Fish Farmer Magazine May 2019 by Fish Farmer Magazine

Fish Farmer VOLUME 42

Serving worldwide aquaculture since 1977

NUMBER 05

MAY 2019

www.fishfarmermagazine.co.uk

WILD BUNCH

THE PEN IS MIGHTIER

ONE THAT GOT AWAY

CLEAR VISION

Restocking raises hopes for salmon survival

Farmers invest to beat predator pests

AKVA man Dougie Johnson on leaving the industry

Research offers insight into lumpfish eyes

May Cover.indd 1

06/05/2019 09:17:55

STRIVE FOR FIVE

DO YOU STORE YOUR VACCINES AT THE CORRECT TEMPERATURE?

AIM FOR 5°C. ABOVE 8°C SHORTENS SHELF LIFE. BELOW 2°C REDUCES EFFECTIVENESS. FREEZING DESTROYS VACCINES.

The importance of vaccine storage is paramount for both safeguarding vaccines and the efficacy once administered on fish stocks. The correct storage of vaccines will have direct influence on your fish health and investment.

STRIVE FOR FIVE AIM FOR 5°C. ABOVE 8°C SHORTENS SHELF LIFE. BELOW 2°C REDUCES EFFECTIVENESS. FREEZING DESTROYS VACCINES.

Best practice fridge tips:

HAVE A SEPARATE POWER SUPPLY FOR YOUR FRIDGE

CHECK THE SEAL BY PLACING A TORCH INSIDE AND CLOSING THE DOOR. IF LIGHT SHINES THROUGH, THE SEAL IS FAULTY

AVOID USING THE FRIDGE FOR OTHER ITEMS SO THAT IT’S NOT OPENED FREQUENTLY

DON’T PUT VACCINES AT THE BACK OF THE FRIDGE WHERE ICE CAN FORM

2 DO NOT DRINK

PLACE A BOTTLE OF WATER MARKED ‘DO NOT DRINK’ IN THE FRIDGE TO HELP STABILISE TEMPERATURE

ENSURE THERE IS SPACE AROUND THE FRIDGE TO ALLOW AIR TO CIRCULATE

AVOID FRIDGES WITH FREEZER COMPARTMENTS

MONITOR MAXIMUM AND MINIMUM FRIDGE TEMPERATURES DAILY

MSD Animal Health, providing the best solutions and services in supporting professionals directly. www.msd-animal-health-hub.co.uk/ Copyright © 2019 Intervet UK Ltd trading as MSD Animal Health. All rights reserved. GB/AQC/0219/0002

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Contents 4-15 4-14 News

What’s What’s happening happening in in aquaculture aquaculture in the the UK UK and and around around the the world world in

16-21 16-17 16-22 extra Industry pioneer News Extra platform Parliamentary inquiry

JENNY JENNY HJUL HJUL –– EDITOR EDITOR

Fair hearing French connection Farmers must Uphold the codefight back Common cause

TW IA

Steve Bracken SSC’s record results Stewart Graham Supply chain summit The ﬁnal sessions

salmon farming sector in Scotland, when it was to he focus this month istopictures on Europe, the internati T HE is coincidence that and videos of unhealthy Sno Fish press, was sti lltold no offi cialonal EFarmer have a went special focus inthere thiswhere month’s magazine on be the subject of a parliamentary inquiry, embraced the industry will soon gathering the EASinto (European salmon sent tobe news outletsfor just asjoint the Scotti sh newswere from the Scotti shbetween parliamentary inquiry salmon the partnerships salmon farmers and fishery opportunity this would provide explain how it month. operated. Aquaculture Society) and (World Aquaculture Society) parliament went back to work atto the start of this farming, conducted earlier this year by the Rural managers, aimed atWAS restoring populations ofEconomy wildThese The industry had nothing to hide and, if given a fair hearing, conference, tovity be staged over days in theof southern French images had litt le to do with thefive current state Scotland’s ficould sh and Connecti (REC) committ ee. MSPs have now held five salmon, which are now described as at ‘crisis point’ in Scottish address much of the criti cism levelled against it. city of Montpellier. As well as highlighti ng the latest technological farms where sea lice levels are in decline and, in fact, at a fivemeeti in private, consider their report mustcan be rivers ngs, on the east andtowest coasts. As you willand see,we much Fish Farmer supported this but at times felt salmon advances in our fast moving sector, Aqua 2018 willthat alsohas feature year low (htt p://scotti shsalmon.co.uk/monthly-sea-lice-reports). pati ent. However, waiti ng forview, their recommendati ons been be achieved when both sectors collaborate, something those farmers were being drowned out by the noisier elements of the sessions on emerging markets and look at the role of fi sh This latest propaganda campaign, which involves all the usual made harder by leaks from within the REC to anti -salmon farming working on the ground at a practical level - such as Jon Gibb and angling lobby, which had called for the investi gati on. But as the farming in alleviati ng poverty. Increasingly, industry meeti ngs anti -aquaculture suspects, came as Holyrood’s Rural Economy acti vists. The latest of these (see our news story on page 4) Bob Kindness - have long realised. Let’s hope similar progress sessions progressed, and eventually farmers’ voices were heard, are broadening their scope, tackling subjects such asthat the committ social and Connecti vity committ ee returned the recess we to makes grim reading for the industry asfrom it suggests ee is achieved at the political level, particularly on summer the interactions became more opti misti c. We now believe that MSPs, perhaps with acceptability of aquaculture and the contributi on it makes to global consider its draft report into the future of salmon farming. members have been willing to listen to those campaigning to committee formed last year. And let’s also hope that those food security and saving the planet, aindustry move that is toanti welcomed. the excepti on ofvaluable one or two Greens in cahoots with -farming Those who want shut down theopen have, asbe expected, shut down this sector, than totransparent those who operate making decisions attothe top are rather as and about Also investi gati ng initi ati ves in the developing world, Dr Harrison campaigners, will, on balance, regard the industry in a favourable stepped activiti es, which now at involve breaching within it.up their their dealings as the fishery managers the forefront ofthe stock light. They will hopefully that farmers take their environmental Charo Karisa ofprogrammes WorldFish writes thesnatch farming al inthe biosecure environments of farm sites photographs in Of course, such storiessee may beabout inaccurate and, inpotenti any case, improvement have been.to Nigeria, both catfish and tilapia culti vati on.against responsibiliti seriously and that businesses only ever invest the hope ofmonth, fies nding incriminati ng evidence farmers. Onein committ ee’s fiin ndings are not binding. Scotland’s fish farmers Also this we mark the retirement ofwill industry veteran In Scotland, the summer has been something of a waiti ngdead game growth thatman isfibeen sustainable. campaigner lmed himself searching, unsuccessfully, for have always fortunate to have the support their minister, and AKVA Dougie Johnson, whothe has been a of member of the while the parliament is in recess and members of Holyrood’s If ee members, especially those who have to of fi shthe at acommitt Marine Harvest site.than Another said he saw ‘hundreds’ Fergus Ewing, to grow sustainably. ‘aquaculture club’ for more 40 years, with roles inyet both Rural Economy and Connecti vity committ ee conti nue to weigh up visit a salmon farm, would like to learn more about the subject of infested salmon in a pen, but we only have his word against that But it should not go unchallenged that some MSPs on the REC farming and the supply chain. Dougie probably speaks for expect most the evidence in their inquiry into salmon farming. We don’t their inquiry, we have plenty of good stories in our May issue. Even of the professional vets and biologists who manage the welfare of committ ee, with their own agendas against the growth of the suppliers when the industry needs theirare voice too,the a time their report untilhe thesays autumn but hope the MSPs using the bett er, they could head to Highlands later this month, where these farms on a daily basis. industry, are in breach of the Code of Conduct for MSPs. As they sentiment by aquaculture to become echoed fully acquainted with thebusinesses facts aboutatfiashsummit farming.in they meet the aquaculture industry en at Scotland’s If the isto proud ofreti itsthe high standards, itsalmon says itlongest is, it are inwill aindustry positi on inflthe uence future course of farming, Edinburgh last month, where the idea amasse newas supply chain This month also sees rement ofofMarine Harvest’s biggest fish farming show. must mount a much more robust defence of itself, through its and of businesses vital to Scotland’s economy, we have a right association was considered. serving employee, Steve Bracken. We had no trouble collecting will certainly be at Aquaculture UK inindustry, Aviemore and look representati ve body, the SSPO, than itthe has done tothrough date. The toWe know who they are, and weand hope its Finally, we would like to wish our friend and colleague warm tributes from his friends colleagues toformer mark the forward to seeing many of you there too. campaigners, we nowpressure see,the will stop at nothing, representati ves, will the parliament toand investi gateat milestone and, along with rest of the industry, thefarmers team Fish William Dowds even more courage in his latest battle with illbefore should prepared to fivery ght the RECbe report isall published. health. We’re all thinking of back. you William. Farmer wish him the best for the future.

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Meet the team

Editorial Advisory Advisory Board: Board: Steve Editorial Bracken, Scott Landsburgh, Hervé Steve Bracken, Scott HervéLandsburgh, Migaud, Jim Treasurer, Chris Mitchell, Migaud, PatrickJim Smith and Jim Hervé Migaud, Patrick Smith, Patrick Smith, Treasurer and Jason Cleaversmith and Hamish Treasurer, Wiliam Jim Treasurer and Dowds William Dowds William Dowds Macdonell Editor: Jenny Hjul Designer: Andrew Designer: Andrew Balahura Editor: Jenny Hjul Balahura Adverti sing Manager: Team Designer: AndrewLeader: Balahura Dave Edler Executive: Advertising dedler@ﬁshupdate.com Scott BinnieExecutive: Adverti Advertising sing Executive: sbinnie@fishupdate.com Scott Binnie Publisher: shupdate.com Alister Bennett sbinnie@ﬁ

Tel: +44(0) +44(0) 131 131 551 551 1000 1000 Tel: Fax: +44(0) +44(0) 131 131 551 551 7901 7901 Fax: email: email: jhjul@fishupdate.com jhjul@ﬁ shupdate.com

Publisher: Alister Bennett

Cover: Jon Gibb, River Lochy Cover:Steve Alisonsh Hutchins, Dawnfresh fishery manager andFarms director of the Cover: Bracken explains Lumpsucker Scotti Sea regional farmingfarming director, on Loch Etive. Lochaber District Fishery salmon toSalmon Prince Charles producti on manager for Orkney, Picture: Scott board during his visit Binnie to Marine Richard Darbyshire (left), Harvest and the Photo: Blackburn in 2016.Angus Photo: Iainat Ferguson Westerbister team Scapa Pier

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18-20 22-23 18-19 24-27 Interviewmarket Salmon SSPO Standard bearer Martin Gill

Current trends In good Julie Hesketh-Laird Meet thehealth new chief executive

Contents – Editor’s Welcome

48-49 41-43 42-44 38-39 Brussels Containment Aqua 2018 Innovation Aquaculture Salmon market Montpellier preview From shrimp torobust salmon Investor advice Introduction

44-46 46-49 40-41 50-55 Brussels Aqua 2018 Innovation Aquaculture New processors’ groupon Sti rling course Pictures atmarket the exhibiti Insurance

50-51 Containment

Scottish Technical Standard

56 52-58 48-49 50-58 42-45 Book review Containment Training Aqua 2018 Innovation Aquaculture Net worth Martyn Haines Conference round-up Best ofonthe start-ups Focus cleaner ﬁsh

60-63 57 53-55 60-63 48-49 Research Aquaculture Nor Fishing Aqua 2018 UK Net cleaning

24 20 20-21 28-29 22-23 Comment BTA Shellﬁ sh SSPO What’s in a name? Dr Nick Lake Phil Thomas

Sterility conference Introducti onons Farming angle Focus on Africa Robot soluti

What’s in a name? Dr Nick Lake Phil Thomas Hamish Macdonell

64-65 58-59 60-63 68-69 51 Research Aquaculture Australia Training Sea bass UK

24-25 26 22-23 30 Shellﬁ sh Comment BTA

Lumpfish vision Barramundi boom Martyn Haines European leaders Chris Mitchell

Montpellier report Dr Marti n Jaﬀ a Doug McLeod Martin Jaffa

28-31 24-25 26-27 32-33 SSPO Comment Scottish Shellﬁ ASSG sh Sea Farms Dr Nick Lake Rising stars Marti nBrown Jaﬀ a Orkney anniversary Janet

32-33 26-27 26-30 34-35 28-33 Industry pioneer Shellfi shfiSea Cleaner sh Farms Scottish Comment Dougie Johnson Janet Machrihanish Orkney farm Marti nBrown Jaff a visit

13 13

34-35 28-29 32-33 36-41 Comment Cleaner Orkneyvisitﬁsh Farm Marti nofJaﬀ a era Vaccines New player Dawn new

36-39 32-35 34-35 43-45 34-41 IoA careers Wild salmon Cleaner ﬁsh decline Orkney The mackerel Transport Leask Marine Sti rling students Restockinghypothesis

68-69 69 64-67 70-73 52-54 European Market Aquaculture UK Nigeria Networking Research Meet the team on Boosti ng producti Dave Conley Chris Mitchell Observatory Bureaucratic barriers

81-82 76-77 56-59 70 the From Archive Value chains Aquaculture UK Awards Obituary David LittinleChina reports Growth Developing trends Johnnie Stansfeld

91 78-79 63 71 & Marketing Retail Processing & Retail News Processing & Retail News Save Pinneys jobs Carlisle jobs Recruitment Eat more ﬁshchallenges

Figure 9. 9. Development Development of of salmon salmon nominal nominal catch catch in in southern southern and and northern northern NEAC NEAC 1971 1971 to to 2016. 2016. Figure Text at at top top inserted inserted by by author. author. Filled Filled symbols symbols and and darker darker line line southern southern NEAC. NEAC. Text

Jon Gibb

Flatfish takeover

Canada

92-93 80-81 64-65 72-73 Aqua Aqua Source Source Directory Directory Find all you need for the industry

45-47 46-47 40 37 36-37 Restocking Brussels Innovation Cleaner ﬁshconference Aquaculture Innovation Bob Kindness

94 82 66 74 Opinion Opinion By Nick Joy

42-43 Restocking

Find all you need for the industry

Figure 10. 10. Examples Examples of of the the young young mackerel mackerel currently currently growing growing up up ‘all ‘all over’ over’ the the North North Sea, Sea, Figure Norwegian Sea Sea and and along along the the Norwegian Norwegian coast coast at at the the moment. moment. These These were were caught caught in in aa ‘washing ‘washing Norwegian set’ by by the the purse purse seiner seiner ‘Brennholm’ ‘Brennholm’ at at an an arbitrary arbitrary position position 100 100 nm nm west west of of the the Lofoten Lofoten Isles Isles in in set’ January 2018. At this stage these small mackerels are competitors to the postsmolt salmon, January 2018. At this stage these small mackerels are competitors to the postsmolt salmon, later they they will will be be both both competitors competitors and and potential potential predators. predators. The The new new and and abundant abundant availability availability later Printed in Great Britain for the proprietors Wyvex Media Ltd by J Thomson Colour Printers Ltd, Printed in Great Britain for the proprietors Wyvex Media Ltd by J Thomson Colour Printers Ltd, Printed Printed in in Great Great Britain Britain for for the the proprietors proprietors Wyvex Wyvex Media Media Ltd Ltd by by JJ Thomson Thomson Colour Colour Printers Printers Ltd, Ltd,of juvenile mackerel in the multi sea winter salmon feeding areas may be a good explanation to of juvenile mackerel in the multi sea winter salmon feeding areas may be a good explanation to Glasgow ISSN 0262-9615 Glasgow ISSN ISSN 0262-9615 0262-9615 why the the MSW MSW fishes fishes have have such such aa good good condition condition at at present present despite despite their their poor poor early early sea sea growth. growth. Glasgow Glasgow ISSN 0262-9615 why Photo JC JC Holst. Holst. Photo

Introducti on Novel technology Temperature Introducti on

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Welcome May.indd Aug.indd Welcome ---- May.indd Sept.indd Oct.indd May.indd 33333 Welcome Aug.indd Welcome Sept.indd Oct.indd

By Nick Joy

09/05/2018 18:05:09 08/08/2018 15:36:28 06/09/2018 16:32:15 04/10/2018 09:15:28 06/05/2019 18:05:09 09:23:20 09/05/2018 08/08/2018 15:36:28 06/09/2018 16:32:15 04/10/2018 09:15:28

United Kingdom News

NEWS...

Mowi may move processing to Skye MOWI has a ‘once in a lifetime’ opportunity to build a state-ofthe-art ﬁsh processing facility in Scotland, according to managing director Ben Hadﬁeld. The preferred option is to construct a new factory on Skye, on the site of the company’s Kyleakin feed plant. With bumper harvests expected this year and a long-term strategy for growing the business, Mowi Scotland will need to increase existing processing capacity, currently located at the Blar Mhor plant in Fort William and in

Above: Ben Hadﬁeld

Rosyth. ‘We can develop a processing programme that not only provides high quality ﬁsh to our customers, but also ensures we best utilise our talented staff

reaching capacity at Blar Mhor is testament to the hard work of staff across Scotland.’ He said there are several options to expand the company’s processing facilities: increasing capacity in Fort William, either by expanding Blar Mhor, or by identifying a suitable site elsewhere in Fort William; increasing capacity at alongside the latest Mowi’s Irish factory in technologies to create Donegal; expanding the a workplace that can value-added facility at provide a proper work- Rosyth and increasing life balance,’ Hadﬁeld its scope; introducing told The Scoop, Mowi’s ocean processing on monthly newsletter. board Mowi’s vessels; ‘The fact that we are or building a new

facility at Kyleakin. ‘While all options are on the table at this point, and whilst it is still early days and there is a lot of work to do, a preferred option is to build a new state-of-the-art facility at our feed plant at Kyleakin,’ said Hadﬁeld. ‘The reasons that made Kyleakin our preferred choice to build our new feed plant are also relevant when choosing a location for a ﬁsh processing facility. ‘We have invested a lot of money into the pier and it makes sense to optimise that.

We would be able to bring our salmon directly from our farms by sea to Kyleakin and the pier would not limit the size of vessel transporting the salmon, as is currently the case at Mallaig where the salmon are harvested. ‘At Kyleakin, we could build a facility with future capacity in mind and we could harvest, process and ﬁllet the ﬁsh all in the same location.’ The target for completion and full operation of the new plant, wherever it is sited, is 2024.

