Scottish fish farm production survey 2018

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


1. Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)

Production survey information was collected from all 23 companies actively involved in rainbow trout production, farming 53 active sites. This figure represents the entire industry operating in Scotland.

Production

Table 1a: Annual production (tonnes) of rainbow trout during 2004-2018 and projected production in 2019

Year Tonnes Year Tonnes
2004 6,352 2012 5,670
2005 6,989 2013 5,611
2006 7,492 2014 5,882
2007 7,414 2015 8,588
2008 7,670 2016 8,096
2009 6,766 2017 7,637
2010 5,139 2018 6,413
2011 4,619 2019 8,379*

* Industry estimate based on stocks currently being on-grown.

Production decreased in 2018 by 1,224 tonnes, a decrease of 16%, to 6,413 tonnes.

Table 1b: Production (tonnes) for the table trade during 2009-2018 according to weight category

Year <450 g
<1 lb
450-900 g
1-2 lbs
>900 g
>2 lbs
Total
Tonnes
2009 2,232 1,143 2,620 5,995
2010 2,125 727 1,606 4,458
2011 1,421 1,004 1,433 3,858
2012 1,195 1,655 2,209 5,059
2013 1,908 825 2,268 5,001
2014 2,334 290 2,704 5,328
2015 2,299 258 5,476 8,033
2016 2,393 234 4,810 7,437
2017 2,000 544 4,453 6,997
2018 803 223 4,848 5,874

Production for the table in 2018 was 5,874 tonnes, a decrease of 1,123 tonnes (16%) on the 2017 total. This accounted for 92% of the total rainbow trout production, the same proportion as was produced in 2017. Also, an increase in the number of fish in the large size range and decreases in the number of fish in the small and medium size ranges were highlighted.

Table 1c: Production (tonnes) for the restocking trade during 2009-2018 according to weight category

Year <450 g
<1 lb
450-900 g
1-2 lbs
>900 g
>2 lbs
Total
Tonnes
2009 32 294 444 770
2010 19 201 461 681
2011 8 419 334 761
2012 22 266 323 611
2013 24 221 365 610
2014 28 256 270 554
2015 15 158 382 555
2016 35 183 441 659
2017 10 150 480 640
2018 14 143 382 539

In 2018, production for the restocking of angling waters decreased to 539 tonnes representing a decrease of 101 tonnes (16%) on the 2017 total. This accounted for 8% of total rainbow trout production in 2018. These figures represent the tonnage of fish supplied to angling waters for restocking purposes; they do not account for the catch taken by anglers. The production of medium and large sized fish showed decreases while there was an increase in the production of small sized fish.

Production by Site

Table 2: Numbers of sites grouped by tonnage produced during 2009-2018

Year Number of sites per production tonnage Total number of sites
<1-25 26-100 101-200 >200
2009 10 11 7 11 39
2010 7 13 9 7 36
2011 9 10 6 8 33
2012 10 10 6 8 34
2013 6 11 5 8 30
2014 6 11 5 9 31
2015 4 10 5 11 30
2016 6 10 3 13 32
2017 4 8 5 11 28
2018 5 10 3 11 29

Production was reported from 29 of the 53 active sites. The number of producers in the <1-25 tonnes and 26-100 tonnes size brackets increased while those in the 101-200 tonnes size bracket decreased. The numbers of producers in the >200 tonnes size bracket remained the same as in 2017. These figures do not include those sites specialising in the production of ova or young fish for on-growing.

Production by Method

Table 3: Grouping of rainbow trout sites by production tonnages, main methods of production in 2018 and comparison with production in 2017

Production method Production grouping (tonnes) in 2018 Total tonnage and (%) by method Number of sites
<10 10-25 26-50 51-100 >100 2017 2018 2017 2018
FW cages 1 0 0 0 5 2,592

(34.0%)
1,838

(28,7%)
6 6
FW ponds and raceways 1 1 6 2 4 1,484

(19.4%)
1,142

(17.8%)
13 14
FW tanks and hatcheries 2 0 0 1 0 79 (1.0%) 70 (1.1%) 3 3
SW cages 0 0 0 1 5 3,482

(45.6%)
3,363

(52.4%)
6 6
SW tanks 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 4 1 6 4 14 7,637 6,413 28 29

Seawater production accounted for 3,363 tonnes (52.4%) and freshwater production the remaining 3,050 tonnes (47.6%). Production from freshwater cages, freshwater ponds and raceways, freshwater tanks and hatcheries and seawater cages all decreased during 2018.

