Scottish fish farm production survey 2017

This report is based on the returns of an annual survey questionnaire sent to all active authorised fish farming businesses in Scotland.


3. Atlantic Salmon - Production

Production

Production survey information was collected from all 12 companies actively involved in Atlantic salmon production, farming 226 active sites. This figure represents the entire industry operating in Scotland.

Table 24: Annual production of salmon (tonnes) during 1997-2017 and projected production in 2018

Year

Tonnes

Percentage difference

Year

Tonnes

Percentage difference

1997

99,197

19

2008

128,606

-1

1998

110,897

12

2009

144,247

12

1999

126,686

14

2010

154,164

6.9

2000

128,959

2

2011

158,018

2.5

2001

138,519

7

2012

162,223

2.7

2002

144,589

4

2013

163,234

0.6

2003

169,736

17

2014

179,022

9.7

2004

158,099

-7

2015

171,722

-4.1

2005

129,588

-18

2016

162,817

-5.2

2006

131,847

2

2017

189,707

16.5

2007

129,930

-1.4

2018

150,774*

*industry estimate of projected tonnage based on stocks currently being on-grown.

The total production of Atlantic salmon during 2017 was 189,707 tonnes, an increase of 26,890 tonnes (16.5%) on the 2016 total and the highest ever level of production recorded in Scotland.

Table 25: Number (000’s), production (tonnes) of salmon harvested and mean fish weight (kg) per year class during 2007-2017

Year of smolt input

Year of harvest

Number (000’s)

Production (tonnes)

Mean weight at harvest (kg)

Harvest in year 0 (i.e. in year of input)

2007

2007

23

40

1.7

2008

2008

116

216

1.9

2009

2009

81

178

2.2

2010

2010

128

268

2.1

2011

2011

109

307

2.8

2012

2012

127

301

2.4

2013

2013

0

0

-

2014

2014

286

720

2.5

2015

2015

223

626

2.8

2016

2016

114

333

2.9

2017

2017

0

0

-

Harvest in year 1

2006

2007

13,787

60,890

4.4

2007

2008

13,011

54,759

4.2

2008

2009

16,338

77,621

4.7

2009

2010

18,266

85,826

4.7

2010

2011

18,694

91,105

4.9

2011

2012

21,502

97,744

4.5

2012

2013

21,264

106,161

5.0

2013

2014

20,316

101,997

5.0

2014

2015

24,038

114,112

4.7

2015

2016

24,633

111,163

4.5

2016

2017

25,596

126,445

4.9

Harvest in year 2

2005

2007

14,999

69,000

4.6

2006

2008

15,881

73,631

4.6

2007

2009

14,132

66,448

4.7

2008

2010

13,666

68,070

5.0

2009

2011

13,772

66,606

4.8

2010

2012

13,053

64,178

4.9

2011

2013

11,283

57,073

5.1

2012

2014

13,712

76,305

5.6

2013

2015

10,910

56,984

5.2

2014

2016

10,940

51,321

4.7

2015

2017

11,094

63,262

5.7

Table 26: Number (000’s) and production (tonnes) of grilse and pre-salmon harvested during 2007-2017

Year

Grilse (January-August)

Pre-salmon (September-December)

Number

Tonnes

Average weight (kg)

Number

Tonnes

Average weight (kg)

2007

3,823

15,811

4.1

9,964

45,079

4.5

2008

3,716

15,296

4.1

9,295

39,463

4.2

2009

5,631

23,857

4.2

10,707

53,764

5.0

2010

6,877

29,733

4.3

11,389

56,093

4.9

2011

7,604

35,146

4.6

11,090

55,959

5.0

2012

11,337

53,216

4.7

10,165

44,528

4.4

2013

9,618

47,496

4.9

11,646

58,665

5.0

2014

9,048

46,686

5.2

11,268

55,311

4.9

2015

11,243

53,930

4.8

12,795

60,182

4.7

2016

13,463

59,853

4.4

11,170

51,310

4.6

2017

13,523

68,116

5.0

12,073

58,329

4.8

Table 27: Percentage (by weight) of annual production by growth stage harvested during 2009-2017

