Isles 30 2 10,580 9,868 4,099 6,459 4,788 6,850
East and South 13 13 7,320 4,587 2,118 2,292 1,554 1,790
All Scotland 225 68 69,621 64,616 36,872 43,626 31,312 43,595

The North West, the West and the Western Isles were the main ova and smolt producing areas in Scotland in 2011 and employed the greatest number of staff.

International Trade in Ova

Since the introduction of the EU single market on 1 st January 1993 and the associated Fish Health Regulations common to all EU member states, a trade in live salmon and ova has been established.

In addition, the European Economic Area ( EEA) Agreement allows trade between the EU and the member states of the European Free Trade Association ( EFTA). Until 2003, trade under the EEA Agreement was restricted to halibut alevins and salmonid eggs or gametes. With the cessation of these restrictions, trade became based on the same rules as are established within the EU regarding compartments and zones declared free from listed diseases. Areas of Norway have equivalent status to Great Britain with regard to non exotic diseases, but approved National Control Measures granted to Great Britain in respect of Gyrodactylus salaris has meant trade in live fish has not occurred. Changes to these protective measures in 2003 mean the importation of salmonid ova is permitted from Norway.

Trade with Third Countries has also been established, but only from sites that have met the same health standards as are established within the EU regarding the approval of farms and zones for listed diseases. Exports to countries outside the EU are subject to the health conditions placed by the importing country. Marine Scotland Science advises potential exporters to ascertain with the importing country any specific health testing requirements that may be a condition of import.

Figure 2: The distribution of active smolt sites in 2011

Figure 2: The distribution of active smolt sites in 2011

Imports and Exports

Table 22a: Source and number (000's) of ova, parr and smolts imported during 2000-2011 derived from health certificates

Ova Parr and Smolts
Import Year EU Member States EFTA Third Countries Total EU Member States
Iceland Norway Australia USA
2000 0 4,610 - 500 - 5,110 3,436
2001 8,173 10,833 - 1,620 - 20,626 2,475
2002 8,650 11,623 - 1,800 500 22,573 2,879
2003 7,820 9,518 2,900 550 400 21,188 2,570
2004 4,450 3,475 6,750 1,860 450 16,985 824
2005 2,610 570 13,210 - 450 16,840 150
2006 11,575 300 15,940 2,400 - 30,215 375
2007 10,511 0 33,555 0 0 44,066 420
2008 5,600 0 22,703 0 0 28,303 519
2009 5,460 0 29,938 0 0 35,398 328
2010 2,150 0 26,533 0 0 28,683 452
2011 3,400 0 35,851 0 0 39,251 800

The numbers of ova imported increased by 36.8%. The number of parr and smolts imported increased by 77%.

Table 22b: Destination and number (000's) of salmon ova, parr and smolts exported during 2001-2011 derived from health certificates

Export year Farmed origin Total Parr and Smolts
Chile EU Norway Others
2001 2,675 8,542 0 0 11,217 349
2002 1,600 6,627 0 0 8,227 0
2003 0 2,171 0 0 2,171 941
2004 2,215 3,699 0 0 5,914 1,488
2005 8,560 3,130 0 1,566 13,256 1,362
2006 26,930 4,312 0 0 31,242 998
2007 32,150 164 0 0 32,314 2,169
2008 62,185 130 0 15 62,330 551
2009 7,181 317 0 0 7,498 89
2010 0 189 600 0 789 130
2011 0 3 0 820 823 183

In 2011, a total of 0.82 million ova were exported. Exports of ova to other EU member states decreased by 98% to 0.003 million in 2011. Overall ova exports increased by 4.3% on the 2010 figure. Parr and smolt exports also increased.

Vaccines

Table 23: Number of sites using vaccines and number (millions) of fish vaccinated during 2003-2011

Year 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
No. of sites 104 98 84 79 73 80 68 70 67
No. of fish (millions) vaccinated 41.7 39.4 33.8 43.5 41.0 36.7 39.6 42.6 49.2

Vaccines were used to provide protection against furunculosis, a disease caused by the bacterium Aeromonas salmonicida, which was the cause of serious losses within the fish farming industry in the late 1980's and early 1990's. Vaccination is normally carried out at the pre‑smolt stage by intra-peritoneal injection. In addition, some sites vaccinated fish against ERM, infectious pancreatic necrosis ( IPN), pancreas disease ( PD) and Vibriosis. A total of 49.2 million fish were vaccinated across 67 sites.

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