Manager marks 30 years Mowi buys Anglesey lumpﬁsh farm

MOWI Scotland seawater manager David MacGillivray marked 30 years with the company last month. He was presented with his long service award by Mowi farming operations director Gideon Pringle, at the company’s Fort William headquarters. MacGillivray (nicknamed ‘Bodger’ by his colleagues) started working for Mowi, in April 1989 as a farm assistant at Kingairloch. He was promoted to assistant farm manager at Gorsten in1995, and became manager of the farm ﬁve years later. His next move was to Uist, in 2005, where he was appointed area manager, and in 2007 he was made area manager for South, before his current appointment in 2016. Last year, MacGillivray won the innovation award at the Scottish Marine Aquaculture Awards for developing environets for circular pens,.

Above: David MacGillivray (left) with Gideon Pringle

UK news.indd 4

THE Welsh lumpfish farmer, Ocean Matters, has been bought by Mowi Scotland. The facility, in Penmon, Anglesey, North Wales, has the capacity to produce two million of the cleaner fish, which it has been supplying to the salmon industry in Scotland to control sea lice. Its main customer is Mowi, which has said it would need to deploy more than two million lumpfish by 2020. Ocean Matters, formed in 2015 on the site of an old turbot farm, harvested its first lumpfish in 2016. Production manager Daniel Phillips told Fish Farmer in 2017 that the facility had the potential to produce up to six million cleaner fish. ‘If we can do six million fish in one building we can probably do pretty much the whole UK market,’ he said. Last summer, the company announced it was planning to double production, having secured a £500,000 loan from the Development Bank of Wales, plus a further £500,000 from HSBC. Founder and managing director of Ocean Matters, Werner Forster, said: ‘Mowi has been Ocean Matters’ largest customer and collaborator since inception. We’re quite pleased to know Ocean Matters has graduated on to the Mowi family, where it will certainly receive all

Above: Dougie Hunter

the support required to continue on its current path.’ In 2017, Mowi Scotland bought a neighbouring farm, Anglesey Aquaculture, that once produced sea bass, with the intention of farming wrasse. Dougie Hunter, head of cleaner fish and technical services at Mowi Scotland, said the Ocean Matters purchase ‘provides us increased capacity for cleaner fish production, with great potential for future development as well’. ‘I would like to welcome the new hatchery staff into the Mowi family,’ he added. Mowi said last month that sea lice on its farms was now under control. The use of cleaner fish is a major part of the successful strategy.

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06/05/2019 09:25:27

target is to raise the other half ded - £13,500. As The Scoop goes to print, we confirm that £11,185 has been raised, thanks very generous donation of £10,000 from Eilean an Castle and the Conchra Charitable Trust.

ow the progress of the campaign on Facebook chalshleisurecentre1 and local media where we be announcing new fundraising activities and ts over the next few weeks. You can donate via ustGiving page. Please spread the word and us reach our target.

The published numbers allow us to review: • The levels of gender equality in the workplace • The balance of male and female employees at different levels • How effectively talent is being maximised and rewarded Joanna explains: “I want to start by saying that we are confident that we have equal pay for work of equal value, rewarding our colleagues for the role not their gender; and that our approach to recruitment, engagement, development and reward helps us to move towards closing the gap in the future.”

If we compare mean hourly wages then the mean hourly wage for a woman is 4.7% lower than for a man. Median All the latest industry news from the UK (mid-point)

Mean (average) Gender Pay Gap Gender Bonus Gap

4.7% 5.6%

-1.6% 0%

Proportion of males

Males

Females

Producer addresses gender pay gap

Scottish salmon worth £2bn to economy

Thefemales statistics are and receiving MOWI said it is workMowi Scotland Farming a bonus: by splitting 88.6% 92.3% calculated ing towards closing the SCOTLAND’S Median Mean employees into four gender pay gap among Pay Quartile Males farmed Females salmon (mid-point) (average) even its staff. Uppergroups Quartileaccording 71.7% 28.3% sector contributes Upper Middle Quartile 55.8% 44.2% to their level of pay. The company’s human Gender Pay Gap 22% 2.2% Lower Middle Quartile 75%nearly £2 25% billion Gender Bonus Gap -4.6% 0.3% This Quartile year, women resources manager, JoanLower 71.7% 28.3% to the country’s occupy 12.4 per cent na Peeling, told Mowi’s Proportion of males Males Females economy as well as of the highest paid jobs May newsletter, that they and females receiving several thousand a bonus: 74.6% 85.4% Joanna explains: “Thisof change from last year, along and 14.8 per cent have equal pay for work according with the movement in the medianjobs, indicates to Meet Christopher Sims the lowest paid jobs. In ofaverage, of equal value. the gap has widened as a result fi women released making up Pay Quartile Males Females gures 2017, women occupied The company recently a bigger proportion of our entry-level positions than Upper Quartile 87.6% 12.4% at do you do at Mowi? last month. previously.” Upper Middle Quartile 88.8% 11.2% 12 per cent of the highpublished statistics on ork as a harvesting technician at Mallaig, The industry’s Lower Middle Quartile 87.6% 12.4% est paid jobs and 16.2 itsfrom gender pay gap, the cessing live salmon the farms before they Other highlights: Lower Quartile 85.2% 14.8% turnover last year • Women occupy 44.2% of the jobs in the upper to the factory at Fort William. per cent of the lowest difference in the average middle quartile compared to 24.4% last year million, was £1,027 jobs. occupy 22.1% of the jobs in the lower pay and bonuses of all Joanna continues: “When we look at these figures we paid • Women but every £100 at did you do before fish farming? can see that for median hourly wages females earn quartile compared to 28.3% last year ‘This is good progress and indicates positive men and women across the organisation. er school, I worked as a fisherman all over the made sustains £93 98p for every £1 earned by men. The median hourly women’s earnings as they“What pro- this pay quartile data shows Peeling said that the medianwage (midforpoint) sh Isles. a man is thereforemovement 2.2% higher in than for a Joanna continues: elsewhere through woman. us is that in general, women are being promoted into gress through the organisation,’ said Peeling. hourly wage for a man is 2.2 per cent higher supply chains more senior roles or are joining at and at do you like most about job? while the mean (average) ‘Obviously, it does alsomore highlight that we con- theAtorganisation than for your a woman, “If we compare mean hourly wages then the mean senior levels than previously. same time, highthestreet spende the physical aspect of working in the harvest to operate a sig-drive at Rosyth when this hourly wage for a man is 22 per cent higher. hourly wage for a woman istinue 22% lower than for ain an environment following a big with recruitment ion. It’s like going to the gym and doing a ing from the wages man.widened most data was captured, women are making up a higher nifi cantly high proportion of males to females ‘Over the last year, the gap has kout! proportion of entry level roles. We can expect these paid to employees, To me, is as much opportunity at the most senior level in the“Over organisation,’ the last year, the gapoverall. has widened mostthis at the women an to progress through the organisation into according to an most senior level in the organisation. believe this more skilled roles and therefore a higher pay quartile. at do you do in your time? as it is a We challenge.’ saidspare Peeling. reflects the fact that traditionally the farming sector As with the farming side of the business, we still have e to tinker about with mechanics and fix In that Mowi’s Consumer Products UK division, ‘We believe this reflects thehas factbeen that, tradimale-dominated and the most senior a higher proportion of men to women overall.” gs. I also like to go fishing and walk my dogs. are male often filled by those the longest thewith median hourly wage for a woman is 1.6 tionally, the farming sector hasroles been domexperience. More females are joining our business Joanna concludes: “Mowi, similar to other farming per cent than forand a man, the mean that the most senior are often at is your favouriteinated salmonand dish? and,roles as they build their experience, thehigher gap should food but production sectors, has traditionally been close and be reflected in the statisticswage in future male dominated. Whilst this is still the case, there is hourly foryears.” a woman is 4.7 per cent lower. filled by those with the longest experience. seared salmon and pesto-dressed vegetables. a lot of work being done to buck this trend. We are Women occupy 44.2 per cent of jobs in the ‘More females are joining our business and, Pay quartiles are calculated by splitting all employees working hard with schools, colleges, universities and middle quartile 24.4asper as they build their experience,inthe gap shouldinto fourupper an organisation even groups according to compared community to bodies; well as running media and their level ofinpay. social media to raise awareness that we cent last year, and 22.1 per cent of campaigns jobs in the close and be reflected in the statistics future have opportunities to attract everybody, regardless lower quartile against 28.3 per cent last year. years.’ This year women occupy 12.4% of the highest paid of gender. Our recent campaign for International jobs and 14.8% of the lowest paid jobs. In 2017, women occupied 12% of the highest paid jobs and 16.2% of the lowest paid jobs.

economic impact study commissioned by the Scottish Salmon Producers Organisation. The gross value added of the industry is £365 million, and it contributes £50 million in corporation tax and £76 million in wages.The average wage is around £34,000 per annum. International exports were worth over half a billion pounds a year,.

Women’s Day shows that more and more women are choosing aquaculture as a career.”

Joanna adds: “This is good progress and indicates positive movement in women’s earnings as they progress through the organisation.

WI . Fort William Scotland PH33 6RX 97 701550 enquiries.scotland@mowi.com

Send us your stories www.mowiscotland.co.uk

Email us at: mowi@whalelikefish.co.uk

The world moves forward Feeding is the most important task in aquaculture. Therefore, you should choose the best and most advanced tool. We in Steinsvik have worked with feeding systems since the 80s. Time after time, systems like Are 126, MultiFeeder, GMT Feeder and FeedStation have set the standard for what is possible to achieve with a central feeding system. Around the world, our solutions are used both for land and sea based farming. Now we have raised the bar once again. We present Next Generation FeedStation!

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UK news.indd 5

06/05/2019 09:25:49

United Kingdom News

Ace Aquatec scoops second Queen’s Award Shetland welfare course goes global

Above: Ace team Mike Forbes (left) and Nathan Pyne-Carter

DUNDEE based Ace Aquatec has won a prestigious Queen’s Award for the second year in a row after its electronic stunner was recognised for animal welfare innovation. The Award for Enterprise Innovation marks the success of the company’s in-water Humane Stunner Universal in rendering fish unconscious before being processed. The honour is the highest UK award for British businesses. Ace Aquatec is one of 201 winners across the UK this year. Last year, the firm’s Queen’s Award victory was based on the contribution its acoustic predator deterrents made to the Scottish economy, reducing seal attacks at fish farms. Next for the Ace Aquatec team is another visit to Buckingham Palace for the awards ceremony, hosted by Prince Charles.

And with the company preparing for the international launch later this year of its newest innovation – the world’s first underwater 3D biomass camera – it might be targeting a third win in 2020. Managing director Nathan Pyne-Carter said: ‘Being recognised last year for the positive difference our predator deterrents are having on the Scottish economy was amazing, and to be acknowledged again this year for the wider global impact our electric stunning technology has on animal welfare is a huge honour. ‘International growth over the last couple of years has felt like a bit of a whirlwind but it’s the result of years of experimentation, refinement and a firm belief it’s possible to improve fish welfare without sacrificing on quality or efficiency.’

SalMar upbeat about Scottish Sea Farms NORWEGIAN fish farming giant SalMar said 2018 had been a good year for Scottish Sea Farms, the UK business it part owns with Lerøy Seafood. In its annual report, SalMar revealsed that Scottish Sea Farms generated operating revenues of NOK 2,057 million (£183.4 million) last year, compared with NOK 2,088 million (186.23 million) in 2017. The decline was due to biological challenges at the end of 2017, along with changes in the company’s operating structure. Harvest volumes totalled 27,500 tonnes, down from 31,000 tonnes in 2017 for the same reasons. The harvest prediction for this year is up by almost 10 per cent to 30,000 tonnes. SalMar said: ‘Sound underlying operations ensured high weight at harvest, good price achievement and a reduction in costs. ‘The company therefore made an operational EBIT of NOK 661 million (£58.95 million) in 2018, only slightly below the NOK 669 million (£59.6 million) achieved in 2017. Operational EBIT per kg gutted weight came to NOK 24.10 in 2018, a rise of NOK 2.50 per kg from 2017.’

UK news.indd 6

AQUACULTURE students from around the world have enrolled on a fish welfare course run from Shetland, thanks to online learning. More than 200 students - from Norway, Denmark, Switzerland, Spain, Portugal and Canada - have signed up to the course since it was launched, by the NAFC Marine Centre UHI. The course was developed by NAFC’s aquaculture training staff at the request of the industry to help maintain high standards of fish welfare. It was also designed to help the sector meet the training and compliance requirements of various certification schemes and codes of practice,. The course covers a range of topics including water quality, husbandry, fish handling and harvesting, and diseases and treatments. Course lecturer Saro Saravanan said:‘The course was developed in collaboration with the aquaculture industry, and we have continued to work with them since it was launched to make sure that it remains relevant to their operations and the changing regulatory

and certification requirements that they face. ‘We have also adapted the course to meet the needs of staff working in different sectors of the industry, including hatcheries, marine and freshwater on-growing sites, and live fish transport.’ NAFC’s head of Aquaculture Training, Stuart Fitzsimmons, said online delivery is allowing NAFC to overcome geographical and other barriers to training. ‘Many of those who sign up for online learning work irregular hours in remote areas and would find it difficult to attend normal college classes,’ he said. ‘Instead, they can study this and other online courses on their smartphone or other internet enabled device at times and places that suit them. Online delivery is also allowing us to offer the training to students outside our traditional catchment area and we have seen a growing number of enrolments from throughout Europe and across the Atlantic.’ The Fish Welfare course is also available as a traditional taught class. Left: Saro Saravanan

Algal bloom hits Loch Fyne farm THOUSANDS of fish have died following an algae outbreak last month at the Scottish Salmon Company’s Quarry Point farm on Loch Fyne, according to a BBC report. The company said it believed recent warm weather was to blame for the mortalities, which were removed by lorries. ‘Following the warmer water temperatures in recent weeks, a suspected algae bloom was reported in Upper Loch Fyne,’ the company confirmed. ‘Naturally occurring biological challenges such as these are unavoidable and we take rigorous steps to protect our livestock. ‘The health and welfare of our fish is at the heart of

our operations and, in line with standard procedure, the matter has been reported to Marine Scotland.’ A Scottish government spokesperson said after the event: ‘Marine Scotland’s Fish Health Inspectorate was made aware of a loss of salmon by the Scottish Salmon Company last week and are currently liaising with the company.’ In it Q1 report released last month, the Scottish Salmon Company said site optimisation in Loch Fyne resulted in an additional 1,600 tonnes of consent, with harvesting planned in early 2021. ‘This is an on-going programme integrated with an ambitious pipeline of new site development projects.’

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06/05/2019 09:26:22

All the latest industry news from the UK

Scottish Salmon Company revenues soar from the US and Asia. THE Scottish Salmon ‘Supporting the Company has anstrategy for responnounced a 23 per cent sible growth, further jump in earnings for investment is planned the first three months for 2019,’ the company of 2018, thanks to said. higher prices and an ‘During Q1 an upincrease in exports. graded harvest station Revenue for the first Above: Scottish Salmon opened in the south and quarter totalled £53.5 Company’s Craig investment continued in million, up by more than Anderson freshwater facilities. £10 million from the ‘The new Applecross Kishorn 2018 figure of £43.4 million. facility will be stocked in the sumHarvest volume increased by 22 mer [see story below], with the per cent, from 7,136 tonnes to remainder of the facility opening in 8,725 tonnes, while the revenue early 2020.’ per kilo rose from £6.08 to £6.13, The guided harvest forecast for driven by strong prices. this year is 33,000 tonnes, with a The company said the underlyproduction target of over 45,000 ing demand for Scottish salmon tonnes by 2025. remained strong, with exports ‘This reflects the company’s accounting for 65 per cent of sales, substantial consent pipeline,’ the up from 61 per cent in Q1 2018, company added. largely driven by strong demand

Salmon farmer’s fruitful investment THE Scottish Salmon Company has invested £10 million in its freshwater operations, with the aim of increasing smolt production as it grows its business. Among freshwater projects announced last month is the new facility in the Applecross estate in Wester Ross, Applecross Kishorn, due to be completed in 2020 and creating a ‘centre of excellence in freshwater production’, said the company. SSC has also acquired two freshwater facilities in the area – the onshore hatchery Appleburn Couldoran and a nearby facility at Loch Damph, which will support increased smolt production. To mark the new developments, the SSC’s chief executive, Craig Anderson, planted Scottish heritage apple trees at the sites. The company said the investment is part of its ongoing commitment to Scotland’s rural communities and

MALIN Workboats has appointed a new manager to drive its Clyde based operation, which includes building aquaculture vessels. The company, a newly launched arm of Malin Marine, announce that David Cockburn will be its business unit manager. Cockburn has extensive industry experience at companies including marine equipment and marine engine suppliers. Graham Tait, managing director of Malin Marine, and with a family history in workboats and aquaculture, said: ‘There is undoubtedly huge potential for our company in aquaculture and other sectors which require tough, reliable and effective workboats, and we are delighted to have David Cockburn on board to

focus on growing this part of our business. ‘Malin Group has a heritage going back over 100 years operating from the Clyde and we are excited about launching vessels on to the river going forward.’ Malin Workboats will be designed in house and built on the Clyde, offering customers a range with differing hull, deck and machinery arrangements.

Above: Malin Workboats’ new manager, David Cockburn

Seafood excellence recognised

Above: SSC’s chief executive Craig Anderson and recirculation project manager Richard Polanski plant an apple tree

economies, and will provide 21 skilled, fulltime jobs. The latest developments follow record results for the Scottish Salmon Company in 2018, that saw revenues reach £180.1 million. Export volumes accounted for more than 60 per cent of sales last year, with particular success in key export markets North America and the Far East. Anderson said: ‘We are making a significant investment in the Highlands and Islands which will strengthen our

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UK news.indd 7

Boat builder brings new manager on board

freshwater operational infrastructure and deliver greater capacity to meet the increasing global demand for our quality Scottish salmon. ‘We are committed to responsible business growth in the communities in which our staff live and work, and to sustainably building on our positive economic impact in these rural areas. ‘These infrastructure projects will mean long-term job security and more spending in the local area through our local sourcing policy.’