Year

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

Growth stage

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

Input year fish

<1

<1

<1

<1

0

<1

<1

<1

0

Grilse

16

19

22

33

29

26

31

37

36

Pre-salmon

37

36

35

27

36

31

35

31

31

Year 2 salmon

46

44

42

39

35

42

33

31

33

Survival and Production in Smolt Year Classes

Table 28: Survival and production in smolt year classes during 2000-2017

Year of smolt input

Smolt input (000’s)

Harvest year 0

Harvest year 1

Harvest year 2

Total % of year class harvested

(survival)

Year class weight (tonnes)

Yield per smolt (kg)

Number (000’s)

Weight (tonnes)

Mean weight (kg)

%

harvest

Number (000’s)

Weight (tonnes)

Mean weight (kg)

% harvest

Number (000’s)

Weight (tonnes)

Mean weight (kg)

% harvest

2000

45,185

765

2,673

3.5

1.7

22,726

96,539

4.2

50.3

11,354

53,535

4.7

25.1

77.1

152,747

3.38

2001

48,643

557

1,227

2.2

1.1

23,528

90,230

3.8

48.4

15,619

73,255

4.7

32.1

81.6

164,712

3.39

2002

50,086

272

824

3.0

0.5

22,602

96,205

4.3

45.1

15,555

71,988

4.6

31.1

76.7

169,017

3.37

2003

43,083

82

276

3.4

0.2

19,596

85,792

4.4

45.5

13,920

61,850

4.4

32.3

78.0

147,918

3.43

2004

39,041

168

319

1.9

0.4

15,075

67,738

4.5

38.6

14,237

67,537

4.7

36.5

75.5

135,594

3.47

2005

37,168

0

-

-

0

14,036

64,099

4.6

37.8

14,999

69,000

4.6

40.3

78.1

133,099

3.58

2006

41,091

115

211

1.8

0.3

13,787

60,890

4.4

33.5

15,881

73,631

4.6

38.6

72.5

134,732

3.28

2007

37,853

23

40

1.7

0.06

13,011

54,759

4.2

34.4

14,133

66,448

4.7

37.3

71.8

121,247

3.20

2008

36,662

116

216

1.9

0.3

16,338

77,621

4.7

44.6

13,666

68,070

5.0

37.3

82.2

145,907

3.98

2009

38,548

81

178

2.2

0.2

18,266

85,826

4.7

47.4

13,772

66,606

4.8

35.7

83.3

152,610

3.96

2010

38,490

128

268

2.1

0.3

18,694

91,105

4.9

48.6

13,053

64,178

4.9

33.9

82.8

155,551

4.04

2011

42,733

109

307

2.8

0.3

21,502

97,744

4.5

50.3

11,283

57,073

5.1

26.4

77.0

155,124

3.63

2012

41,094

127

301

2.4

0.3

21,264

106,161

5.0

51.7

13,712

76,305

5.6

33.4

85.4

182,767

4.45

2013

40,936

0

-

-

0

20,316

101,997

5.0

49.6

10,910

56,984

5.2

26.7

76.3

158,981

3.88

2014

48,112

286

720

2.5

0.6

24,038

114,112

4.7

50.0

10,940

51,321

4.7

22.7

73.3

166,153

3.45

2015

45,465

223

626

2.8

0.5

24,633

111,163

4.5

54.2

11,094

63,262

5.7

24.4

79.1

175,051

3.85

2016

42,957

114

333

2.9

0.3

25,596

126,445

4.9

59.6

2017

46,116

0

-

-

0

In 2015, the last year for which survival can be calculated, the survival rate from smolt input to harvest increased to 79.1%. Of the 2016 year class, 59.9% of the input has been harvested, 5.2% higher than the average harvest of fish one year after input in the 2015 year class. In 2017, there was no harvest of fish from the 2017 input. This was a decrease compared with the proportion of fish harvested from the same year class in 2016.