Company and Site Data

Table 4: Number of companies and sites in production during 2009-2018

Year No. of companies No. of sites
2009 27 56
2010 25 51
2011 23 48
2012 25 48
2013 24 46
2014 24 46
2015 24 45
2016 24 44
2017 23 44
2018 23 53

In 2018 the number of companies authorised by the Scottish Government and actively engaged in rainbow trout production was 23. The number of sites registered and in production was 53.

Staffing and Productivity

Table 5: Number of staff employed and productivity per person during 2009-2018

Year Full-time Male Full-time Female Total
Full-time
Part-time Male Part-time Female Total
Part-time
Total
Staff
Productivity
(tonnes/person)
2009 107 4 111 22 5 27 138 49.0
2010 95 3 98 24 7 31 129 39.8
2011 90 5 95 16 7 23 118 39.1
2012 74 5 79 23 5 28 107 53.0
2013 85 4 89 16 5 21 110 51.0
2014 86 7 93 13 7 20 113 52.1
2015 100 10 110 10 6 16 126 68.2
2016 90 10 100 15 6 21 121 66.9
2017 98 12 110 15 7 22 132 57.9
2018 103 8 111 17 8 25 136 47.2

The overall number of staff employed in 2018 increased by four to 136. The number of full-time staff increased by one while the number of part-time staff increased by three. Productivity, measured as tonnes produced per person, decreased by 18.5% in 2018 with no distinction between full and part-time employees being made for this calculation.

Production by Area

Table 6: Production and staffing by area in 2018

Area No. of sites Table production (tonnes) Restocking production (tonnes) Mean tonnes per site Staffing Productivity (tonnes/person)
F/T P/T Total
North* 13 57 25 6.3 5 5 10 8.2
East 13 1,048 268 101.2 32 8 40 32.9
West 16 4,250 28 267.4 59 4 63 67.9
South 11 519 218 67.0 15 8 23 32.0
All 53 5,874 539 121.0 111 25 136 47.2

*From 2018, the North area also included production and staff from the Western Isles

Productivity was greatest in the West at 267.4 tonnes per site and 67.9 tonnes per person.

Figure 1: The distribution of active rainbow trout sites in 2018

Figure 1: The distribution of active rainbow trout sites in 2018

Type of Ova Laid Down

Table 7: Number (000’s) and proportions (%) of eyed ova types laid down to hatch during 2009-2018

Year All female
diploid no. (%)
Triploid no. (%) Mixed sex
diploid no. (%)
Total ova
2009 15,469 (87) 2,341 (13) 35 (<1) 17,845
2010 13,352 (89) 1,052 (7) 675 (4) 15,079
2011 12,673 (84) 2,254 (15) 215 (1) 15,142
2012 10,967 (85) 2,005 (15) 7 (<1) 12,979
2013 7,857 (80) 1,955 (20) 77 (<1) 9,889
2014 8,321 (75) 2,710 (25) 9 (<1) 11,040
2015 10,245 (85) 1,800 (15) 76 (<1) 12,121
2016 7,986 (80) 1,943 (20) 5 (<1) 9,934
2017 2,366 (34) 4,670 (66) 5 (<1) 7,041
2018 1,460 (23) 4,843 (77) 15 (<1) 6,318

Source of Ova Laid Down

Table 8: Number (000’s) and sources of eyed ova laid down to hatch in 2009-2018

Year Ova produced in
Great Britain (GB)
Total Imported ova Total
Own stock Other stock Total Northern hemisphere
2009 603 220 823 17,022 17,845
2010 415 50 465 14,614 15,079
2011 215 189 404 14,738 15,142
2012 14 230 244 12,735 12,979
2013 77 537 614 9,275 9,889
2014 9 655 664 10,376 11,040
2015 6 888 894 11,227 12,121
2016 35 349 384 9,550 9,934
2017 20 547 567 6,474 7,041
2018 15 495 510 5,808 6,318

In 2018, the total number of eyed ova laid down to hatch decreased by 0.7 million (10%) on the 2017 figure. All ova were imported from the Northern hemisphere; no ova have been imported from the Southern hemisphere since 2007. The proportion of ova from GB broodstock remained the same as in 2017 (8.1% of the total) and the rainbow trout industry remained reliant on imported ova. Data on the importation of ova into Scotland are also available from the health certificates and are shown in Table 9a. Any discrepancy between the figures in Tables 8 and 9a is due to data being obtained from two independent sources.