SCOTLAND’S seafood companies will be competing for several awards in the Scotland Food and Drink Excellence Awards 2019, to be held in May. The Scottish Salmon Company, Scottish Sea Farms and Loch Fyne Oysters have all been shortlisted in the Export Business of the Year category. And the Scottish Salmon Company has also been named as a finalist in the Business of the Year and Primary Producer of the Year categories. Campbells & Co Smokehouse, Loch Fyne Oysters and Ritchie’s of Rothesay all made the Fish and Seafood category shortlist. And Salar Smokehouse is a finalist in the Artisanal Product category. The annual awards received a record 320 entries across all categories, 20 per cent up on last year.Winners from all 19 categories will be announced in front of 800 guests at the awards ceremony and dinner on Thursday, May 23, at the Corn Exchange in Edinburgh. James Withers, chief executive of Scotland Food & Drink, said: ‘Every year the Excellence Awards attract an incredibly diverse range of entrants, all of which are of a very high quality.This year we’ve had a record number of entries and the standard has never been higher. ‘While tasting each of the products entered into the awards sounds like a dream, in reality, selecting the very best of the best has been extremely difficult for our expert judging panel.

Above: James Withers

06/05/2019 09:26:39

European News

NEWS...

New diet ‘cures lumpﬁsh cataracts’

Top salmon farmers deny price ﬁxing

Above: Better vision should enhance cleaner fish performance

FEED maker BioMar said it has eliminated the common problem of cataracts in lumpfish with a specially formulated diet. Cataracts affect at least 60 per cent and as much 100 per cent of lumpfish, clouding the lens of the eye which reduces vision and in serious cases will lead to blindness. The cleaner fish species are visual lice grazers, and any impairment of their vision caused by sub-optimal nutrition will clearly reduce their health, welfare and performance. For lumpfish to be used effectively in controlling salmon lice biologically, the cleaner fish must be healthy and alert,

European News.indd 8

said BioMar, announcing its new feed today. ‘Lumpfish with severe cataracts will have difficulty in identifying and consuming nutrients, including salmon lice,’ said Elisabeth Aasum, global R&D health manager of BioMar. ‘Also, a reduction in feed uptake can undermine the general health of the fish, increasing the risk of infectious disease.’ Past studies of cataracts in lumpfish have identified nutritional imbalances, with high levels of specific amino acids in certain tissues. A recent study by BioMar found a high incidence of cataracts

in lumpfish fed a control feed with a protein and fat content typical for marine cold water species. The incidences ranged from 60 per cent to 100 per cent, with an average cataract score of > 5, which is a high incidence of severe cataracts. BioMar conducted the same study on three alternative fish feed diets and no traces of cataracts were found in any of these diets. The common feature of these recipes was a reduction in the content of both protein and fat when compared with the control feed. Much of the cause accordingly appears to coincide

with the findings. Torunn Forberg, the lead BioMar scientist on the research project, said: ‘A balanced reduction in nutrient density was decisive in avoiding the eye disease. ‘Moreover, during the study, the reduction in nutrients did not have any negative affect on normal growth rates, feed utilisation and survival rates for transfer sized fish at 50g.’ BioMar has now implemented this new knowledge into its Symbio, Lumpfish Grower range, which is not only designed to improve the nutritional status but now the eye health of lumpfish. Research: Page 64

MANY of Norway’s biggest salmon companies are being sued in the US over alleged price fixing, according to reports. The move follows raids by European Commission officials in February at the Scottish offices of Norwegian owned producers. Mowi, Leroy, SalMar, and Grieg are among those named in a class-action lawsuit alleging customers were harmed by ‘unlawful coordination’ of prices, Undercurrent News reported. Mowi has denied the allegations. A spokesman confirmed: ‘A US company has filed a class action lawsuit against multiple Norwegian and Scottish salmon farming companies. ‘The filing is based on the inspections made by the EU Commission earlier this year, alleging anti-competitive conduct. Mowi has not been involved in price fixing or other anti-competitive conduct, and believe that the allegations are unfounded.’ Grieg Seafood has also rejected all the charges. The alleged activity reportedly took place from July 1, 2015, until the present. The suit was filed in a US federal court in Miami, Florida, on April 23 by Ohio based distributor Euclid Fish Company. The EC’s investigation saw raids taking place at the Scottish operations of Mowi, at Scottish Sea Farms, part owned by Leroy and SalMar, and at Grieg Seafood. The commissioners had previously sent letters to salmon farmers saying that the focus of the probe was on alleged price fixing of Norwegian salmon. Salmon companies are accused of sharing competitively sensitive information, coordinating sales prices, and agreeing to purchase production from competitors.

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06/05/2019 09:29:20

All the latest industry news from Europe

Norway Q1 salmon earnings surge

Salmon farmers a good bet, says bank

HIGHER prices, a weaker seas, with volumes down by kroner and rising demand four per cent. from the United States have However, the value remained combined to deliver strong the same and the average growth to Norway’s salmon price per kilo is up from NOK exporters during the first 67.45 in March 2018 to NOK quarter of 2019, the latest 68.78 in March this year. figures from the Norwegian Farmed trout exports have Seafood Council last month also enjoyed a bumper show. quarter. Sales rose by 13 per The country exported cent to 11,100 tonnes, but the 245,000 tonnes of salmon value was up by 22 per cent to worth NOK 16.7 billion (£1.49 NOK 775 million. billion) between January and Both fresh and frozen trout Above: Paul T. Aandahl of the March this year. fillets did exceptionally well, Norwegian Seafood Council The volume increase was up by 176 and 147 per cent small – just one per cent – but the value rose respectively. The March figure shows trout by seven per cent or NOK 1.1 billion. exports running at 3,600 tonnes, worth NOK While the growth in value to the European 270 million, a value rise of nine per cent. Union bloc was five per cent, exports to the US Total Norwegian seafood exports enjoyed increased by around 20 per cent, compared their best earnings quarter ever. The volume at with a year ago. The export value of fresh 640,000 tonnes was down due to lower quotas fillets alone to America was even higher, at 58 and bad weather, but the value rose by seven per cent. per cent to NOK 25.6 billion (£2.7 billion) with Seafood Council analyst Paul T. Aandahl said: revenues from frozen cod in particular rising ‘Compared to a year ago, the dollar is 10 per by 40 per cent. cent stronger against the Norwegian kroner, The UK was one of the largest markets, sugwhich favours exports towards dollar markets gesting British importers have been stockpiling when set against euro markets.’ in anticipation of a no-deal Brexit. Exports of The figures for March show 83,000 tonnes of shellfish, such as shrimp and king crab, were salmon worth NOK 6 billion were sold overalso well up.

A LEADING Nordic financial institution has said it expects salmon farming companies to continue to show an increase in earnings this year. Danske Banke, which is Danish owned and has operations in at least 16 countries, believes prices are expected to rise or at least remain stable and this means salmon stocks constituted a good investment buy. Analyst Knut-Ivar Bakken told the Norwegian business journal Finansvisen that demand for salmon remained strong, with growth at around six to seven per cent likely. The sector, he added, had made a good start to 2019, with salmon prices up by three per cent and global supply increasing by five per

cent. He conceded that price expectations have come down a little recently following a larger than expected growth in supply. ‘We still expect some growth in average salmon prices,’ he said. ‘In general, we expect low to moderate supply growth over the next three to four years.’ He also predicted that despite new types of production, particularly in land based farming, there was likely to be little change in methods in the medium term.

Above: Knut-Ivar Bakken

Magazine MEDIA SALES ROLE FISH FARMER MAGAZINE HAS BEEN PART OF THE AQUACULTURE SCENE FOR OVER 40 YEARS AND IS KNOWN AND RESPECTED IN EUROPE AND ACROSS THE WORLD. Our success lies in understanding our market and delivering quality editorial and a strong commercial presence. We are now recruiting for our Scottish sales team. So if you are a motivated sales professional with a talent for persuasion then we would like to hear from you. You will be selling online and print advertising in Fish Farmer and on Fishupdate.com as well as attending trade shows in the UK and abroad. Key skills include excellent time and territory management, plus the ability to work well under pressure and deliver a consistent sales performance to tight deadlines. Experience in media sales and/or an understanding of the aquaculture industry would be advantageous as would an equivalent background in B2B sales. Out with the old

You will be mainly ofﬁce based in Edinburgh as part of a small professional team. To apply please email a copy of your CV and a covering letter to Brian Cameron at recruitment@ﬁshfarmermagazine.com “

No reasonable reading of the report would lead you to the view that cleaner fish bring more problems than they fix

personal anecdote and blatant make believe were treated as equally valid factual currencies. It would be good to report that this new development was strongly resisted by the mainstream professional news media. However, in practice, many news professionals appeared to embrace the new concept as just a different way of doing things. This raises serious concerns about the confidence we should have in the whole of our public information systems. Everyone understands that you can’t always believe all that you read in the newspapers. But the fake news seems guaranteed to produce public misinformation or misdirection by deliberate design. There is a tendency to blame this development on social media, but it is a wider problem. I am a long time daily reader of the Times newspapers, which many would regard as highly trusted British news institutions. But even these have occasions where they fall well short of doing a good job of properly informing their readers. Often, the coverage of aquaculture is a case in point. A recent example was the Sunday Times article ‘Clean fish (sic) bring danger of disease to salmon farms’ (December 31). This piece was based on claims by ‘campaigners’ that the use of cleaner fish in salmon farming risked bringing ‘more problems than they fix’. This view was, of course, soundly rejected by

the salmon farming industry (who might reasonably be expected to know something about these things). Nonetheless, general readers would have been left with a clear impression of a spat between protagonists with divergent but equally authoritative points of view. However, the story had its origins in ‘Risk assessment of fish health associated with the use of cleaner fish in aquaculture’, a December publication by the Animal Health and Welfare Panel of the Norwegian Scientific Committee for Food and Environment. This very factual and workmanlike analysis, running to 68 pages, said nothing surprising or alarming about the use of cleaner fish (its general points have already been considered in cleaner fish deployment in the Scottish industry). No reasonable reading of the report would lead you to the view that cleaner fish would bring ‘more problems than they fix’. So, what was the public information purpose of the Sunday Times news report? Why did the reporter not take a few minutes to read the original report (which was readily available on the internet) before giving the ‘campaigners’ claim’ such credence? Surely, somewhere in this journalistic process the objective of keeping the public informed deserved to have been given more serious consideration. Finally, let me turn to my predictions for 2018. The first is that the problems of false news will not abate, and it will become an increasing public information issue. The second is that 2018 will see a new focus on freshwater technology in salmon farming. Its concepts are sound, and the early trial results in Scotland look very promising. There are logistical, technological and cost challenges to overcome. But any sector whose main animal health problems can be controlled by using freshwater should be jumping at the chance to do just that. FF

www.fishfarmer-magazine.co.uk ”

European News.indd 9 www.fishfarmer-magazine.com

06/05/2019 09:29:42

European News

Whale watchers oppose fish farm

Above: Whale watching

SOME of Iceland’s salmon farmers are facing a new and unusual source of opposition to their growth plans. Whale watchers and the tour companies that take them out to sea are challenging a proposal by AkvaFuture to produce up to 20,000 tonnes of fish in Eyjafjörður, in the north of the country. The plan is to set up six cages on both sides of the fjord, which is one of the longest in Iceland. The tour companies say the development will curtail their sailing schedules, a claim strongly denied by AkvaFuture and the industry at large. Halldór Áskelsson, owner of Keli Sea Tours, said it was not just a matter of a few containers (cages), but the proposal would introduce heavy industry to the fjord. The area, he argued, has been described as a national paradise, but now the farmers are ‘taking its resources and handing them over to foreign bankers or big companies and trampling on stakeholders in Eyjafjörður’. Áskelsson, who claims the expansion is larger than local people have been led to believe, is calling for a meeting with the authorities to try to have the plan at least revised. Any development, he added, should be carried out

European News.indd 10

in harmony with nature. A report from the University of Iceland said whale watching contributed $13.4 million (about £10 million) to the economy, CNN reported. Iceland also still has a small whaling industry, with a quota set by its government to kill 2,000 whales in the next five years. AkvaFuture is the Icelandic subsidiary of the Norwegian owned AkvaDesign. Managing director Rögnvaldur Guðmundsson said the company has been completely open about its application, with large advertisements in Iceland’s main media outlets. There had also been public meetings with the local authorities, who seemed to welcome the employment and economic benefits from the scheme. ‘We believe that environmentally friendly salmon farming can have a synergistic effect on tourism,’ he said, ‘because many tourists are interested in the environment and want to study sustainable food solutions that reduce the ecological footprint and have animal welfare as a priority.’ An environmental assessment is currently being carried out and a decision is expected later this year on whether all six sites will receive approval.

Demand strong but costs high: Lerøy LERØY Seafood Group, co-owners of Scottish Sea Farms, has said in its 2018 annual report that it expects good underlying demand for seafood but costs are still too high. Despite a two per cent decline in the harvest volumes forecast, the actual figure was up from 173,200 tonnes in 2017 to 175,800 tonnes. Revenues were up from NOK 18,623 million to NOK 19,837 million, while the operating profit was down from NOK 435 million in 2017 to NOK 333 million last year. The 2019 harvest volume forecast for Scottish Sea Farms, which it shares with SalMar, is 15,000 tonnes, up from 13,700 tonnes in 2018. Lerøy said lower growth at the end of 2018 resulted in reduced harvest volume in the first quarter of 2019. ‘The board of directors and management have acknowledged that the group’s release from stock costs for red fish (salmon and trout) are lower in 2018 than in 2017, but at the same time specify that they are not satisfied with the cost levels. ‘With time, the group’s investments and continuous work on improvements will result in lower cost levels. ‘As a result of the investments in new smolt facilities, the smolt released to sea by Lerøy in 2019, for example, will be of a higher quality and considerably larger than before. ‘The group expects to see Lerøy gradually increase production and competitive strength from 2020. ‘The group’s contract share for salmon for 2019 is currently around 30 per cent of the estimated harvest volume of salmon. ‘Estimates for harvest volume of salmon and trout in 2019, including the share from associates, remains around 189,000 tonnes.’

Above: Lerøy CEO Henning Beltestad

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06/05/2019 09:30:19

All the latest industry news from Europe

Tromsø dilutes ban on sea farms

THE northern Norwegian city of Tromsø has rowed back on its controversial plan for an outright ban on open sea fish farms within its municipal area. The left leaning city council caused a big stir last November when it declared that all future development should be centred around closed, land based farms. The decision brought strong criticism from the aquaculture industry and the national government. But the political coalition has recently split on the issue, with the ruling Labour or AP party modifying its position. The party has indicated that while it prefers land based farms, it is prepared to allow some open farm development, provided it uses technology that is pro-climate and environmenally and socially friendly.

The industry will also be offered more land when the new coastal zone plan is rolled out, probably later in the year. The decision has been welcomed by the employers’ organisation Seafood Norway as an important breakthrough. Seafood Norway’s regional aquaculture manager, Marit Bærø, said it showed the council now wanted to grow its aquaculture sector and the move opened up the way for that expansion. The Labour Party modified its position after talking to the industry and listening to concerns that the technology required to implement the coalition’s earlier demands was still several years away. Meanwhile, another northern municipality, Alta, has decided that it wants to implement a ban on all new open sea farms.

Iceland looks to Scottish salmon success ICELAND should look to the success of fish farming in Scotland and other neighbouring countries as a benchmark for the future development of its own aquaculture sector, fishing industry chiefs heard recently. Jens Garðar Helgason, chairman of the Icelandic Confederation of Fisheries Companies, which has included fish farming firms since January, told his organisation’s annual meeting that within a few years, exports of salmon could match or be worth more than those of cod, the country’s best known seafood commodity. For this reason

alone, it was vital, he added, that Iceland developed a successful aquaculture sector. He said: ‘Our neighbouring countries Scotland, Norway and the Faroe Islands, have already taken advantage of the same opportunities to build up a powerful aquaculture industry in their countries.’ The development of fish farming in Iceland, he maintained, was a knowledge based activity, taking place without government assistance. Yet it was helping to restore prosperity to many rural economies, along with increasing the nation’s export revenues.

Helgason expressed his disappointment at a new bill before the Althingi, Iceland’s parliament, which threatens environmental taxes and restrictions on the industry. Iceland’s fishing organisations had a good story to tell on the environment and had always put it at the forefront of their priorities, he argued. Ólafur Elínarson, director of market research at Gallup in Iceland, told the same conference, that people were prepared to pay more for seafood that was both healthy and environmentally sustainable and this fitted well with Iceland’s reputation.

Above: A salmon farm outside the town of Isafjordur in Iceland

Salmon medicated to beat the blues SALMON may be vulnerable to a bout of the ‘blues’, with symptoms similar to those suffered by humans, a leading Norwegian marine scientist has suggested. The researcher, Øyvind Øverli, has discovered that some farmed salmon in cages have shown signs of depression familiar in mammals, such as stopping eating or becoming less active. This can also affect mortality rates, so Øverli injected antidepressants into the fish as part of his experiment. As a result, they became brighter and more active. The researcher, who is an expert in neurobiology based at the Norwegian Environmental and Biosciences University (NMBU), told the newspaper Dagens Næringsliv that after medication treatment the fish started to eat normally

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European News.indd 11

again and displayed renewed energy by moving around more. He said that prior to the injections their behaviour and psychology was very much the

same as that found in mammals suffering from chronic stress. The researcher has also been studying what happens to the brain’s serotonin system, which can affect behaviour. He is now trying to find out exactly why salmon are showing these changes in mood. He said if he could find the answer, it may help to bring economic benefits, such as lower mortality. Ole Folkedal, a fellow researcher at the university, has suggested the stress could be down to inequalities when the fish are very young, or when they reach the adolescence stage. The university team, which is also looking at the wider reasons behind salmon mortality, plans to continue with its research.

06/05/2019 09:31:02

World News

NEWS...

Egypt to host all Africa conference PREPARATIONS are underway for the first Aquaculture Africa Conference, scheduled for November 2020 in Alexandria, Egypt. According to the recently formed African Chapter of the World Aquaculture Society (WAS), the event will be a key opportunity to bring together African aquaculture players to enhance and inspire the continent’s aquaculture developmental agenda. ‘The conference is expected to celebrate achievements recognised from the

Above: Alexandria, Egypt

aquaculture sector in Africa over the past decades,’ Blessing Mapfumo, WAS African Chapter secretariat, told fellow members last month. ‘It will also highlight some of the latest aquaculture research, innovations and investments to underpin continued growth of this exciting food production sector in Africa. The conference will include a scientific forum (with both oral and poster presentations), a trade exhibition, industry forums, workshops, student

events, receptions and other organised side meetings. Highly esteemed keynote speakers from Africa and beyond are expected to attend, said Mapfumo. The WAS Africa Chapter is also busy building its infrastructure and is encouraging members to join its advisory board and some of its committees. To apply for membership of the WAS Africa Chapter visit: https://www.was.org/ Meetings/MemberData/SelectMemberType. aspx.