Smolts to Sea

Table 29: Number (000’s) and origin of smolts put to sea during 2005-2017

Year

Smolts put to sea (000’s)

Total (000’s)

Scottish Origin

English Origin

Other Origin

S1

S1½

S2

%

(000’s)

%

(000’s)

%

2005

13,051

22,501

1,616

0

37,168

96

1,594

4

0

0

2006

15,578

23,733

1,779

0

41,090

96

1,257

3

272

<1

2007

14,665

23,188

0

0

37,853

94

1,747

5

420

1

2008

11,101

25,561

0

0

36,662

96

1,418

4

0

0

2009

14,967

23,581

0

0

38,548

95

1,700

4

105

<1

2010

14,069

24,421

0

0

38,490

95

1,541

4

120

<1

2011

17,721

25,012

0

0

42,733

96

1,765

4

0

0

2012

17,334

23,480

280

0

41,094

96

1,510

4

0

0

2013

19,262

21,534

140

0

40,936

97

1,169

3

0

0

2014

23,758

24,212

142

0

48,112

94

893

2

2,072

4

2015

22,886

22,569

10

0

45,465

96

938

2

1,082

2

2016

22,052

20,905

0

0

42,957

97

1,048

2

611

1

2017

25,490

20,626

0

0

46,116

97

976

2

300

<1

The total number of smolts put to sea in 2017 was 46.1 million. This smolt input comprised S1s (44.7%) and S½s (55.3%). There was no production of S1½s or S2s in 2017. Just under 3% of the smolts stocked to Scottish salmon farms were sourced from outwith Scotland, less than 1% of which came from sources outwith GB. This was a very slight decrease compared with the proportion observed in 2016.

Survival and Production in Smolt Year Classes by Production Area

Table 30: Number (000’s) of smolts put to sea and year class survival by area during 2006-2017

Region

Smolts put to sea (000’s)