Imports from Official Import Health Certificates

Table 9a: Number (000’s) and sources of ova imported into Scotland from outwith GB during 2009-2018

Source 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
Denmark 4,070 1,715 5,250 1,950 1,315 2,500 2,330 5,535 3,518 3,728
Isle of Man 290 1,400 520 300 800 1,000 175 20 300 0
N. Ireland 10,090 9,247 7,320 8,332 5,125 4,780 6,535 3,040 1,240 1,085
Norway 750 200 130 300 175 710 670 500 774 0
USA 2,240 2,340 1,580 1,800 2,350 1,700 1,675 750 0 855
Totals 17,440 14,902 14,800 12,682 9,765 10,690 11,385 9,845 5,832 5,668

Table 9b: Seasonal variation in numbers (000’s) and sources of ova imported into Scotland from outwith GB during 2018

Month Denmark N. Ireland USA
January 0 200 0
February 1000 135 0
March 370 0 0
April 0 100 175
May 950 0 0
June 0 0 205
July 0 100 205
August 0 100 0
September 0 450 230
October 400 0 40
November 320 0 0
December 688 0 0
Totals 3,728 1,085 855

Table 9c: Number (000’s) and sources of fish imported into Scotland from outwith GB during 2009-2018

Source 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
N. Ireland 0 <1 72 155 537 674 746 592 486 391
Republic of Ireland 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Suppliers within the European Union (EU) accounted for 84.9% of ova imported into Scotland during 2018 with the USA accounting for the remaining 15.1%. In recent years there has been a trend for producers to import part grown rainbow trout into Scotland from outwith GB.

Trade in Fry and Fingerlings

Table 10: Number (000’s) of fry and fingerlings traded during 2009-2018

Year Fry and fingerlings bought Total number bought Total number sold
All female diploid no. (%) Triploid no. (%) Mixed sex diploid no. (%)
2009 21,113 (94) 1,358 (6) 0 22,471 20,597
2010 15,539 (95) 585 (4) 141 (1) 16,265 14,686
2011 16,288 (88.5) 1,970 (10.7) 138 (0.8) 18,396 16,612
2012 12,543 (91) 1,226 (9) 0 13,769 12,088
2013 6,734 (84) 1,239 (16) 0 7,973 6,749
2014 5,911 (81) 1,423 (19) 0 7,334 6,719
2015 6,104 (87) 598 (9) 290 (4) 6,992 6,971
2016 6,452 (85) 1,125 (15) 0 7,577 6,779
2017 3,989 (73) 1,446 (27) 0 5,435 4,145
2018 979 (42) 1,361 (58) 0 2,340 2,383

The established trade between hatcheries and on-growing farms continued in 2018. Some companies specialised in fry and fingerling production. The total number of fry and fingerlings bought decreased by 56.9% while the number sold decreased by 42.5%. The disparity between supply and demand is due to trade with England and Wales.

Use of Vaccines

Table 11: Number of sites rearing fish vaccinated against enteric redmouth disease (ERM) and number of fish vaccinated (millions) during 2009-2018

Year 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
No. of sites 31 27 26 24 19 21 17 18 18 17
No. of fish 27.5 20.0 20.3 20.4 9.9 10.0 8.3 7.3 5.4 3.4

Vaccines continued to be used as a preventative treatment against enteric redmouth disease (ERM), a potentially serious bacterial infection, caused by Yersinia ruckeri. Vaccination is generally carried out as a bath treatment at the fingerling stage, although some vaccines are administered by intra-peritoneal injection. A total of 3.4 million fish were vaccinated on 17 sites.

Organic Production

Of the 53 sites recorded as being active in rainbow trout production in 2018, none were certified as organic.

Escapes

There were two incidents involving the loss of 5,575 fish from rainbow trout sites in 2018.

Contact

Email: Lorna.Munro@gov.scot

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