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A PROPOSAL to build Chile’s first land based salmon farm was given the go ahead last month by the country’s Environmental Assessment Service (SEA), according to reports. The company behind the project is Bordemar and involves former executives from feed producer EWOS. The Israeli recirculating aquaculture systems expert, AquaMaof, is said to be building

the facility, which will be sited in Talcahuano in the salmon farming region of Bio-Bío - midway between Puerto Montt and the capital, Santiago. The plan is to produce 4,000 tonnes in the first year and then 24,000 tonnes by the third year. The plant, reportedly costing US$45 million, will recycle 99.8 per cent of its water. There will also be a slaughterhouse and processing plant on the site.

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Integrated Freight Facility, Annat, Corpach, Fort William PH33 7NN Integrated Freight Facility, Annat, Corpach, Fort William PH33 7NN T: 01397 773840 F: 01397 773850 E: enquiries@fergusontransport.co.uk T: 01397 773840 F: 01397 773850 E: enquiries@fergusontransport.co.uk

Above: AquaMaof farming

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18/02/2015 11:57

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06/05/2019 09:32:14

World News

Hope for US offshore aquaculture Mowi wellboat starts work in BC

A BILL that would establish a federal system for regulating and permitting offshore aquaculture farms in the United States should have momentum in Congress this year, according to its advocates. Seafood lobbyist Margaret Henderson told IntraFish: ‘We have a strong presence on Capitol Hill.’ Last year she helped form the Stronger America through Seafood (SATS) group, which includes companies such as Cargill, Pacific Seafood, Taylor Shellfish, Pontos Aqua Advisory, Sysco, Pentair, High Liner Foods, Red Lobster, Fortune International, Taylor Shellfish, InnovaSea and Beaver Street Fisheries. The Advancing the Quality and Understanding of American Aquaculture (AQUAA) Act seeks to establish an Office of Marine Aquaculture within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to streamline permits, as well as help fund research and services for aquaculture. There are currently no commercial finfish operations in US federal waters – the zone between three to 200 miles offshore. Despite having the world’s second largest Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), the US ranks 16 in aquaculture production, according to NOAA. Fierce opposition to aquaculture from commercial fisheries interests in states such as Alaska, alongside a cumbersome permitting process, have long stifled the industry’s development. The sector suffered a major setback after the collapse of a Cooke Aquaculture salmon pen in Washington in 2017, which led to a ban on Atlantic salmon farming in the state from 2022 (see story overleaf). Henderson said SATS is eager to pass the bill before Congress gets distracted by the US presidential election in 2020. Republican Senator Roger Wicker, of Missouri, who proposed the bill in the Senate, is expected to re-introduce it soon, Intrafish reported.

MOWI Canada West has taken delivery of its new wellboat, the 77m Aqua Tromoy, the largest and most technologically advanced vessel ever to serve the Canadian aquaculture industry. The Polish built vessel, launched last year, can hold 3,000 cubic metres of water, the equivalent of eight Olympic sized swimming pools, CTV News reported. The wellboat has an on-board reverse osmosis system that can generate freshwater from seawater to fill the holds in 24 hours, said the company. Mowi’s managing director in British Columbia, Diane Morrison, said the Aqua Tromoy has triple the capacity of any other Mowi vessel and allows the company to proactively manage fish health in an environmentally friendly manner. Atlantic salmon are lifted aboard from farm pens and immersed in the freshwater, which removes sea lice and other saltwater microbes and parasites. Before the water is pumped back into the ocean, it is passed through filters to capture and retain any parasites, the company said. The diesel powered ship, carrying a crew of nine, also has an onboard water treatment process, while the engine system uses urea to reduce nitrogen oxide pollutants in exhaust gases. Aqua Tromoy was built by Arctic Shipping and delivered to DESS Aquaculture Shipping, 50 per cent owned by Mowi, in November Mowi Canada West employs 600 people and produces 45,000 tonnes of Atlantic salmon a year.

Above: The 77m Aqua Tromoy is ﬁtted with a reverse osmosis system

Deep Trekker keeps on moving THE Canadian ROV (remotely operated vehicle) company Deep Trekker has launched a new model - and opened a new site, in Chile’s aquaculture region. The Ontario based company manufactures portable, harsh environment robotic inspection tools, now sold in more than 80 countries, and used in aquaculture, as well as shipping, search and rescue, and the defence industry. The new DTG3 ROV model incorporates BRIDGE technology, comprising integrated hardware and software. ‘BRIDGE allows the user to experience wireless control and viewing, multi-vehicle operation over the internet, and software upgrades from

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World news.indd 13

Above: Sam Macdonald

anywhere in the world,’ said Deep Trekker’s embedded systems engineer lead, Chad Pleas-Naden. Meanwhile, the Chilean office, in Puerto Montt, will offer the company’s complete range of submersible products, technical support, training services and customer service, the company said. Company president Sam Macdonald said the firm’s growth was based on developing products to customer requirements. ‘Establishing a direct presence in Latin America will allow us to get even closer to our customers, and as a result, deliver innovative products based on the specific needs of the Latin American market,’ she said.

06/05/2019 09:32:43

World News

Salmon veteran to run Tasmania mill ment to customers makes him ideally suited to lead BioMar Australia in the next phase of its development.’ Whyte said: ‘I am excited to take this new professional challenge to build a high performing team and firmly establish BioMar in Australia and New Zealand. ‘It’s a tremendous opportunity and a significant responsibility to meet the expectation of our customers, staff, community and shareholders.’ He will join the company in mid-July 2019.

FEED company BioMar has appointed farming veteran David Whyte to run its new plant in Tasmania, due to open in early 2020. Whyte, a marine biologist with 32 years’ experience in aquaculture, Above: David Whyte was chief of BioMar’s Salmon operating ofDivision, said: ‘David ficer at New Zealand will bring an impresKing Salmon for a sive combination of period last year. experience to our He has had leading business. roles at Marine Har‘He possesses a vest Scotland (now deep understanding Mowi) and at Huon in Australia, and was of aquaculture built up over a lifetime previously at BioMar in the industry. His in the late 1990s. breadth of knowlDr Patrick Campedge and commitbell, vice president

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Cooke agrees $332,000 fine over fish escape COOKE Aquaculture will pay a $332,000 US penalty following the collapse of its Atlantic salmon farm near Washington’s Cypress Island in 2017. The Canadian owned company lost around 250,000 fish in the accident, which it blamed on natural conditions. A subsequent report by Washington state’s Department of Ecology said the company had been negligent, a claim it rejected. Cooke has agreed to the penalty on the grounds that 80 per cent of the proceeds will go towards a fisheries enhancement project in the state. The escape incident led to a political storm and the eventual decision by state legislators to phase out non-native fish farming, starting from 2022. Existing leases for Atlantic salmon farms won’t be renewed when they expire. Cooke, which farms salmon in the eastern US state of Maine, as well as in Canada, Scotland and Chile, bought its farms in Puget Sound in 2016 at a reported cost of more than $70 million.

BioMar backs insect meal – if price is right INSECT meal is a viable source of alternative protein in aqua feeds, said BioMar, but only if the price became competitive. The feed company recently completed the testing of insect meal, which it began in 2015, and believes it shows promise. It is one of several novel ingredients, including algae oil and single cell proteins, that BioMar has been investigating. The company said these raw materials can address some of the needs of the market and it is now eager to speed up their adoption through the creation of innovative feed solutions.

Michel Autin, technical director at BioMar’s Europe, the Middle East and Africa division said: ‘Innovation, of course, comes at a cost, but farmers who are the first movers with insect meal will benefit from a strong market position. ‘Insect meal has a future as an alternative protein source in aquaculture feeds if the price of this new raw material can be kept at reasonable limits. ‘We have good test results on insect meal originating from black soldier flies, mealworms and others, which makes it a promising raw material.’

MARCH 2019

Under control

Norway – Research Council

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Serving worldwide aquaculture

THE COOKE REPORT

First look at Scotland’s most exposed farm site

since 1977

BOAT YARDSTICK

How aquaculture is driving Scottish builders

SPOTLIGHT ON SALMON Holyrood separates fact from fiction

CREATING A BUZZ

Plenty to digest in insects for feed forum

“

The environment is more stable and the ﬁsh use less energy adapting to it

Under control

Above: Project participants at the centre’s opening. Right: CtrlAQUA scientists. Photos by Terje Aamodt/Noﬁma.

Joint approach between scientists and industry to address challenges of closed-containment systems

our Norwegian research institutions, two outside Norway and several industry partners from technology and the aquaculture industry have started operations at a centre for innovation in closed-containment systems. The centre, CtrlAQUA, has been given NOK 200 million and eight years to reach its goal of making closed-containment systems for salmon up to one kilogram. Innovations in closed-containment, where the salmon is separated from the outside environment by a tight barrier, can be important for the further development of the industry,

helping to address challenges such as sea lice, diseases and escapes, as well as reduce production times. Closed systems can be land-based, where water is recycled, or sea-based, in which large floating tanks receive clean water from depth. In CtrlAQUA, the research will deal with both approaches. The main focus of the centre is innovation in closed-containment systems for the most vulnerable periods of the salmon production cycle, such as the first sea water, post-smolt, phase. The centre will also contribute to better production control, fish welfare and sustainability

in closed-containment farms. This will happen through the development of new and reliable sensors, minimising environmental impact through recycling of nutrients and reducing the risk of escape, and diseases transmission to wild stocks. Senior scientist Bendik Fyhn Terjesen, from Nofima, who is the director of the centre, said that closed-containment systems for salmon up to one kilogram have further advantages than simply preventing lice and escapes. ‘We can control the environment in which the fish lives in a closed-containment system. The environment is more stable and the fish

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use less energy adapting to it. This means that the salmon has more energy available for growth and good health.’ Closed systems for strategic phases in salmon farming can help to make the Norwegian vision of an eight-fold growth in value creation from aquaculture possible, and lead to an increased number of jobs and the production of healthy seafood. In the centre there will be three departments: technology and environment, led by Dr Fyhn Terjesen; preventative fish health, led by Harald Takle, also from Nofima; and fish production and welfare, led by Lars Ebbesson of Uni Research. CtrlAQUA is one of 17 Centres for Research-Based Innovation (SFI), a major programme created by the Research Council of Norway. The primary goal of the SFI programme is to strengthen companies’ capacity for innovation, and to develop leading industry relevant research. Nofima is accompanied by five solid institutions in CtrlAQUA: Uni Research, the University of Bergen, the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, the Freshwater Institute in the US and the University of Gothenburg in Sweden. The University of Bergen will have principal responsibility for research education at the centre. The total budget for CtrlAQUA will be

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Research Councilt.indd All Pages

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NOK 196 million, spread over eight years. Industrial partners from the supplier industry are Krüger Kaldnes AS, Pharmaq Analytiq, Pharmaq AS, Oslofjord Ressurspark AS, Storvik Aqua AS and Aquafarm Equipment AS. Participants from the aquaculture industry are Marine Harvest ASA, Grieg Seafood ASA, Lerøy Vest AS, Cermaq Norway AS, Bremnes Seashore AS, Smøla klekkeri og settefiskanlegg AS, Marine producers Norway AS and Firda sjøfarmer AS. The formal opening by the Research Council took place at the end of May at Nofima, Sunndalsøra. Norwegian fisheries minister Elisabeth Aspaker, present at the ceremony, said the goal of the CtrlAQUA SFI is perfectly compatible with the government’s ambitions for the aquaculture industry. ‘I have great expectations for the achievements of CtrlAQUA. Even though eight years is a long time, it is urgent that we find solutions to reach the goals. CtrlAQUA is an important part of this.’ The director of innovation in the Research Council, Eirik Normann, presented the SFI plaque to Fyhn Terjesen, saying: ‘You have put together a very strong consortium. I want to point out that the committee that evaluated the application was fascinated by the innovation that the concept brings with it, and it believes that the centre will probably produce important innovations within aquaculture.’ FF

NOFIMA FACTS With 360 employees and customers from 49 different countries, Nofima’s turnover in 2014 was £527 million The company is currently engaged in 620 projects worldwide. Nofima has several laboratories and pilot plants, which it uses for research, including: BioLab – an accredited contract and research laboratory; NAMAB – a flexible minifactory; and Patogen Pilot Plant – Europe’s first highsecurity production hall. Nofima carries out research for the fisheries, aquaculture and food industries, including: breeding and genetics; capture-based aquaculture; fish health; and consumer and sensory sciences. Each year Nofima organises several symposia, courses and seminars in which its scientists share their expertise.

09/07/2015 09:41:56

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06/05/2019 09:33:15

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06/05/2019 14:04:03

News extra - Supply chain summit

Support

for suppliers’ group Aquaculture businesses see collaboration as key to growth

LANS to create an organisation representing Scotland’s aquaculture supply chain were given a cautious welcome during a workshop in Edinburgh last month. The meeting, opened by Rural Economy minister Fergus Ewing and bringing together around 90 people from across the industry, looked at how businesses could accelerate growth. The event, at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre, emerged from the Aquaculture Growth to 2030 vision, which established the Aquaculture Industry Leadership Group (AILG), and the focus was specifically on finding ways to develop the supply chain. Stewart Graham, managing director of leading supplier Gael Force Group as well as cochair of the AILG, said the discussion revolved around possible means of collaboration. ‘We see a big opportunity, and the biggest part of that opportunity for the supply chain is to ensure, first of all, that the industry itself is growing,’ he said. Delegates at the summit – who included salmon producers, feed companies, government bodies, and equipment makers - were asked whether suppliers should form some sort of association or forum. Graham said the idea sprang from a trip he made to Denmark last year, along with Highlands and Islands Enterprise head of food and drink, Elaine Jamieson, who organised the Edinburgh conference. They were invited by the Danish Fish Tech Group, which represents a network of about 100 seafood equipment suppliers who sell to global markets. ‘It was very clear that how they function together as a group brought critical mass to

Summit.indd 16

their supply chain,’ said Graham. ‘It also allows them to do things like create trade export missions, fact finding missions and exhibition stands that they could all participate in. I think it’s tremendously successful.’ It was up to the Scottish supply chain to decide whether it should form some similar mechanism, said Graham - ‘to create scale and take further advantage of the opportunity in Scotland today, and in line with the planned growth, but also to build and develop our export market’. ‘Other countries do this very well and perhaps we should learn lessons and best practice from what others already do.’ He said about two thirds of delegates supported the idea, but no firm conclusions were reached. Data collected from the day will be collated and circulated more widely in due course. But he added that ‘there was definitely a consensus in the room that more collaboration would be better’. Supply chain growth, however, cannot be disentangled from industry growth, and any acceleration will depend on producers getting more biomass.

“wePerhaps should

learn lessons and best practice from what other countries already do

”

Merits of the Danish model seafood,’ said Martin Winkel, THE Danish Fish Tech Group is head of the Danish Fish Tech the country’s largest network Group, Stewart Graham was givof suppliers, exporting to the en an insight into how the Danglobal fishing, aquaculture, and ish sector operates when he was seafood processing industries. invited by Winkel to a supplier Representing around 100 network meeting in Denmark in companies, the group is a platJanuary last year. form to develop markets and it He said at the time: ‘In maintains a regular presence at Scotland, we have massively international exhibitions. Above: Martin Winkel underexploited our supply chain, ‘The Danish suppliers to the so we were interested to see how aquaculture industry cover the networks of suppliers like Danish Fish Tech entire value chain, from solutions, services and equipment for the fish farms, land based Group and their member companies work. ‘We can learn from them and continue to or offshore, as well as efficient, cost reducing, highly hygienic and sustainable solutions form partnerships that lead to benefits in export or investments.’ and machinery for processing of the fish and

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06/05/2019 09:34:38

Support for suppliers’ group

‘Fundamentally, there is nothing very much we can do in the supply chain if the industry doesn’t grow,’ said Graham. ‘We can take a bit more share of it, and substitute a bit more import but, ultimately, if we want to feed and develop the wider economy, the bottom line is we need more growth from the producers.’ He said he is ‘extremely optimistic that we will double the economic value of the industry to Scotland by 2030’, and a big part of that will be growth in production. He believes that much of this will come from the new SEPA (Scottish Environment Protection Agency) modelling, which allows existing sites to get more biomass, and from new sites, many of which may well be higher energy, larger sites. ‘Some sites will probably close too. But the net position will be that the existing footprint will very much provide a signiﬁcant part of the growth that the industry are looking for.’ He predicts, based on what is in the water now, that production this year could exceed 190,000 tonnes, after dipping to around 150,000 tonnes last year.

‘I am hopeful that we will see growth back into line with the aspirations of 2030,’ said Graham. As one of the chief drivers of the creation of the AILG two years ago, he believes the group has helped give the supply chain more of a voice. ‘If we’ve made any progress at all we certainly did in building a strategy and I feel we are making some progress with the AILG because we have included the wider stakeholder group.’ Working together is good for the whole sector, but ‘it particularly gives a lot of strength to the producers if they recognise the value of all the other stakeholders in the industry, which I think they’ve made good strides in doing’. FF

Above: (from left to right): Amanda Stott, Facilitate This!, Jason Cleaversmith, AKVA; Julie Hesketh-Laird, SSPO; Mike Forbes, Ace Aquatec; David Gregory, SAIC; Alban Denton, Loch Duart; Fergus Ewing, Scottish Government; Elaine Jamieson, HIE; Stewart Graham, Gael Force; Jim Gallagher, Scottish Sea Farms; Alasdair Ferguson, Ferguson Transport; John Marshall, Benchmark Holdings (photo: Gary Doak/HIE)

Farmers need ‘right solutions at right price’ JIM Gallagher, managing director of Scottish Sea Farms, and Julie Hesketh-Laird, chief executive of the Scottish Salmon Producers Organisation, were among the salmon farming representatives at the summit. They gave a presentation, talking about the opportunities for further growth in the farmed salmon sector, and challenged the supply chain to help meet the demands of the sector. Hesketh-Laird said that while the farmed salmon sector had grown in Scotland, it had also lost market share.