Harvest in year 0

Harvest in year 1

Harvest in year 2

Total Harvest

Year

No

Year

No

%

Year

No

%

Year

No

%

No

%

North West

2006

10,403

2006

115

1.1

2007

4,300

41.3

2008

3,612

34.7

8,027

77.1

2007

9,563

2007

23

0.2

2008

5,394

56.4

2009

1,850

19.3

7,267

75.9

2008

9,099

2008

116

1.3

2009

4,897

53.8

2010

2,687

29.5

7,700

84.6

2009

9,986

2009

42

0.4

2010

7,045

70.5

2011

2,003

20.1

9,090

91.0

2010

9,924

2010

117

1.2

2011

6,324

63.7

2012

2,802

28.2

9,243

93.1

2011

12,605

2011

53

0.4

2012

7,937

63.0

2013

1,744

13.8

9,734

77.2

2012

11,588

2012

127

1.1

2013

7,179

62.0

2014

2,623

22.6

9,929

85.7

2013

10,975

2013

0

0

2014

6,549

59.7

2015

1,695

15.4

8,244

75.1

2014

17,543

2014

191

1.1

2015

9,649

55.0

2016

3,768

21.5

13,608

77.6

2015

8,646

2015

223

2.6

2016

6,122

70.8

2017

1,695

19.6

8,040

93.0

2016

14,534

2016

114

0.8

2017

9,711

66.8

2017

9,527

2017

0

0

Orkney

2006

1,622

2006

0

0

2007

433

26.7

2008

586

36.1

1,019

62.8

2007

1,408

2007

0

0

2008

594

42.2

2009

741

52.6

1,335

94.8

2008

1,912

2008

0

0

2009

507

26.5

2010

1,120

58.6

1,627

85.1

2009

1,154

2009

0

0

2010

741

64.2

2011

95

8.2

836

72.4

2010

2,557

2010

0

0

2011

1,126

44.0

2012

936

36.6

2,062

80.6

2011

2,718

2011

0

0

2012

1,203

44.3

2013

765

28.1

1,968

72.4

2012

2,727

2012

0

0

2013

1,422

52.1

2014

1,167

42.8

2,589

94.9

2013

2,104

2013

0

0

2014

1,023

48.6

2015

512

24.3

1,535

72.9

2014

2,829

2014

0

0

2015

1,412

49.9

2016

1,244

44.0

2,656

93.9

2015

3,266

2015

0

0

2016

1,580

48.4

2017

1,521

46.6

3,101

95.0

2016

3,050

2016

0

0

2017

1,184

38.8

2017

3,524

2017

0

0

Shetland

2006

13,180

2006

0

0

2007

4,578

34.7

2008

4,959

37.6

9,537

72.3

2007

14,947

2007

0

0

2008

4,610

30.8

2009

4,930

33.0

9,540

63.8

2008

13,929

2008

0

0

2009

4,992

35.8

2010

4,659

33.4

9,651

69.2

2009

10,031

2009

29

0.3

2010

4,201

41.9

2011

3,234

32.2

7,464

74.4

2010

11,573

2010

0

0

2011

4,134

35.7

2012

4,292

37.1

8,426

72.8

2011

11,206

2011

49

0.4

2012

4,911

43.8

2013

2,709

24.2

7,669

68.4

2012

11,389

2012

0

0

2013

4,995

43.9

2014

4,022

35.3

9,017

79.2

2013

9,956

2013

0

0

2014

4,289

43.1

2015

3,034

30.5

7,323

73.6

2014

11,309

2014

0

0

2015

5,042

44.6

2016

2,663

23.5

7,705

68.1

2015

9,040

2015

0

0

2016

5,322

58.9

2017

1,592

17.6

6,914

76.5

2016

10,640

2016

0

0

2017

6,012

56.5

2017

8,539

2017

0

0

South West

2006

7,032

2006

0

0

2007

2,677

38.1

2008

3,065

43.6

5,742

81.7

2007

6,135

2007

0

0

2008

980

16.0

2009

3,289

53.6

4,269

69.6

2008

6,507

2008

0

0

2009

4,153

63.8

2010

2,969

45.6

7,122

109.4*

2009

8,200

2009

10

0.1

2010

2,700

32.9

2011

4,697

57.3

7,407

90.3

2010

6,565

2010

12

0.2

2011

3,000

45.7

2012

2,648

40.3

5,660

86.2

2011

7,493

2011

0

0

2012

2,673

35.7

2013

3,706

49.4

6,379

85.1

2012

7,363

2012

0

0

2013

2,841

38.6

2014

3,863

52.5

6,704

91.1

2013

7,801

2013

0

0

2014

3,202

41.0

2015

3,564

45.7

6,766

86.7

2014

6,981

2014

95

1.4

2015

3,771

54.0

2016

2,023

29.0

5,889

84.4

2015

11,156

2015

0

0

2016

4,944

44.3

2017

3,643

32.7

8,587

77.0

2016

8,093

2016

0

0

2017

4,643

57.4

2017

11,106

2017

0

0

Western Isles

2006

8,853

2006

0

0

2007

1,799

20.3

2008

3,659

41.3

5,458

61.6

2007

5,800

2007

0

0

2008

1,433

24.7

2009

3,320

57.2

4,753

81.9

2008

5,214

2008

0

0

2009

1,789

34.3

2010

2,231

42.8

4,020

77.1

2009

9,177

2009

0

0

2010

3,579

39.0

2011

3,743

40.8

7,322

79.8

2010

7,870

2010

0

0

2011

4,110

52.2

2012

2,375

30.2

6,485

82.4

2011

8,711

2011

7

0.1

2012

4,778

54.9

2013

2,358

27.1

7,143

82.0

2012

8,027

2012

0

0

2013

4,827

60.1

2014

2,037

25.4

6,864

85.5

2013

10,100

2013

0

0

2014

5,254

52.0

2015

2,105

20.8

7,359

72.8

2014

9,451

2014

0

0

2015

4,164

44.1

2016

1,242

13.1

5,406

57.2

2015

13,357

2015

0

0

2016

6,665

49.9

2017

2,643

19.8

9,308

69.7

2016

6,640

2016

0

0

2017

4,046

60.9

2017

13,420

2017

0

0

* The survival of the 2008 smolt input in the South West is over 100% due to the practice of putting smolts to sea in one region and subsequently moving them to another sea water site in another region for harvest.