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Summit.indd 17

She said Scotland’s share of the global market for salmon should be about 10 per cent but it had fallen back to about seven per cent. ‘All eyes are on the sector to grow greater volumes of salmon in the most sustainable way, a way that is responsible both in terms of ﬁsh welfare and the environment,’ she said. Gallagher said the farmed sector was just asking the same from its supply chain as consumers asked of the farmers – ‘the right solutions at the right time at the right price’. He added: ‘Get those areas right and we will

meet the objectives set out in the Farmed Fish Health Framework and the SEPA Finﬁsh Aquaculture Sector Plan.’

Above: Jim Gallagher

06/05/2019 09:35:07

Interview - Martin Gill

Standard practice Scottish salmon farmers have been subjected to scrutiny from the early days

URING last year’s parliamentary inquiry into salmon farming, a ringing endorsement of the sustainability of the industry in Scotland was provided by a man who should know. According to Martin Gill, head at Fisheries and Aquaculture of certification body Acoura (now part of Lloyd’s Register), the level of auditing at Scottish farms constitutes ‘some of the most rigorous independent oversight of aquaculture practices, let alone farmed salmon production, in place in any country globally’. Gill, a marine biologist by training, has more than 30 years’ experience in aquaculture and fisheries, and nearly 20 in the auditing of fish farms. In his written submission to the Rural Economy and Connectivity (REC) committee, which was investigating the sector, Gill spelt out just how closely salmon farms are scrutinised. ‘Lloyd’s Register carries out several hundred farmed based audits annually on Scottish producers, this covers close to 100 per cent of all Scottish based salmon farms at least annually, and in some cases visits are carried out more often.’ Talking to Fish Farmer last month, Gill said the team of auditors in the UK is mostly made up of former farm staff, who as a consequence know what to look for. ‘The auditors are very experienced, high trained and most of them started out as fish farmers,’ said Gill. For example, Paul Macintyre, aquaculture director, has been with the company since the early 90s but he started at Marine Harvest (Mowi). ‘He has been a farm manager as well as a processing and packing plant manager. Matt James, senior aquaculture manager, was a Marine Harvest farm manager earlier in his career. ‘That is key because when they go on to a farm, it’s not just an auditor going down a checklist, they actually can put the requirements of the standard in context, they can see and feel that there is good practice going on. ‘Or they also know

Martin Gill.indd 18

where to lift the carpet and say, let me have a look here to see if there’s something not quite right.’ Salmon farmers in Scotland made a conscious decision very early in the development of the sector to go down the quality rather than the commodity route, said Gill. ‘They have a different business model to the Norwegians, who in general have been based on larger volume, lower price.’ Gill was recruited back in 2002 by Angus Morgan, former Marine Harvest executive and then chairman of Food Certification Scotland, an independent inspection and certification body that had grown out of the salmon sector in the 1990s. The not for profit organisation assisted in the development of the Tartan Quality Mark, the first accredited quality scheme for the marketing of fish products in the UK. Gill, who described the salmon industry as ‘a pathfinder’, said it also took the decision to go down the Label Rouge route at the same time, for

Above: Martin Gill of Lloyd’s Register Left: Label Rouge salmon Opposite: Scottish salmon farm

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06/05/2019 09:41:34

Standard practice

the French market. ‘Label Rouge was, and I believe still is, the highest quality scheme, a really true product quality scheme that actually looks at quality characteristics of the salmon carrying the LR quality mark.’ For many years, Scottish farmed salmon was the only non-French produced food product to have that award, which is a reflection of the farmers’ commitment to quality, said Gill. When he joined Food Certification Scotland (later Acoura) in 2002, other standards were starting to come on to the market, often driven by the retailers and the big brand processors, demanding quality and provenance. Gill has since certified Scottish salmon farmers against all the main standards,,both domestic and international, that are available in the market today, including the Code of Good Practice for Scottish Finfish Aquaculture, GlobalGAP, Aquaculture Stewardship Council, Global Aquaculture Alliance Best Aquaculture Practice, Protected Geographic Indication, Chain of Custody standards, Friend of the Sea and others. ‘For these standards to meet the requirements of what is known as ISO17065 accredited third party Product Certification Standards, it is required that the participants (farms, hatcheries, broodstock units, feed mills, harvesting stations, packing plants and secondary processing plants) in the schemes are independently inspected and certified against a rigorous set of Production and Quality Standards,’ Gill wrote in his REC submission. He said the companies often have a large client base so have to adopt and maintain certification to a whole range of standards, on top of which they very often have to comply with retailers’ and other clients’ own standards. Assessors go on the 300 or so farm sites ‘day

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Martin Gill.indd 19

in, day out’, a minimum of once and quite often two or more times a year because of the multiple standards that have to be delivered, said Gill. They are also in the packing stations several times a year. Yet despite such ‘rigorous oversight’, the sector’s sustainability is still questioned by its critics. What does Gill think the industry should be doing that it’s not doing to improve perceptions? As a certificaiton body, he and his audtiors have to remain impartial at all times, but he said: ‘I do get a bit frustrated when we see this continual bad press because I think the industry tries extremely hard and invests heavily in the quality and sustainability of their product and operations. ‘No one is perfect and there’s always room for improvement. But from my point view, I witness very strong commitment to address issues when they are identified, and to innovate because they want Scottish salmon to continue to be successful and they want it to be sustainable and they want it to be the best quality salmon in the market, for both ethical and business reasons. ‘From the farms we go to, they are very knowledgeable, very focused on the health and welfare of their fish and their environment and everything else that goes with Scottish farmed salmon. That’s very visible.’ If farms do not meet the high standards demanded by the certification bodies, though, there are sanctions. ‘That’s called a non-compliance and they range from minor – for example, a paperwork error – or they could be a major one, like a veterinary treatment not being correct,’ said Gill. ‘All accredited standards have a specific process and they vary slightly between them in how they address non-compliance. ‘The usual practice is to raise it and give the client so many days to provide evidence of corrective action. The average across most standards is 28 days. ‘If it’s a major non-compliance, we have the authority if required to suspend them from the scheme immediately until we look at the issue in more detail. ‘It’s very rare. The main reason in Scotland is because all of the companies and all the farms are ingrained in this need for quality management systems. The various schemes have been in place for 20-25 years, so they are very tight systems, with robust procedures, so it’s second nature to the farming companies. ‘But sometimes things go wrong as they do in all farming situations. Things can happen, whether it’s a natural change that causes a problem or an error has been made or there’s an accident. ‘The important thing is to have robust systems to prevent problems where

“is aThere very

strong lobby against ﬁsh farming and I have no problem with that because it forces the industry to look at itself

”

06/05/2019 09:41:55

Interview – Martin Gill

possible, but also to have responsive practices that can identify issues and address them responsibly and as a matter of priority.’ He said auditors don’t have power to stop farmers operating but do have power to remove their use of a logo, suspend them or, in extreme circumstances, withdraw their certification. Aquaculture companies dread having to phone up a client and say, I can’t deliver your salmon today because we’ve had to remove the logo, so they take the process and requirements very seriously, said Gill. ‘There is a very strong lobby against fish farming and I have no problem with that because it forces the industry to look at itself, it forces them to review and to improve and innovate and move forward.’ The standards themselves are constantly updated, with the ASC salmon standard and the Code of Good Practice currently undergoing reviews. ‘Schemes are not stationary, they are reviewed on a regular basis, to keep them up to date with a changing industry,’ said Gill. ‘We don’t own the standards, we’re there to interpret and audit them on site. However, we are involved in several technical committees, advising on the auditability of the criteria being proposed, as well as the applicability. ‘The standards will develop as new innovation takes place – the use of cleaner fish, for instance, wasn’t in the Code of Good Practice when first published, but in the next review I’d expect to see further criteria relating to the management of cleaner fish start to appear.’ As for the ASC review, he hopes that changes to their standards will encourage new applications from the Scottish freshwater sector, which has been mostly excluded because of its production methods. Uptake here has been slow not because they had bad practice, just a different production practice, said Gill, and the review, which has had comment and input submitted from his Lloyd’s Register colleagues, will address that. ‘Certainly, the commitment to uptake is there. I think it’s a challenging standard, but yes, I would hope and expect to see much wider uptake.’ He also hopes to see more streamlining of the various standards in the future, conceding that there are too many of them. ‘It could be considered great business for certification bodies because there’s a demand that we go and deliver all these different standards. But on the other hand, we recognise that it’s a serious burden to aquaculture producers, both in terms of time and money. ‘The various standards overlap significantly and in some cases up to about 80 per cent of the content, but there might be 20 per cent of difference – for instance, the RSPCA one will lean more towards animal welfare related issues, ASC may focus more on social welfare and environment, Label Rouge focuses more on the product quality of the salmon. ‘Going forward, I would expect and hope to see an element of benchmarking and equivalence between the standards so we could go on to a salmon farm in Scotland and deliver, for example, the Code of Good Practice but then bolt on a module for the additional criteria that are relevant to another standard. ‘We already combine audits where possible but there are occasions when

Martin Gill.indd 20

we visit the farm and have to do a whole audit for one particular standard, then a separate audit for Global GAP. ‘If we have to go on a farm three times a year to do three different standards, we’re charging three days of an auditor’s time, plus travel costs. If we could go for, say, two days and combine those three audits, there is a significant potential cost saving to the client. ‘Although that’s less revenue for us, I think it’s the only sensible thing to do. I’m very supportive of that, but is it going to happen? There’s a lot of talk!’ he said. Since Acoura became part of the UK based Lloyd’s Register Group at the end of 2016, Gill’s remit has become much more global, with clients in 40 countries. From a small, specialised company, based in Inverness, he is now part of one of the big global certificaiton bodies. Previously Acoura had a global footprint but limitations on being competitive in some key aquaculture markets. For example, it was difficult to be competitive delivering services to China from Inverness. But Lloyd’s has eight offices in China, and Gill makes regular trips there. His role now is the strategic roll out of seafood expertise across the Lloyd’s Register network globally, to be able to scale the companies offering and provide services locally and competitively charge at local rates. The global standards and requirements are the same worldwide – BAP is growing over 30 per cent a year globally and so is ASC, and that is set to continue, said Gill. ‘In China, certification was traditionally in the export related sector, demanded by western processAbove: Wrasse ers or buyers. Now, with the growing middle class who are more aware of consumer demands and sustainability and food safety, we see the domestic market for certification growing.’ While the future for him is to scale up globally, this won’t take attention away from the industry here. ‘We may now be Lloyd’s Register- a huge global business- but Scottish salmon is a core client we hold very dear. Our relationship has been in place since the 1990s and I hope that will continue.’ FF

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06/05/2019 09:42:33

Wednesday 29th May 2019 at Dynamic Earth, Edinburgh The Aquaculture Awards recognise the achievements within the sector and give due recognition to those making an exceptional contribution to the industry, now and in the future. The winners of the Aquaculture Awards 2019 will be announced with a special awards dinner at the spectacular Stratosphere, Dynamic Earth, Edinburgh.

Join friends and celebrate. Reserve your seat at www.aquacultureawards.com or call Ksenia on 07880 230399 Awards Sponsors

Aquaculture Awards.indd 21

06/05/2019 09:43:31

Trade Associations – Scottish Salmon Producers Organisation

BY HAMISH MACDONELL

Wild claims But more sense is creeping into the debate on salmon stocks

HE first proper spring salmon I ever saw was pulled from the icy waters of the Tay on a bitter March day 20 years ago. There was snow in the air, the water was barely above freezing – it actually felt lower than that even through a pair of neoprene waders – and the sky was glowering threateningly above the long salmon rods flicking lines out across the black river. But what I remember most vividly was the ghillie nodding approvingly at the sea lice clinging to the side of that particular salmon as he lifted it gently from the net (these were two big gravid female lice, I now know). The ghillie argued that the presence of the lice showed that the fish was fresh: very fresh given that it had swum all the way from the mouth of the Tay at Dundee up beyond Perth without losing all the lice it had picked up in the sea. There was no talk of salmon farms that day, nor was there any suggestion from anybody fishing along the Tay that somehow fish farms were to blame for any of the problems they were experiencing, let alone the sea lice locked on to the salmon’s side. On the contrary, the lice were seen as a good sign, a recognition that given strong salmon pick up lice in the sea but lose them again in fresh water. Since then, however, some of our critics have become more aggressive, less accommodating and angrier, sparking a trend for intolerance which has tainted the vital debate about declining wild fish stocks. They insist salmon farming isn’t just to blame for infecting wild fish with sea lice as they swim past open-net cages on their way to their home rivers; no, the farmed salmon sector is responsible for destroying wild salmon stocks, wild sea trout stocks and just about everything else they can think of. I have been an angler my whole life. I live within touching distance of the Tweed. I spent my Easter holiday this year fishing for wild brown trout on Islay and I am not alone. There are enthusiastic anglers in every salmon company in Scotland, none of whom sees any contradiction in spending their working hours with farmed fish and their down time in pursuit of wild ones. Yet they are being alienated from their hobby and, with every unfounded claim about the supposed evils of farmed salmon, another wedge is

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been driven between the two sectors. This is a shame for a number of reasons, not least because of the distance and distrust it puts between anglers who farm and farmers who fish. It is a shame because the farmed and wild sectors share common enemies –Scotland’s ever expanding seal population being a case in point. But it is also a shame because Scotland’s farmed salmon sector has the expertise and the science to ensure fish survive in the best possible conditions from egg to smolt, and this is one of the areas of greatest concern for the wild fish sector. Indeed, if the two sectors managed to put the distrust and resentment to one side and really work together (as some on the ground already do), they could achieve so much, for the benefit of both. However, to do that, the extremists in the wild fish lobby would have to row back from their claims that salmon farming is the root of all evil as far as wild fish numbers are concerned. They would have to acknowledge that while salmon farming may present a hazard to some wild fish returning to Scotland’s rivers, the more influential factors include rising sea temperatures, climate change, loss of feed, hydro schemes, pesticides run off, forestation, animal Above: Scottish salmon and bird predators and over fishing at sea. farm The chances of such a shift in attitude may appear slim but I actually think it is not that far-fetched. Last month, when the salmon and sea trout catch figures were released (showing the worst

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Wild claims

returns since records began in 1952), there was – at last – a recognition that salmon farming was not the root cause. Almost all the media coverage of the catch figures was balanced and fair. Journalists and publications pointed out that there were a range of different factors affecting wild salmon and sea trout in our rivers, one of which might be salmon farms. There was also a general acknowledgement that, given that wild salmon numbers are falling dramatically across the east coast of Scotland (where there are no farms), it is becoming increasingly difficult for anybody to blame fish farms for this overall, nationwide decline. There is still a long way to go, not least because the myths about the evils of salmon farming have been anchored so deep into the

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minds of many anglers that it will be a job to shift them. But minds are beginning to change, attitudes are beginning to shift and more sense and thoughtfulness is starting to creep into the debate. The prospect of ghillies applauding the sight of sea lice on a caught spring salmon once again may be a little way off, but I really do believe that is not as far away as the doom-mongers – on both sides of the debate – fear. Hamish Macdonell is the SSPO’s director of strategic engagement FF Salmon hatcheries: friend or foe: Page 34

It is becoming increasingly difficult “ for anybody to blame fish farms for this overall, nationwide decline ” 23

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Comment

BY DR MARTIN JAFFA

Success in the salmon farm zone But angling lobby dismisses positive restocking results

ARTICIPANTS at the recent Fisheries Management Scotland conference were given a copy of the latest annual review, which includes reports from all the main salmon and sea trout rivers. The report from the Tweed begins: ‘Salmon catches dropped for a fourth consecutive year with the spring catch half that of 2017.’ The total rod catch for salmon was 5,179 against a ten-year average of 11,406. The sea trout catch was 817 fish against a ten-year average of 1,894. Critics of the salmon farming industry continue to claim that wild salmon are on the point of extinction along the Scottish west coast, yet the fishing report from the west coast River Carron states that: ‘Despite the dry, hot summer, the season was a good one for salmon, sea trout and finnock.’ It went on: ‘Salmon and grilse were present throughout the river in good numbers in the later part of the season. Sea trout, although small, were in excellent condition and were almost completely devoid of sea lice for the second season in succession.’ The salmon catch was 243 fish compared to a ten-year average of 237. The sea trout catch was 101 fish against a ten-year average of 114. Against a background where the east coast was always highlighted as the shining light of Scottish salmon angling and when west coast rivers were supposed to have succumbed to the blight of salmon farming, how can the fortunes of these two rivers be so different? The report from the River Carron in the FMS Annual Review provides a clue: ‘The salmon and grilse catch since the stocking programme took effect in 2004 are significantly higher than in any season prior to stocking. ‘It seems clear that ongoing stocking mitigates against the winter spates and moving gravel and the increasing seal population in the neighbouring sea loch. Migrating smolts have been monitored for more than 10 years, which indicates at least twice as many as predicted for the river if it only relied on natural production.’ Considering the positive news from the River Carron, the discussion at the FMS conference about restocking should have been positive too, but actually far from it. The impression gained was that restocking is not only

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a waste of time but can damage the wild fish stocks. By coincidence, articles about restocking have appeared this month in The Field and in Fly Fishing and Fly Tying (FF&FT) magazines. Both echo the view that there is little to be gained from restocking and much to lose. One ghillie from the River Tay told The Field that the scientists employed by the fishery boards are studying the salmon to death. They do nothing to help increase stocks. Another Tay ghillie said that ‘fishery scientists claim hatcheries are damned and stocked smolts are the spawn of the devil’. One scientist (who wanted to remain nameless) told the magazine that ‘hatcheries are no answer; we’d be destroying salmon just to save salmon’. Rob Olsen, an angler and writer, added that stocking of rivers has been going on for centuries whereas the approach adopted by the scientists for the last 30 years has shown no sign of improvement. FF&FT reports that the restocking programme on the River Tyne produced a return of 0.37 per cent of hatchery reared fish, while a recent trial in Scotland revealed rod recapture rates

on with salmon farmers is “Collaborati seen as working with the enemy ” www.fishfarmermagazine.co.uk

06/05/2019 09:50:48

Success in the salmon farm zone

Above: Wild salmon

for hatchery reared smolts ranged from zero to 0.23 per cent. Both magazines highlight restocking programmes in Icelandic rivers, which appear to have a better success rate, but critics claim that these rivers tend to have no or limited natural breeding stock. In Scotland, the argument is that stocked hatchery salmon can stray and ‘contaminate’ the wild stock by cross breeding. FF&FT suggests that added to the problem of cross breeding is the fact that the ‘free for all’ during breeding does not actually occur and that choice of mate is important, with relatively few fish producing the majority of a river’s offspring. By comparison, it is argued that fish reared in hatcheries are the product of random mixing of eggs and sperm for any fish. Looking in at this debate from outside, it seems that any excuse is found to avoid investing in hatcheries and river restocking. Concerns about the genetics are a red herring since ever diminishing stocks mean a much reduced gene pool.

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In fact, the gene pool has been compromised over the last couple of hundred years by unselective harvesting of fish as they return to the rivers to breed. The problem is more likely about money. There seems to be a reluctance to pay to produce more fish to improve rivers that have always produced catchable fish for free. What is most surprising about this debate concerning restocking is that the success of the River Carron over the last 15 years has been completely ignored. Given that the River Carron has out-performed many other rivers, it should have been highlighted as a great success. There was a major opportunity to do so at the recent FMS conference and Dr Bob Kindness from the River Carron should have been asked to speak to participants about his experiences of restocking. Unfortunately, the angling establishment dismiss Dr Kindness’s successful restocking programme for reasons unknown. Maybe it is just because it has been a success. Equally, Dr Kindness has worked with local salmon farmers and this collaboration is seen as working with ‘the enemy’. However, times have moved on and FMS are now keen to get their hands on salmon industry money to pursue their own attempts to improve salmon stocks. Perhaps the industry should insist that FMS give the River Carron proper recognition before any money changes hands. Swimming against the tide: Page 43. FF

06/05/2019 09:51:07

Trade Associations - Association of Scottish Shellfish Growers Trade Associations – ASSG

BY DR NICKNICK LAKELAKE

Cultivating growth Cultivating the community But new legislation needed to overhaul ﬂawed planning rules

L O

OOKING back, 2017 was a packed year both for shellﬁsh cultivation Local response to a global crisis and other growth blockers and the wider world. Our conference at the end of October seems a

distant memory, but I would hope that all those who made it to Oban will have gained some lasting value from the trip. UR annual year tackled big issue of for theopening potential We are gratefulconference to the Rural last Economy minister,the Fergus Ewing, for cultivated shellfish to help save the planet. the event with a positive description of our sector within the wider Scottish The predominant feeling was that shellfish and cultivation activities aquaculture industry. did present a wide range of benefits relation to human health and There is no doubt that the support of theinScotti sh government in helping nutrition; environmental sustainability; rural employment and cohesion; and a producers to be part of the rural economy is welcomed, and a good working reduced carbon footprint for high quality marine protein production. relationship can be maintained to assist with future sustainable development. While the Scottish shellfishto cultivation industry by itself is not going to make It did strike me in listening the minister whether we should be making a the world a healthier and happier place, we can have an impact within case for shellfish cultivation to be recognised in its own right and not toScotbe land and promote a positive subsumed within the generalmessage. title of Scottish aquaculture. We are probably guilty as a sector of spending too little time evangelising about theachievements benefits of our products and how raising consumption of shellfish Positive could have farbeen widera benefits society. There have range of to achievements for individual producers, often as One of our sector’s long term supporters has been Estate –Fund now a result of strategic investment. The European Maritithe meCrown and Fisheries Crown Estate Scotland (CES) which acts as both landlord for the majority of (EMFF) strategic funding has been well used by our sector and has undoubtedthe Scottish foreshore and seabed and also has a strong stewardship role in ly encouraged further private investment from businesses. how estateforward, is managed. Butthe looking it is now just next year that our withdrawal from the The formation CES has(We seen role not only the developEU will become aofreality. willthis not, of extending course, beinto withdrawing from Europe ment of its assets, but also the possible community benefits which can arise, as geographically we are all united by physical proximity, and in the marine locally and for Scotland PLC. environment this counts for a lot!). In orderthe to define andhas capture has commissioned Hence, question to be,these whenbenefits, it comesCES to strategic investmentan what independent study looking at the available scientific evidence surrounding needs to replace the EMFF type approach within Scotland to conti nue to see ecosystem services shellfish culti vation provided prosper?by such developments. While such information cantooften be hostage ve to complex scientific explanaIn part, the answer relates the administrati and business planning frametion, one key aspect of this study is for the findings to be used to inform the work we currently operate under, through the various requirements of site wider selectidebate. on, consents to operate, lease agreements, physical location and public The output will be disseminated the especially those within infrastructure (piers, roads, ferries to and socommunity, on). our coastal populations and including those within government, the regional These all greatly influence the ability for what are, primarily, small planning and regulatory systems. Such information should help to rural businesses to operate and contribute to the wider communityinform the debate oneconomy what we in area collectively wishingway. to achieve by supporting the develand rural highly sustainable opment of the Scottish shellfish cultivation industry. In determining what public investment may be required to help You maythis think obvious, but, anpublic industry perspective, facilitate wethat needis to consider thefrom wider administrati ve we are constantly challenged by mixed messages from government and its agencies and, system that private businesses are currently having to work under, unless these are resolved fairly soon, there will be little future development and whether through changes it could yield benefits for businesses without or new overbusinesses reliance onestablished. public finance. Building resilience Environmental credentials We are faced with some environmental on the planet which make One of the bett er headlines we attractedchallenges last year was ‘How mussel farms localised geo-political issues completely inconsequential. A recent headline can boost biodiversity’ and a description of research to evaluate how mussel from Scottish researchers world’s arewithin underathreat as longlines can have a positiincluded, ve impact‘The on the rangeshellfish of species farm site. our oceans become more acidic’. Last year, I made a trip down to the Holmyards’ mussel farm (Offshore This was partially qualified that Scotland acidification is less of an Shellfi sh) and saw for myselfby thenoting scale of theindevelopments off the Devonshire imminent threat as there are no sulphate soils or deeper water with high CO2 coast. It is good to see that the impacts have been rigorously documented and levels rising to the surface, as is more evident in Australia and America reinforce what we already intuitively know – that, in the right location,where shellfish problems been identified. cultivationhave has aalready range of positi ve benefits. It could easily be argued that such developments are providing, in tech speak,

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‘positive ecosystem services’. So it would seem appropriate that we should be seeking such a recognition of positive benefits within our regulatory and administrative system for the development of However, it was noted thatshellfi coastal acidification sh culti vation within Scotland. is made worse by climate change with lowered pH Such an approach could provide the added associated with fresh water impetus run-off. to encourage private business investment Unfortunately, we are known for our sunin shellfi sh Gaelic cultivati on, while recognising the wider shine (rainfall!) levels on thebenefi west coast. Even more t to society of such activities and facilitating concerning is the recent reporting of the melting of engagement and support. additional public sector the Greenland ice sheet, which should be of more It is worth remembering the fundamental benefit than a passing interest for allofnations and political shellfish culti vation- that of producing a high leaders. quality protein food source with a carbon footprint The potential extent of seafar level risethan is staggering lower terrestrial livestock production. and it seems likely this has become a ‘when’ ques- benefits of providing many It also has the added tion rather than an ‘if’, with essenti the fullalimpacts felt by minerals and the right profile vitamins and our children’s generation. of oils to assist our lifetime health. When faced with such tumultuous scenarios suchin a business context is, of Even more important as climate change, population growth and food course, that it is a highly sought after food, to be ensecurity, it would be easy to joyed just befor resigned toand the feel good factor alone! the taste inevitable. However, there are actionsSustainability we should and can put on accreditati in train – the sooner the better and development In relation to the general consumer expectation of shellfish cultivation and the scale of our activities of environmental sustainability it has also been exis part of this scenario. tremely encouraging that Scottish mussel produc-

“

In planning officials’ eyes oyster trestles are a blot on the tion has achieved a world ﬁrst. Hebridean mussels seascape were awarded the Aquaculture Stewardship Council

”

ASSG conference 2019 I have noted before that there iscati a real to cultivated shellfish, a standard certifi on need for their use the shellfish cultivation knowledge we currently that authenticates both the method of production have, either in hatcheries orand in on-growing operaenvironmental safeguards. tions, and to realistically harness the expertise of the vast majority of mussels This now means that the research community to produced help build in anScotland industryare accredited through one or with multiple benefits for communities and society. verified schemes. other of the independently However, I am not advocating that we simply all now being able to supply With major retailers become volunteers and campaign for shellfish with their consumers with products having a known a religious fervour! What wesustainability do have to achieve profile, there is a positive outlook in is to create the regulatory and socio-economic securing greater sales of Scottish shellfish. conditions where shellfish businesses can thrive and place products on to theProducer market which meet es Opposite: Pacific oysters responsibiliti consumer demands, and where increased conOn a less positive note, all ASSG members were sumption equates with increased wider social andidentification of oyster herpes notified of the recent environmental benefits. virus in the last ‘approved zone’ production area for Above: Fergus Ewing; In support of this,last there is Pacifi a realcneed forinthe oyster Northern Ireland. year’s Oban conference; industry to achieve community engagement at theshould be no movement of Consequently, there ASSG winners local,award regional and national levels. for on-growing or placing in Scottish waters Richard Tait, Judith Vajk and stock The concept of the resilience of the secas they areshellfish currently all approved to be clear of this Craig Archibald. tor is the key theme for this shellfi year’ssh ASSG conference disease. Opposite page: Pacifi c oysters in Oban (October 31-November Fish1).health monitoring and control systems are in place specifically to protect the industry from dis-

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Cultivating the community Scale of the problem It is worth noting that in the Whitstable case the total numbers of oyster trestles involved is reported to be around 3,500. It will seem entirely obvious to those within the industry that the visual impact of such a development is greatly reduced by the location on the foreshore required for any oyster business to be viable. However, for the wider community it may not. For the oysters to grow, they need to feed on the natural algae in the water, and in order to feed they need to be under the water – hence, maximum feeding potential per day is at the very lowest level of the tide (which just about allows enough time for the oysters to be uncovered every spring Community views tide for the shellfish farming business to tend the We produce wonderful shellfish which is of the stock). highest quality and with great environmental Rough rule of thumb would be that in such a credentials, so how could anybody possibly object production system the baskets and trestles would to plans to establish a farming site? be uncovered by the tide for around an average South of the border there seems to be just seven per cent of the time in the sea. such a debate taking place in a community which Given that eight to 12 hours per day will be under has actually been founded on the success of the shellfish industry. Most people, even if only vaguely the cover of darkness, we are looking at a visual aware of shellfish issues, will think of oysters if you impact on a very small area of coastline for around 3.5 per cent of waking hours. mention Whitstable. Not a judgement for me to make as I am a vested However, the very basis of this small town’s interest, but I would say from a food security persuccess in creating a mecca for oyster lovers and happy diners seems to be troubling some of those spective and the enjoyment that eating shellfish brings to the wider community, this is a price which within its community. should easily be accommodated. While dredging native oysters appears to be an Of course, our French neighbours have realised acceptable heritage and quaint activity to employ a the true potential of not only eating oysters but few rustic fishermen, the act of cultivating oysters also encouraging the local communities to be in the sea is causing great angst for some. involved in their production and benefit from this. With the decline in native oyster stocks, cultivation of the Pacific oyster to satisfy the local demand Tourism is a part of this picture around the majority of the French coast and it is an awe inspiring seems to be a wholly logical progression. site to see the scale of the developments and the However, in local planning officials’ eyes, in associated community benefits. response to local community concerns, this has become an all-encompassing activity and if reports Scottish context are to be believed a blot on the seascape. Bringing it back over the border, where does this It is obviously a question for the local community to decide and it is going to a local planning inquiry. leave us with the development of the shellfish industry? Well, the challenges are all there in the But you do have to wonder how such a local coastal waters, with sea level rise and sediprocess can cope with the wider community, and indeed national and international interests associ- ment and fresh water loadings likely to result in ated with the role of climate change and the use of our marine environment. Even if we have a one metre rise in sea level, what will that mean for our collective community view of the coastline? Sea level rise and storms will lead to greater sediment loading in many coastal locations – so not only do we lose land for agriculture but the marine inshore natural community is also likely to be changed. Shellfish such as cockles and oysters do get buried and smothered in shifting sediments, and greater terrestrial plumes will likely contribute to such natural losses. Hence having stock off the seabed on trestles for cultivation may be a way to hedge against the loss of native oyster production. The fact that the Pacific oyster is robust enough to thrive under such conditions- whereas the native oyster struggles to survive and grow- indicates that if we want to have an affordable happiness of eating oysters in the future, it will likely be through the success of cultivation businesses.

Time is of the essence to identify and resolve some of the ‘blockers’ to the true development potential of the Scottish shellfish cultivation industry. Currently, many of these lie within the consent process for establishing and operating shellfish cultivation businesses. While no individual party should be seen to be pivotal in stifling development, the combined bureaucracy and lack of strategic thinking is telling on enterprise. Hopefully, it is not too late for the political decision makers to identify a way ahead which could help to stave off some of the more extreme environmental problems which are on the horizon.

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significant changes in the coastal flora and fauna – especially that fixed to the seabed and vulnerable to storms and freshwater inputs. The west coast and the islands’ sediment loadings will not be as severe as those on the east coast as the land is not as mineral rich, productive or abundant. But with poorer mineral loadings, the impact of acidification may become more rapidly pronounced. Can cultivation react to these likely challenges and deliver shellfish as a food commodity? Undoubtedly yes, both from the foreshore areas for Pacific oysters and also within sheltered sea lochs for mussel production. Are we currently in a position to capitalise on the expertise displayed by our developing shellfish cultivation industry? Industry certainly is, but is the wider community? Read all about it A great headline recently was that Scotland’s largest oyster farm had been given the go-ahead by planning officials. What was not reported was that despite this being located in one of Scotland’s most highly industrialised Firths, to gain such a consent had taken an extensive period (more than three years), with the developer having to finance an almost six-figure sum to gain the consent. The community of agencies and interests requiring assurances that trestles on the foreshore would not adversely impact the local ecosystem or lead to the seascape being impacted, all required evidence to satisfy their own perspectives. We need to make the most of this sort of announcement in Scotland as it is now very difficult to see who within the Scottish industry has these sorts of financial reserves to establish new shellfish sites on the mainland. It has to be remembered that it will, of course, be a likely further three to five years after permissions are granted that shellfish will be able to be placed on the market, and longer still for the business to be profitable. Dr Nick Lake is CEO of the ASSG FF

06/05/2019 09:52:45

Fish farming pioneer – Dougie Johnson

Industry

legend bows out Familiar face bids farewell to ‘aquaculture club’ after more than 40 years

OUGIE Johnson, who retired last month after more than 40 years in aquaculture, said he had no career path and no aspirations when he started in the industry. ‘Like most people, I kept saying once I grow up I’ll decide what I want to do. Well now that I’ve grown up, and retired, I suppose you could say it’s been a pretty impressive and all-consuming stopgap!’ The head of sales for Akva group Scotland and former long serving member of the Landcatch team is known throughout the business, not just in Scotland but in Chile, Norway and in the Mediterranean, where he has also worked. Johnson’s immediate plans for retirement include learning Spanish ﬂuently and more travelling, mostly to visit daughters in Canada and New Zealand, with his wife Jan, who has also recently retired. But before setting out on their next trip he and Jan dropped into Fish Farmer’s Edinburgh oﬃce to look back on a long and rewarding, profes-

Parting shot ‘Well that’s it, my days as AKVA group Scotland’s Senior Sales Prevention Officer are officially over! After nearly 18 years with AKVA (and 40 plus years in fish farming) it is with very mixed emotions I’m retiring and sailing off into the sunset, on a Polarboat of course (as it’s the best boat in the market!). My time as part of the Scottish aquaculture adventure has been everything I could ever have wished for and more –interesting, challenging and, from time to time, knowing that what we do makes a big difference to communities in Scotland and around the world. It has been a privilege to have worked in so many amazing places and with so many extraordinary people around the world. Very happy days indeed. The one thing I really cherish is the friendships and laughter that I’ve enjoyed with so many like-minded people over the years…yes, I am thinking of you! Whatever sector of the business we are in I have always felt we share a common purpose with aquaculture’s best interests in our heart. I wish you and our industry continued success and I hope I will always retain my membership of a very special club - Scottish aquaculture. - Dougie

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Dougie Johnson is truly a legend in this industry. He is the most genuine, funny and unique person - they broke the mould when he was formed so many, many years ago! I had the pleasure of working in a great partnership with Dougie over the past 11 years at AKVA, but we have known each other for 30 years. He was a tremendous asset to AKVA, as well as a great friend. He will be sorely missed on a day to day basis but nobody deserves a great retirement more. I know the many friendships he has made in the aquaculture industry will continue into his retirement.

DAVID THORBURN Regional President Europe and Middle East AKVA Group sionally and socially, life in aquaculture. Johnson admitted he was in limbo still, getting used to being at home in Newtonmore rather than heading to AKVA’s Inverness headquarters or visiting a customer on the west coast, or in Spain or Greece. He said he was just two hours into his retirement, sitting having his breakfast, when his wife sent a picture of him to the kids saying, ‘look at him, he’s in my kitchen!’ But the industry has been a family aﬀair, they both agreed. As happens in a lot of rural communities, everyone lives and works together and partners get involved too. Landcatch, based in Ormsary, is 14 miles from Ardrishaig up a single track road and they often hosted parties of Chileans when Johnson was helping to build up salmon breeding programmes in the country. ‘Trying to entertain people in Argyll is diﬃcult,’ said Jan. ‘They always wanted to reciprocate and take you out but we’d have to tell them there was nowhere to go, particularly in the winter.’ Johnson said his wife, who had her own career as a nurse and midwife, had been like a second in a boxer’s corner. ‘You come home at night beaten and bloodied and she listens to your woes and frustrations, patches you back up and sends you out for the second round.’ But, of course, it wasn’t like that at all. John-

Chance, “timing and

being in the right (or wrong) place played a big part

”

Right: Dougie Johnson, ‘truly a legend’ in the industry

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06/05/2019 09:54:36

Industry legend bows out

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06/05/2019 09:55:01

Fish farming pioneer – Dougie Johnson

Dougie is a man with great hands on experience in the salmon farming industry. It’s not so common to ﬁnd a senior ﬁgure who has worked in the industry since the early times and has managed to keep pace with the great rate of change, but Dougie has managed this with ease. It has been a pleasure working with him, and like everyone else, I will miss his knowledge, experience and humour. Retirement? Well I think that remains to be seen!