Staffing

Table 31: Number of staff employed in the production of salmon during 2007-2017

Year

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

Staff

F/T

798

849

874

944

923

944

1,081

1,191

1,256

1,379

1,362

P/T

118

100

89

120

90

115

99

134

107

107

69

Total staff

916

949

963

1,064

1,013

1,059

1,180

1,325

1,363

1,486

1,431

Productivity (tonnes/person)

141.8

135.5

149.8

144.9

156.0

153.2

138.3

135.1

126.0

109.6

132.6

In 2017, the total number of staff employed in salmon production was 1,431, a decrease of 55 compared with 2016. The staffing figures collected refer specifically to the production of Atlantic salmon and do not include figures for staff involved with processing or marketing activities. Productivity increased from 109.6 to 132.6 tonnes produced per person.

Production Methods

Table 32: Production methods, capacity, tonnage and average stocking densities (kg/m3) during 2015-2017

Method

Number of sites

Total capacity

(000’s cubic metres)

Production (tonnes)

2015

2016

2017

2015

2016

2017

2015

2016

2017

Seawater tanks

4

5

4

6.2

7.4

5.7

179

21

26

Seawater cages

250

248

222

20,338

20,067

19,108

171,543

162,796

189,681

For cage sites: ratio of production (kg) to cage capacity (m3)

8.4

8.1

9.9

In 2017, the majority of fish were produced in seawater cages. There were 26 tonnes of production from seawater tank sites in 2017. This reflects the high installation and running costs incurred in operating seawater tank systems. Most seawater tank capacity has been re-deployed for the production of other species of marine fin fish or salmon broodstock.

Sea cage capacity decreased by 959,000 m3 during 2017 and the number of sea cage sites in production decreased by 26. Production efficiency in sea cages, measured as the ratio of fish weight in kilograms produced per cubic metre, increased to 9.9 kg/m3. In cage sites, the ratio of production (expressed in kilograms) to cage capacity (expressed in cubic metres) was 8.4, 8.1 and 9.9 in 2015, 2016 and 2017 respectively.

Figure 3: The distribution of active Atlantic salmon production sites in 2017

Figure 3: The distribution of active Atlantic salmon production sites in 2017

Scale of Production by Site

Table 33: Number of sites shown in relation to their production grouping and percentage share of production 2007-2017

Production grouping (tonnes)

Total

0

1-50

51-100

101-200

201-500

501-1,000

>1,000

Sites*

Tonnes

2007

89

9

8

19

33

34

55

247

129,930

2008

118

7

9

15

22

29

57

257

128,606

2009

104

12

12

10

33

25

58

254

144,247

2010

109

5

6

10

33

22

64

249

154,164

2011

106

9

7

9

28

29

66

254

158,018

2012

115

3

5

9

25

33

67

257

162,223

2013

112

9

3

12

18

36

67

257

163,234

2014

117

8

1

9

26

29

70

260

179,022

2015

115

2

1

9

26

26

75

254

171,722

2016

117

3

3

9

22

26

73

253

162,817

2017

93

2

0

8

13

33

77

226

189,707

2007

0

0.2

0.4

2.3

8.3

19.0

69.8

-

-

2008

0

0.1

0.5

1.6

5.8

15.9

76

-

-

2009

0

0.2

0.6

1.0

7.7

13.0

77.5

-

-

2010

0

0.1

0.3

0.9

7.3

10.8

80.6

-

-

2011

0

0.2

0.3

0.8

6.4

13.4

78.9

-

-

2012

0

<0.1

0.2

0.9

5.0

15.0

78.8

-

-

2013

0

0.1

0.1

1.1

4.0

16.7

78.0

-

-

2014

0

0.1

<0.1

0.8

5.0

12.0

82.0

-

-

2015

0

<0.1

<0.1

0.9

5.0

11.6

82.4

-

-

2016

0

<0.1

0.1

0.8

4.6

11.7

82.8

-

-

2017

0

<0.1

0

0.6

3.2

13.9

82.3

-

-

* Includes farms stocked but having no production.