STEVE BRACKEN, former Mowi business support manager

son said he looks back at the past with rose tinted spectacles because he only remembers the good stuff. But as Jan said, ‘your working life has been pretty good’. It began on Jura, when the opportunity came up to start a small fish farm using the warm water in the condensers from the distillery. That was in 1976. ‘I had no expectations of where it would lead,’ said Johnson. ‘Like a lot of my life, chance, timing and being in the right (or wrong) place played a Dougie was one of the most energetic, positive and passionate students/young employees who has ever started their fish farming career at Kames. Nothing was ever too much trouble, no matter what the job, and his enthusiasm and willingness, with a ‘can do, can make it work’ attitude, was palpable. He always had a spring in his step and a sparkle in his eye and he made the most mundane tasks fun. A joy to be with and work with - and that has never changed. I am sure he will continue to brighten up so many lives whatever he does or whoever he meets. The Kames door will always be open - we wish Dougie much fun and happiness in his retirement.

STUART CANNON, Kames Fish Farming

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big part in how I started in fish farming. ‘I never thought ahead, it was all so new and as long as I was learning and interested then that was enough.’ He said back then he and his colleagues became managers ‘by default’ but realised what they were doing was worthwhile. ‘What motivated me was the fact that not only were we producing food and taking the pressure of the dwindling stocks of wild salmon, but we were doing it in remote communities which meant bringing jobs to communities where they were struggling to prevent the urban migration.’ Looking back, he said the biggest changes he has seen are ‘technology, technology and technology’. Key developments have allowed farmers to farm in places they wouldn’t have been able to farm before, and to husband stock consistently and record behaviour ‘enabling decisions based on fact not anecdote’. ‘But all that equipment and those systems are there to assist, they’re not there to be left on their own. They are to help us husband more efficiently and sustainably.’ Johnson has seen this development from all sides and has ended up at the cutting edge of technology – ‘not a direction I would ever have seen myself taking’, he admits. The other big change came when the industry in Scotland moved away from being small time independents and crofters to serious multi-national companies. A lot of the smaller independents struggled to get that investment from British banks or locally, said Johnson. But the Norwegians were able to provide the investment required to take fish farming to the next level in the 80s and 90s. A big part of the enjoyment of his job has always been the people, he said, and the list of those who have inspired him, or just made life more fun along the way, is long. ‘I have met and learned a lot from so many interesting people,’ he said. ‘A few stand-outs for me are the people like Alastair Barge, Stuart Cannon [his first boss], Gilpin Bradley and, in Shetland, Gibby (and his boys) Johnson, who have innovated and persevered as owner operators for so many years. ‘They have adapted with different species, had lots of struggles over the years but have reinvented themselves and are still going strong.’ He also mentions longstanding colleagues such as Alan Stewart at Landcatch, and Dave

I have known and worked with Dougie for the best part of 30 years I guess. As a supplier to Mowi, we have been at the negotiating table many times. In all that time I have found Dougie to be a very passionate man who tries to do the best for his company, along with balancing retaining business. He has been an aquaculture stalwart, true gentleman and become a good friend in those years. He has a sense of humour and character that is natural and most definitely difficult to replace. His funny stories, industry knowledge, golfing attributes, along with how sociable he is, emphasise the huge personality of the man.

DAVE MCEWAN Mowi Scotland purchasing manager

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06/05/2019 09:55:30

Industry legend bows out

Thorburn, the late Derek Smith, Brian Knowles and Frank Byrne at AKVA in Scotland, and customers including Marine Harvest (now Mowi) former managing director Graeme Dear and business support manager Steve Bracken. Johnson has also forged many lasting friendships with colleagues overseas, including Dionisio Ramos, who was the Landcatch representative in Chile. ‘If you get the right folk in, what a difference they make. Everywhere you see the same, at AKVA too, with our operations in Spain and Greece.’ He also admires the current crop of farm managers, particularly those on the more exposed locations. ‘While they have a lot of impressive technology, they are still operating under some tough environmental conditions and pressures from

take what you “doYouseriously but you

don’t take yourself too seriously

”

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Dougie Johnson.indd 31

outside the industry, from regulators, and they also have to keep the flag flying in the community.’ And he thinks the farming CEOs are ‘a pretty impressive bunch’, both those who have grown up on the farms and managers who have come in from other walks of life. ‘It is a small and intimate industry and, if we’re not careful, can become a little incestuous – it’s good when we get folk coming in from other industries with huge experience and a different approach,’ he said. Trond Williksen, Johnson’s Norwegian boss at AKVA until three years ago, was ‘probably the most impressive leader I have worked with’, he said. After working in Norway, and for a Norwegian owned company, he said perhaps the most fundamental difference between the way the Scottish and Norwegian industries are led stems from their greater government support – although he acknowledges that Scotland has now found a political champion in Fergus Ewing. But he also points out that Norway ‘doesn’t seem to have the same anti-salmon farming lobby that we have here’. Johnson said – and his wife confirms it – that he has batted off much hostility towards the industry, including writing (and getting published in his local newspaper) a three-page riposte to angler, anti-salmon farming campaigner and former Labour spin doctor Charlie Whelan. ‘I have worked all my life in the Highlands and Islands and feel hugely disappointed that this Scottish industry, and the morale of those who work in it, are being continually eroded by easy and often sanctimonious, scaremongering spin,’ wrote Johnson in an open letter to Whelan. Jan talks about being accosted at dinner parties and on trains –‘Dougie had stock answers, and offered them the five minute reply or the full reply. They usually went for the latter and then regretted it!’ He is bewildered by the fanaticism of the ‘really well organised, aggres-

Above: Johnson has worked for AKVA for the past 17 years Opposite: Visiting the farms was ‘genuinely fun’

06/05/2019 09:55:53

Fish farming pioneer – Dougie Johnson

sive, well-funded ‘anti’ lobby, with friends in very high places’. ‘If they really cared about wild salmon and sea trout they would look at all the other factors, acknowledge them and do something about them.’ But Johnson also accepts that the industry has failed to get its story out there and reckons this remains one of the big challenges for the future. ‘I don’t know where we lost it in terms of winning the hearts and minds but you’ve got to believe we can win that battle. But we need to be a lot smarter about what we’re doing and find ways of getting to people who can make a difference.’ As someone who has made the transition from farmer to supplier, he thinks the formation of a supply chain group, proposed by the sector recently, is a good idea. ‘Suppliers are kept out of it. We have a lot to say, we have a voice and we can lend support (to the producers) and help. ‘We need to be better at presenting a more united message and keep believing in what we’re doing, because it’s not without its flaws but it’s right on so many different fronts.’ Asked about the most memorable moments of his career, Johnson said developing broodstock rearing and breeding techniques with Landcatch and then and helping grow the business in Chile were obvious highlights. ‘I am also proud to have been part of the AKVA Group Scotland story and growth, particularly in the way we’ve built up a service and support that is second to none,’ he said. ‘And moving from being a production guy to a sales guy and realising that sales is a profession and doesn’t get the recognition it deserves. ‘And being part of a team that has developed AKVA Group Scotland to the size of business it is now, in an industry which has been static in terms of growth. There were five of

Dougie Johnson.indd 32

us when I started and now there are 70 to 80 people. ‘Also for gaining a lot of autonomy for the Scottish operation… showing that what’s right for Norway isn’t necessarily right for the rest of the world, and everywhere you go you have to adapt to different conditions, different cultures, different economic circumstances and there is not a ‘one size fits all’ formula for farming.’

Above: Moving from production to sales Below: Johnson has seen great changes in his long career Opposite: Part of a successful team

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06/05/2019 09:56:22

Industry legend bows out

Johnson has spent much of his professional life liaising with farmers, most recently in the Mediterranean, and he will miss his customers as well as his colleagues and the ‘craic’ – and, most important, being part of a team, sharing success and solving problems together. He said he already misses AKVA’s Derek Smith and Sean Lydon of Dawnfresh, who ‘left us far too young and with so much still to give’. ‘I’ve been lucky, I’ve gone to work and more often than not genuinely had fun – and had the feeling that we are part of something that has come a long way and is making a diﬀerence to small communities. ‘The last few years with AKVA have let me get a wee glimpse of aquaculture around the world and the potential that is being realised. And, for sure, aquaculture will play an increasing part in global protein production, putting food on people’s plates.’ Asked if he has any parting advice for the industry, Johnson said he’s not in a position to

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Dougie Johnson.indd 33

give advice, but oﬀers: ‘Keep the faith, keep believing! I’ve just been so lucky with the people I’ve worked with – you take what you do seriously but you don’t take yourself too seriously.’ FF

Dougie is one of the faces of the salmon farming industry – he has been involved for just about as long as our industry has existed and certainly at Loch Duart he has been there from the day we were formed – 20 years ago this August – through to his last day of full time employment at AKVA. His easy manner, enormous knowledge and great experience, when aligned to his passion for his products, his understanding of our unique ways of working and his belief in getting things right the ﬁrst time and every time, led to him being welcomed by everyone, irrespective of rank, age, role or experience. Whilst it is said that no one is irreplaceable, Dougie challenges that statement – and with good reason. All at Loch Duart wish him a long, healthy and happy retirement. And if you are ever passing, the kettle is on!

ALBAN DENTON, managing director of Loch Duart

06/05/2019 09:56:41

Restocking

Salmon hatcheries:

friend or foe? Farmers’ role in saving ‘crisis point’ wild stocks

ILD salmon catches in Scotland are at their lowest level since records began in 1952, according to Fisheries Management Scotland. The body, which represents fisheries boards, said figures due to be published soon will show that stocks of the fish are at ‘crisis point’. The Scottish government said it was determined to safeguard the future of the wild species, but Alan Wells, chief executive of Fisheries Management Scotland, said more needed to be done. ‘Salmon catches in Scotland have reached the lowest levels ever recorded,’ he said. ‘Figures for 2018, taken together with those of recent years, confirm this iconic species is now approaching crisis point. ‘Some of the factors impacting on wild salmon stocks may be beyond human control. But the regulatory authorities now have a historic opportunity to do everything in their power to safeguard the species in those areas where they can make a difference.’ Some in the wild salmon sector have blamed the decline in stocks on salmon farms, and in particular on the spread of sea lice from farmed to wild salmon along their migratory routes. But sea lice levels on Scottish farms are at their lowest levels in five years, with the country’s biggest farmer, Mowi, saying recently that the problem

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was now under full control. Last year’s parliamentary inquiries into the impact of salmon farming also concluded that there wasn’t enough evidence to impose a moratorium on new farm developments, despite calls from the angling lobby to halt the farming industry’s growth. Currently, some 99 per cent of wild salmon do not return to rivers to spawn, and theories for the high marine mortality rate include changing sea temperatures, the over-abundance of pelagic stocks competing for food, and predation, by other ﬁsh, birds and seals. Whatever the causes, there are currently several initiatives to restore stocks on west coast rivers, with some ﬁshery managers working in close cooperation for many years with salmon farmers. Over the next few pages we hear from those at the forefront of restoration projects in Scotland – and from a scheme in Canada. FF

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06/05/2019 09:57:49

Image: Jon Gibb, River Lochy ďŹ shery manager

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Photo: Angus Blackburn

Salmon hatcheries: friend or foe?

06/05/2019 09:58:12

Restocking

Raising

hopes

Wild fish manager works with Mowi in new scheme to boost survival

HE Drimsallie hatchery, near Glenfinnan in Lochaber, is far removed technically from the state of the art RAS systems built in recent years by the big salmon farmers. There are few of the complexities of Mowi’s sophisticated Inchmore and Lochailort plants, or Scottish Sea Farms’ soon to be opened site at Barcaldine. And there are just two staff at the small River Lochy facility, compared to the round the clock teams at Scotland’s newest hatcheries. But the connection between the salmon farming industry and Drimsallie, run by the owners of the River Lochy on behalf of the wild salmon sector, is in fact a close one, representing a partnership going back almost 20 years and based on a common love of an iconic species. Away from the politically charged meetings and government run initiatives between the wild and farmed interests, those working on the ground, whether protecting wild salmon or farming fish, have long combined efforts to restore declining stocks on the west coast. The man driving much of this work is Jon Gibb, fishery manager of the River Lochy and director of the Lochaber District Salmon Fishery Board, and a pioneer of restocking projects since 2001. During Fish Farmer’s tour of the Drimsallie hatchery in early April, Gibb pointed out the various equipment, all of which had been ‘begged, borrowed or stolen’ from Marine Harvest, now Mowi. The egg trays were the original ones used at Lochailort by the company when it was called Booker McConnell.

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‘Fisheries managers can’t access funds for the kind of equipment needed for such long-scale projects so wild/farm partnerships are crucial,’ said Gibb. He had initially established the hatchery at Drimsallie to keep the juvenile numbers up, particularly in the years when the Lochy river system had bad returns. He used indigenous fish as broodstock and released their fry at first feeding (about 1g). ‘We had a large fry production operation going on, which we expanded to half a million fry a year. We got the river from a total rod catch in 1998 of 32 fish to 1,600 fish in 2007. It was a huge swing in the right direction and everyone was pretty pleased.’ In the early days of the hatchery, Gibb got to know salmon farmers through regular meetings of the Area Management Agreement, introduced in 2001. ‘This meant that all the farms in a production zone had to stock together and harvest together. There were synchronous production cycles. That made a huge difference to salmon smolts

Below: Drimsallie hatchery Opposite: Rearing wild salmon Photos: Angus Blackburn

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06/05/2019 10:00:11

Raising hopes

because when they went to sea there was a concerted effort in April and May to get the lice levels as low as possible. ‘What we then saw for the next 10 years or so, in the first year of production, lice levels were very low, which you would expect, and in the second year of production, lice levels were higher. ‘So we started to see what we believed was a fluctuation in returns on an on/off year basis. So if the smolts had gone to sea in the second year of farm production, less grilse came back the following year, and conversely, if they went to sea in the first year of production, more grilse came back.’ Is there no doubt in his mind that lice from the farms in that period were affecting the wild salmon runs? ‘I don’t think you can ever say there is no doubt at all in your mind, but certainly the evidence of an up/down cycle in the returns linking to an up/down cycle in the local lice was unequivocal,’ he said. Gibb approached Marine Harvest for tanks and expertise about any health issues in the hatchery. He particularly got to know Ben Hadfield, now Mowi Scotland managing director, who was then the company’s environmental manager, and Steve Bracken, business development manager until his retirement last year. ‘In 2007, we got to 1,600 grilse but the problem we were still seeing was this up/down cycle, so it would go from, say, 1,200-1,300 in 2005 and then it would go down to 300 and then up to 1,600. ‘We thought what we needed to do, assuming sea lice were the problem, was instead of doing fry we would produce smolt and treat them with Slice (emamectin benzoate). ‘At the time, Slice was highly effective so we thought if we could get a proportion of our smolt run away that was lice protected, we might even out this up/down cycle. It was a good idea, though always a trial.’ Gibb admits this was very controversial in the wild fishery sector, which regard smolt ranching as the least favourable use of the hatchery in terms of cost and biological risk. But he didn’t have to buy equipment, thanks to the salmon farmers, or feed, which has been supplied from the start by EWOS. ‘We just had to provide the manpower and the fish, and we relied heavily on the expertise within Marine Harvest to give us advice on fish health or rearing. It was a very good working relationship.’ This programme ran from 2009, with 18,000 smolts, to 2018, with a final smolt release of 50,000. From wild broodstock they had fry, parr and smolt, with everything adipose fin clipped, treated with Slice and released. ‘It started off really encouraging because we were getting as high as a 2.3

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smolts are not quite “Ranched as street wise as wild fish ” per cent marine survival rate, which in terms of ranched smolt is a lot higher than you’d expect,’ said Gibb. ‘Ranched smolts will always come back at a lesser rate than a wild smolt because they’re not quite as street wise as a wild fish. ‘It stayed good until the release of 2014, which resulted in 780 extra fish in the river from 50,000 smolts. ‘However, we then saw a collapse in the returns, to the point it went down to 0.04 per cent return rate. We had a rod catch of two fish from 45,000 smolts.’ Gibb said they had to question whether they

06/05/2019 10:00:39

Restocking

could justify taking the adult fish from the river in the first place. ‘For 45,000 smolts, we would have taken out approximately 50 salmon from the river, which doesn’t sound a lot, but when stocks are declining rapidly they become very precious fish. ‘Historically, from the 70s-90s, there was roughly a 30 per cent survival rate of smolts. Now we think on the west coast, certainly in the Lochaber region, we’re down to one per cent or less returning. We have whole tributaries of the Lochy that have no juvenile salmon in them.’ Gibb decided to try two different approaches, which involve using the genetic material of the smolts going to sea – 99 per cent of which are not returning (now known in fishery circles as the ‘doomed majority’)- to create a broodstock and a stocking operation. In the first approach, underway on several rivers, including the Garry, Lochy, Roy and Strontian, smolts are trapped with rotary screw traps or fyke nets. About 300 smolts from each river are then grown into adult salmon in tanks in the hatchery, said Gibb, who operates Drimsallie with just one colleague, Pawel Fronczek. It was hard sometimes to get smolts so they took the parr, reared them to smolts and reared them to adults. ‘We’ve perfected this method and don’t need saltwater, we use marine diets from EWOS and it takes two years,’ said Gibb.

‘You then quite simply strip those fish, bring your eggs on to eyed ova, and put eyed ova into artificial redds out in the tributaries that have no juvenile fish in them.’ He said a secondary by-product with this method is the culled kelts, which are put into the spawning burns because this adds to the nutrients of the river. ‘All these spawning burns would normally have dead salmon in them in the winter, but because there’s no salmon returning, they no longer have those nutrients, nutrients from the sea that come in with the salmon and benefit the rivers. That provides food for the bugs and beasties that then go to feed the fish.’ To make the redds, they dig the gravel, put a pipe in and pour in the eggs and fill the gravel back in. They have also started using biodegradable egg boxes, from Finland, which they bury into the gravel. The fish escape slowly over time and the cardboard biodegrades.