In 2017, the number of sites with no production decreased by 24 whilst the number producing 1 to 500 tonnes decreased by 14. The number of sites producing over 500 tonnes increased by 11, continuing the trend towards production in larger sites and 82.3% of production being derived from sites producing over 1000 tonnes.

Company Productivity

Table 34: Number of companies grouped by production (tonnes), staff and productivity (tonnes per person) during 2016-2017

Total Tonnage

0-100

101-200

201-400

401-700

701-1,000

1,001-2,000

>2,000

Total

No. of companies

2016

6

0

1

0

1

0

7

15

2017

5

0

0

0

0

1

6

12

No. of tonnes

2016

21

0

211

0

808

0

161,777

162,817

2017

26

0

0

0

0

1864

187,817

189,707

Staff (total)

2016

14

0

4

0

38

0

1,430

1,486

2017

10

0

0

0

0

31

1,390

1,431

Productivity
(tonnes/person)

2016

2

-

53

-

21

-

113

110

2017

3

-

-

-

-

60

135

133

The greatest productivity of 135 tonnes per person was achieved in the companies producing over 2000 tonnes. The least productivity of 3 tonnes per person was from the companies producing between 0-100 tonnes. In comparison with 2016, the average company productivity increased from 110 to 133 tonnes per person. Overall, production was dominated by six companies in 2017 which between them accounted for 99% of Scotland’s farmed Atlantic salmon production.

Staff and Production by Production Area

Table 35: Staff and production (tonnes) by area 2008-2017 and projected production in 2018

Region

Year

Staff

Annual Production

Productivity

(t/person)

Year of input

Grilse

Pre-salmon

Salmon

F/T

P/T

Tonnes

Mean weight (kg)

Tonnes

Mean weight (kg)

Tonnes

Mean weight (kg)

Tonnes

Mean weight (kg)

North West

2008

280

34

40,718

130

216

1.9

7,817

4.2

15,997

4.5

16,688

4.6

2009

256

32

35,295

122

75

1.8

9,777

4.7

15,860

5.6

9,583

5.2

2010

294

44

47,353

140

239

2.0

15,895

4.4

17,837

5.1

13,382

5.0

2011

303

38

41,656

122

174

3.2

13,152

4.3

16,879

5.1

11,451

5.7

2012

300

40

50,987

150

301

2.4

31,121

4.7

5,842

4.7

13,723

4.9

2013

350

48

43,320

109

0

-

17,937

4.9

16,417

4.7

8,966

5.1

2014

348

46

50,873

129

511

2.7

26,440

5.3

8,731

5.5

15,191

5.8

2015

382

66

54,741

122

626

2.8

18,046

4.8

26,897

4.6

9,172

5.4

2016

538

30

46,917

83

333

2.9

21,576

4.7

7,515

5.0

17,493

4.6

2017

506

13

55,690

107

0

-

32,113

5.1

14,920

4.4

8,657

5.1

2018

33,569*

Orkney

2008

60

5

5,716

88

0

-

811

4.2

1,747

4.3

3,158

5.4

2009

47

2

6,220

127

0

-

754

4.6

1,793

5.2

3,673

4.9

2010

58

2

9,388

156

0

-

1,221

4.1

2,279

5.1

5,888

5.3

2011

69

0

6,369

92

0

-

3,508

5.1

2,355

5.4

506

5.3

2012

65

6

11,694

165

0

-

3,532

5.3

2,720

5.1

5,442

5.8

2013

86

3

11,479

129

0

-

3,191

5.1

4,491

5.7

3,797

5.0

2014

90

6

13,029

136

0

-

980

5.5

5,045

6.0

7,004

6.0

2015

93

1

11,074

118

0

-

1,386

5.0

6,129

5.4

3,559

6.9

2016

102

8

14,752

134

0

-

3,491

4.6

4,668

5.7

6,593

5.3

2017

108

9

16,756

143

0

-

3,215

5.3

3,823

6.6

9,718

6.4

2018

14,370*

Shetland

2008

202

26

41,374

182

0

-

4,091

4.1

14,287

4.0

22,996

4.6

2009

188

22

43,785

208

65

2.3

4,873

3.3

16,183

4.6

22,664

4.6

2010

178

23

45,439

226

0

-

3,624

4.9

17,179

5.0

24,636

5.3

2011

189

22

35,493

168

118

2.4

4,611

4.7

16,071

5.1

14,693

4.5

2012

188

16

43,010

211

0

-

6,083

4.3

15,784

4.5

21,143

4.9

2013

210

14

36,694

164

0

-

5,822

4.5

18,121

4.9

12,751

4.7

2014

224

24

46,369

187

0

-

6,196

5.7

17,604

5.5

22,569

5.6

2015

228

19

42,786

173

0

-

11,134

5.4

14,939

5.0

16,713

5.5

2016

200

23

37,464

168

0

-

11,844

4.4

12,906

4.9

12,714

4.8

2017

207

12

38,908

178

0

-

14,132

4.6

15,284

5.2

9,492

6.0

2018

30,155*

South West

2008

173

21

19,229

99

0

-

1,212

4.0

3,108

4.6

14,909

4.9

2009

199

23

35,726

161

38

3.5

4,615

4.6

15,988

5.1

15,085

4.6

2010

231

39

27,751

103

29

2.5

6,032

4.2

7,118

5.7

14,572

4.9

2011

212

17

37,157

162

0

-

3,618

4.8

10,899

4.8

22,640

4.8

2012

221

24

26,850

110

0

-

9,315

5.4

4,508

4.8

13,027

4.9

2013

251

19

34,924

129

0

-

5,847

4.8

9,111

5.6

19,966

5.4

2014

279

29

34,976

114

209

2.2

4,278

5.1

10,476

4.4

20,013

5.2

2015

302

12

35,911

114

0

-

10,356

4.7

6,686

4.3

18,869

5.3

2016

305

26

31,022

94

0

-

12,349

4.3

9,246

4.4

9,427

4.7

2017

304

17

44,575

139

0

-

11,206

5.7

12,903

4.8

20,466

5.6

2018

36,044*

Western Isles

2008

134

14

21,569

146

0

-

1,365

3.8

4,324

4.0

15,880

4.3

2009

184

10

23,221

120

0

-

3,838

4.1

3,940

4.6

15,443

4.6

2010

183

12

24,233

124

0

-

2,961

3.7

11,680

4.2

9,592

4.3

2011

150

13

37,343

229

15

2.1

10,257

4.7

9,755

5.0

17,316

4.6

2012

170

29

29,682

149

0

-

3,165

3.7

15,674

4.0

10,843

4.6

2013

184

15

36,817

185

0

-

14,699

5.2

10,525

5.2

11,593

4.9

2014

250

29

33,775

121

0

-

8,792

4.5

13,455

4.1

11,528

5.7

2015

251

9

27,210

105

0

-

13,008

4.4

5,531

4.5

8,671

4.1

2016

234

20

32,662

129

0

-

10,593

4.2

16,975

4.1

5,094

4.1

2017

237

18

33,778

132

0

-

7,450

4.7

11,399

4.6

14,929

5.6

2018

36,636*

Scotland Total

2008

849

100

128,606

135

216

1.9

15,296

4.1

39,463

4.2

73,631

4.6

2009

874

89

144,247

150

178

2.2

23,857

4.2

53,764

5.0

66,448

4.7

2010

944

120

154,164

145

268

2.1

29,733

4.3

56,093

4.9

68,070

5.0

2011

923

90

158,018

156

307

2.8

35,146

4.6

55,959

5.0

66,606

4.8

2012

944

115

162,223

153

301

2.4

53,216

4.7

44,528

4.4

64,178

4.9

2013

1,081

99

163,234

138

0

-

47,496

4.9

58,665

5.0

57,073

5.1

2014

1,191

134

179,022

135

720

2.5

46,686

5.2

55,311

4.9

76,305

5.6

2015

1,256

107

171,722

126

626

2.8

53,930

4.8

60,182

4.7

56,984

5.2

2016

1,379

107

162,817

110

333

2.9

59,853

4.4

51,310

4.6

51,321

4.7

2017

1,362

69

189,707

133

0

-

68,116

5.0

58,329

4.8

63,262

5.7

2018

150,774*

*Estimated production for 2018.

Company and Site Data

Table 36: Number of companies and sites engaged in the production of Atlantic salmon during 2007-2017

Year

Number of companies

Number of sites

Producing

Non-producing

Total

Producing

Non- producing

Total

2007

28

10

38

158

89

247

2008

26

9

35

139

118

257

2009

25

6

31

150

104

254

2010

20

10

30

140

109

249

2011

21

6

27

148

106

254

2012

16

6

22

142

115

257

2013

15

6

21

145

112

257

2014

11

7

18

143

117

260

2015

10

6

16

139

115

254

2016

10

5

15

136

117

253

2017

8

4

12

133

93

226

The number of companies authorised and actively producing Atlantic salmon in 2017 was eight, a decrease of two from 2016. Four companies remained active and authorised, although not producing salmon for harvest in 2017. This continued the trend of Atlantic salmon production becoming concentrated within fewer companies. These 12 companies had 226 registered active sites, although not all these sites produced fish for harvest in 2017.

Fallowing

Table 37: Number of seawater cage sites employing a fallow period during 2008-2017

Year

Fallow Period (weeks)

Total

0

<4

4-8

9-26

27-51

52

2008

53

16

28

92

40

28

257

2009

51

3

30

86

46

37

253

2010

53

8

26

83

41

36

247

2011

60

10

31

85

27

39

252

2012

58

4

31

97

28

37

255

2013

51

4

31

92

35

43

253

2014

48

4

36

89

29

51

257

2015

45

6

41

84

27

47

250

2016

47

5

27

88

32

49

248

2017

40

9

21

88

24

40

222

Of the 222 seawater cage sites recorded as being active in 2017, 40 sites were fallow for the entire year whilst 142 sites were fallow for a variable period. There were 40 sites that did not fallow in 2017. The normal production cycle in seawater varies in length between 12 months and two years and a fallow period at the end of production can break the cycle of disease or parasitic infections.

Broodstock Sites

Table 38: Number of sites holding Atlantic salmon broodstock during 2006-2017

Year

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

Broodstock sites

17

20

20

11

10

11

7

8

8

4

3

4

In 2017, the number of freshwater and seawater sites holding broodstock increased by one. The number of sites holding broodstock in any one year can be variable, as can be seen from the previous years' figures, which indicate no obvious trend. A total of 4,776 fish were stripped, yielding 12.6 million ova, giving an average yield of 2,638 ova per fish.

Organic Production

Table 39: Organic production of Atlantic salmon during 2010-2017

Year

Number of active cage sites

Number of cage sites certified as organic

Production
(tonnes)

2010

247

14

6,122

2011

252

10

3,104

2012

255

7

4,597

2013

253

8

5,207

2014

257

8

3,588

2015

250

5

2,382

2016

248

5

3,903

2017

222

5

4,644

Of the 222 active Atlantic salmon seawater cage sites in 2017, five were certified as organic, producing 4,644 tonnes.

Escapes

There were five incidents involving the loss of 30,009 fish from seawater Atlantic salmon sites in 2017. There were six additional incidents reported where the companies confirmed there was no loss of fish.

Contact

Lorna.Munro@gov.scot

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