Above: Jon Gibb and Pawel Fronczek Left: Drimsallie has been equipped by Mowi Top right: Drimsallie

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06/05/2019 10:01:24

Raising hopes

This is pioneering work and has “ never been tried in Scotland before

”

‘For this approach, nothing is taken from the river except the fish, which had a 99 per cent chance of dying at sea, and we’ve used them to create more eggs.’ In the results so far, there has been a clear improvement in fry and parr densities, he said. But he is even more excited about the newest approach, the ‘smolt to adult supplementation programme’, which is starting this year in conjunction with, and funded by, Mowi. They have taken about 500 wild migrating smolts from the Lochy, and these will be transferred in September to a dedicated pen at Mowi’s Ardnish site at Lochailort and raised alongside the farmed fish there. The fish destined for Lochailort were around 30g when Fish Farmer visited Drimsallie. They will be grown to 500g post smolts before being transferred to the Mowi pen. ‘It’s one pen, but very low density,’ said Gibb. ‘It will be next to the Mowi pens but obviously, before anything goes in, there will be full health checks and full vaccinations on all the smolts, which Mowi vets are doing with us. ‘The point is, we’re going to get a faster growth than I can get in the hatchery, where they tend to be much smaller, because it’s freshwater. ‘The Mowi ones will grow much, much faster. The aim is in a year and a half [in November 2020] to have, say, 300-400 fish at 6kg, proper, big, spawning salmon. ‘Instead of doing anything with these, we put them, in the autumn, into the spawning burns where normally they would have spawned. So we’re actually stocking adult salmon into the river. ‘We’re not doing it for fishing, we’re doing it after the fishing season when fish spawn. They will all be tagged so you can see them. ‘Hopefully, once the fish are put in, they get on with it and spawn themselves. When you strip salmon yourself you’re kind of playing God, matching fish, but the great thing about this is their mate’s choice is entirely natural. ‘They pick their own redds, they spawn where they want to spawn, and everything that is born as a result of these parents is going to have a totally natural life, there is no hatchery intervention. ‘This is pioneering work and has never been tried in Scotland before,’ said Gibb, although he has read about a similar scheme in Canada (see page 42). He said the method addresses concerns about domesticating juvenile wild fish by growing them in hatcheries. ‘Simply put, using fish that will die anyway and putting fish back in the river to spawn is a very natural way of doing it.’. FF

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Gene bank will pay off SCIENCE is playing an increasingly significant role in restocking projects, particularly in the field of applied genetics. Every wild fish that comes into the Drimsallie hatchery is genetically screened, most of them overseen by Eric Verspoor, director of the Rivers and Lochs Institute at Inverness College UHI. Jon Gibb said they were looking for pure, indigenous fish, weeding out Norwegian genes, and also making sure they don’t cross siblings later on. As well as screening the Lochy’s smolts, Drimsallie is also used by the ongoing Upper Garry Salmon Restoration Project, run by the Ness District Salmon Fishery Board and part funded by Mowi. Wild River Garry salmon smolts were captured on their journey downstream to the sea and grown on to maturity at Drimsallie, with the first eggs stocked in the Ness last year. Each smolt, when captured, was fitted with a passive integrated transponder, which allowed each fish to be identified in future. Genetic profiling ensured the fish used in the project were of the correct, indigenous stock. In 2018, some 23,500 eggs were stocked across eight sites, and from this year, up to 150,000 eggs will be stocked each year for the next three years. Gibb said there is ‘an element of insurance policy’ about the genetic screening in all the projects. ‘There is one tank of fish outside [at Drimsallie] where there is probably more fish in the tank than there is in the river. So you start to think, as stocks collapse, you become a live gene bank. ‘The fish in one tank are from the Strontian where there are basically no fish in the river. We’re bringing them on to adults.’ Another insurance policy at Drimsallie involves taking the milt from the male fish and then sending it to a Norwegian company called Cryogenetics, which cryopreserves it in tanks of liquid nitrogen. The technology is not yet developed to cryopreserve eggs, but once it has been these will also be sent to Norway. ‘Genetic material from each of the rivers is being stored so you can then use that milt, un-cryopreserve it, and cross it with eggs,’ said Gibb. ‘So you’re preserving perhaps even the last remnants of some of these populations. ‘That should be a national project…it’s of national interest to have a preserved gene bank of all the rivers. ‘There is, in fact, a national project in Norway where milt from threatened rivers are all cryo-preserved and we should be doing the same here in Scotland.’

06/05/2019 10:01:57

Restocking

Likely suspects If sea lice is not the primary issue in stock decline, what is?

ON Gibb, a former commodity broker in London, moved back to Scotland 25 years ago and lives in the west Highlands. He has witnessed at close hand both the growth of salmon farming and changes in local wild fish populations. He said recently he believed a combination of different factors are to blame for declining wild fish stocks and he thinks that the aquaculture industry is often unfairly criticised. ‘I spend 365 days a year on the largest river on the west coast of Scotland, which also happens to be in the same area as the largest aquaculture region. ‘In the early days of fish farming, the industry was not as regulated as it is today. Back in the 1990s I would have agreed that the biggest factor affecting wild salmon was rising levels of sea lice and escapes from fish farms. ‘But in 2019, the industry is far better regulated and the local wild fish interests and the aquaculture companies work with one another and not against one another.’ The west coast is predominantly a grilse fishery and Gibb thinks something happened around 2008 when the rod catch went from 1,200 to 1,300 grilse down to a disastrous low point of 20 in the last couple of years. At the same time, however, on the Lochy and all over Scotland, the salmon - the ones that spend two or more winters at sea- have actually stayed remarkably stable, said Gibb, and the sizes ‘have gone through the roof’. ‘If you look at the catches the last month on the early rivers, the Tay, the Spey, the Teith, they’re getting high 20 pound salmon in February and March.’ The Awe, another big river on the west coast, had its biggest early salmon rod catch for 30 years recently. So what does he think is happening? ‘I look at this very carefully, mainly because I’m making a decision about what we do with this smolt programme we’ve started, where do we go from here,’ he told Fish Farmer. ‘If you consider all the theories presented by people like [Norwegian marine

biologist] Jens Christian Holst, all of the work done by the Atlantic Salmon Trust and others in the SALSEA research project, the suggestion is that two things are at play. ‘One is climate change and ocean warming, which has pushed the prey species of salmon (krill, sand eel and maybe even just the plankton) further north because they like that temperature band. ‘And also you’ve got competition from pelagic fish like mackerel, and they’ve expanded spatially. ‘The combination of those two things – why would that affect grilse more than salmon? Very simply, when a smolt goes to sea it has a certain window in which to mature sexually and then come back to spawn. If it’s not big enough, it doesn’t do that. ‘So this is why I believe we’re probably seeing so few grilse come back to Scottish rivers because they’re not meeting the food in time to get to a sufficient size to come back. ‘They’re also being predated and out competed by mackerel, so you’re getting huge losses and no returns. ‘Jens Christian Holst’s hypothesis is if the salmon gets big enough to predate on the pelagic fish, then you see these spectacularly healthy fish – I’ve never seen fish like I’ve seen recently, stunning, fat, multi sea winter fish. Some of the Lochy fish we get are absolutely unbelievable. ‘Why would you get no grilse and fairly stable

Left: Graph showing the diﬀerence in grilse and salmon returns. Opposite: Jon Gibb with the original Lochailort egg trays

Gibb - Theory.indd 40

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06/05/2019 10:03:21

Likely suspects

salmon, some of which are really in good condition? If sea lice is their only problem, how do you explain this? Because the smolts going to sea can’t differentiate!’ Going back before official records of rod caught salmon began in 1952 provides possible clues, he suggests. In the 60s, 70s and into the 80s, there was a particularly high return of grilse on the west coast, but not so many salmon. The Lochy rod catch would have been 90 per cent grilse. But evidence from before then, on the Tweed, for example, which has catch records dating back to the previous century, tells a different story. ‘Fishermen in the 1930s would start fishing in January and February and they would finish fishing by the end of July. Grilse return to rivers from July onwards so that tells you everything. Nobody fished for grilse, it was all early season salmon fishing in those days. ‘And that went on for decades, but none of us were alive then. That’s why we don’t have much knowledge of it, but any history book tells you that. ‘There could be an element of natural cycle in this – we have certain beat records (not totally intact) going back that far and we would back up exactly what’s been going on on the Tweed. ‘The problem, with regards the wild/farm interaction issue, is that people are comparing us now to a time of particularly high grilse abundance, which perhaps is not fair and not accurate.’ Gibb said recent research by Marine Scotland Science into the impact of sea lice on wild salmon could not demonstrate a link. The study (published in March) took 3,229 wild smolts from the Lochy and 4,000 from the Conon on the east coast, as a control group. These were trapped going to sea (by Gibb himself) and half were treated against sea lice. Adult traps were set up to trap the fish coming home. ‘On the Conon, from the 4,000 fish, 52 adult grilse and salmon were reported back, which represents a survival rate of 1.3 per cent. Even on the east coast it’s

“

There could be an element of natural cycle in this

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Gibb - Theory.indd 41

”

lower than the five per cent they often talk about. ‘But here’s the worrying thing: 3,200 smolts over two years resulted in the return of two adult grilse and salmon on the Lochy, a marine survival rate of 0.06 per cent. ‘The survival rate of the east coast river was 22 times higher than the west coast rivers. Bearing in mind that half of them were treated against sea lice infestation, it didn’t make any difference to these fish whether they were treated or untreated. ‘One could conclude from that that sea lice is not the primary issue affecting these fish. This is important because there is no reason why that should not have shown a clear benefit to the treated fish. ‘Obviously, something is happening after or before the fish farm zone that is making no fish come home. If I was a fish farmer I’d be asking about these results. It’s clear it’s not sea lice.’ One possible culprit, out of many, could be the common seal population on the west coast of Scotland, which has expanded exponentially, Gibb said. ‘Fish leaving the Conon hit an estuary and it’s the open sea, the same as all east coast rivers. Any fish leaving most west coast rivers have to negotiate a series of sea lochs, narrows, and fjords lined with common seals.’ If there are other pressures affecting the marine survival of wild salmon, what are the chances of the current restocking projects on the Lochy succeeding? ‘They will still affect these fish, but it then becomes a numbers game- our aim is that the river system puts as many fit and healthy smolts to sea as possible because natural survival of adult fish is not currently allowing for this.’ FF

06/05/2019 10:03:48

Restocking – Canada

Back on

track

Farmer helps Bay of Fundy recover lost stocks

RESTOCKING project on Canada’s east coast that involves raising fish to adult size in sea pens is showing considerable success. In partnership with Cooke Aquaculture and the Atlantic Canada Fish Farmers Association, the Fundy Salmon Recovery programme, which is similar to the Lochy initiative, aims to reverse dramatic declines of returning wild stocks. Unlike most Atlantic salmon from Canada, that go to the Labrador Sea to feed, Bay of Fundy salmon never have to leave the bay because the Fundy tides carry so many nutrients. They mature in a year and have become genetically distinct from other Atlantic salmon, which spend up to three years away before returning to spawn. But the annual return of around 40,000 fish in the Inner Bay of Fundy dropped to fewer than 200, according to the Fundy Salmon Recovery website. This was due to a variety of factors, including overfishing and habitat change. Past conservation efforts have focused on a number of initiatives, including knocking down obsolete dams, adding fish ladders and releasing young salmon into the wild. But these efforts have not made a significant difference to wild Atlantic salmon returns. Since 2014, Fundy Salmon Recovery, funded by the Canaidan govern-

Restocking - Canada.indd 42

ment, has taken a different approach, collecting young fish that have spent their early life stages in the wild and then growing them in a dedicated marine farm site operated by Cooke Aquaculture. When the salmon have grown to adult size and are ready to spawn, they are released back into their home rivers, the Upper Salmon River and the Petitcodiac river system. The organisation’s research has shown that Atlantic salmon that spend their early lives in rivers or streams have a much better chance of survival. The best result comes from fish that have been hatched in the wild. And for that to happen, adult salmon need to spawn in the rivers to get the population back on track. In the first stage of the restocking project, the Live Gene Bank, based out of the Fisheries and Oceans Canada Mactaquac Biodiversity Facility, collects juveniles from the wild, grows them to adult, and spawns them in captivity. The baby salmon (fry) produced from these spawnings are released back to the wild. Once the fry grow to be young smolts, they are retrieved from the river and are cared for by Cooke Aquaculture, with support from the Atlantic Canada Fish Farmers Association and the Province of New Brunswick, on the World’s first wild salmon marine conservation farm, at Dark Harbour on Grand Manan Island. The farm is equipped with custom designed conservation net pens and the fish are fed specialised diets developed for wild fish by biologists and aquaculture nutrition experts. When the salmon have grown into adults, and are ready to spawn, they are released back into their natal rivers. The hope is that their offspring will have more wild instincts than their parents and they will produce enough offspring to jump start the

Clockwise from top left: Salmon release, with helicopter transport; Cooke Aquaculture provides the sea pens; community interest in the project; partnership with local salmon farmer Cooke; adult salmon release. Photos: Nigel Fearon Photography

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06/05/2019 10:05:20

Back on track

comes “fromThefishbestthatresult have been hatched in the wild ”

wild population. These annual releases of adult Atlantic salmon into their natal river and the anticipated survival of their eggs into healthy smolts will continue the programme. The success of releasing marine raised adult salmon into their natal rivers will be assessed by tagging and tracking adults and collecting data on spawning behaviour. Fundy National Park salmon biologist Alex Parker said: ‘Over the past four years, thousands of salmon have been released to Fundy National Park to spawn the next generation. ‘It’s because of these successfully spawning

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Restocking - Canada.indd 43

adults that we are seeing abundant wild juvenile salmon populations throughout the river....2018 saw a 29-year high in salmon returns to the Upper Salmon River in Fundy National Park, higher than any other monitored salmon river in the Bay of Fundy.’ There has been great community interest in the project, with hundreds of people attending salmon releases and even participating in a ‘swim with salmon’ event. The government has now invested in another five years of the programme and has expanded the recovery model to three other national parks. FF

06/05/2019 10:05:46

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392014 06/05/2019 10:08:31

Restocking

Swimming against the tide

Stock recovery is good news for the Carron – but not for the critics BY BOB KINDNESS CARRON RIVER MANAGER

HIS year has been designated the International Year of the Salmon and it finds wild Atlantic salmon struggling across their entire range. Catch figures for 2018 have recently been released and show that the rod catch for Scotland of 37,196 is the lowest since official records began in 1952. To put this in context by making comparisons with the past, one beat on the Aberdeenshire Dee recorded a total catch of 343 salmon for February alone in 1957. This year the whole of the Dee is struggling to reach that total for the first three months of the season. I have also seen a photograph of an opening day catch for one rod on the Dee in the 1950s of 34 salmon laid out on in rows on the grass. It should also be remembered that in the past the commercial netting of salmon by both fixed engine and net and coble took place all round the coast of Scotland, as well as within rivers. In the 1960s, the annual catch

was as high as 500,000 salmon and yet there was no shortage of salmon in the rivers. Through the middle of the twentieth century salmon were indeed plentiful and exploitation by nets and rods was easily sustainable. However, throughout the latter part of the last century salmon numbers began to drop and this decline, apart from for a few individual years, has continued until today. The main approach taken by the authorities to try to arrest this decline has been to reduce exploitation. The commercial netting was gradually reduced through buy-outs until it was eventually stopped completely in 2018.

Left: Stripping eggs from a small wild grilse hen

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06/05/2019 10:09:37

Restocking

The thought behind this was that all the fish saved from the nets would get into the rivers to bolster rod fisheries and increase the number of spawning fish. Unfortunately, although rod fisheries were maintained to some extent throughout this period of reducing exploitation, overall salmon numbers continued to drop. The next move was to reduce exploitation by anglers. A ban on the sale of rod-caught salmon was introduced, voluntary catch-and-release became normal practice for many fisheries and, most recently, mandatory catchand-release has been introduced for spring stocks for all rivers and for the entire season for rivers where stocks are unsustainable. Despite all this, the numbers continue to drop. The problem is that although reducing exploitation in order to try to preserve what you have is obviously a good thing to do, the reality is that it is simply not achieving enough to counter the ever increasing difficulties facing wild salmon. What needs to happen is, rather than just reducing exploitation, we need to increase abundance so that despite all the losses occurring in salmon stocks, there are sufficient surviving to both maintain rod fisheries, which are economically important, and enough spawners to maintain stocks. Culprits Before trying to answer the question of how to increase salmon abundance we should consider what factors are the likely culprits in reducing stocks. The popular perception is that the main problems are in the marine environment, with poor survival as a result of factors such as climate change, lack of feeding, over fishing and aquaculture, although I fail to see how the lack of fish on the east coast can be blamed on salmon farming when there are no cage sites on that side of the country. While it is fair to say that marine survival is much lower now than it was in the past, less than five per cent compared to a figure of over 20 per cent, the problem is not just at sea and does not just involve the culprits already mentioned. All is not rosy within our rivers and at the river mouths. In all the deliberations about the poor state of salmon stocks, one major factor is seldom mentioned and that is the ever increasing number of salmon predators. The list is a long one and includes goosanders, merganzers, cormorants, herons, otters and, at the river mouths, seals and dolphins, and they are all fully protected. For most rivers the worst offenders are goosanders and merganzers, the fish eating ducks. These birds will target the smolt run when they are

Bob Kindness.indd 46

pairing up prior to breeding. Then the mother and young will feed on fry and parr through the summer before the young fledge in August and usually leave the river. The mothers are very diligent, will never leave their young and are capable of fledging broods of up to 12 young. The damage done to salmon stocks is horrendous. The penny is now beginning to drop regarding in-river predation, with results from rivers such as the Dee using telemetry showing that a very high percentage of smolts from the upper river do not reach the sea. Unfortunately, little can be done about predation as the sort of population controls that would be necessary to make a difference would never be sanctioned. We simply have to live with them. It is also highly likely that, even if current marine projects can identify what the problems are at sea, we will be able to do little about them, at least in the short term. We therefore need to accept the low level of marine survival and take what steps we can to ensure that even with that low level we can still get enough fish returning to our rivers to keep anglers happy and maintain stocks. While fixing the problems at sea and dealing with the predators may be a step too far, one approach that is within our powers is to increase abundance by increasing the number of smolts successfully leaving our rivers. Successful approach Steps have been taken on several rivers in an attempt to increase smolt production by improving habitats and opening up hitherto inaccessible parts of the river by removing obstructions such as dams and weirs. The success of this approach has been limited to date and has certainly not arrested the decline in salmon. The reason is quite simple. Creating more habitat is only worthwhile if there is insufficient existing good habitat to accommodate the young stock that you already have. If a river has under utilised habitat, then creating more habitat will make little difference in the short term since you are simply spreading out what you already have. However, habitat improvements are certainly beneficial if combined with increasing the numbers of young fish at the same time. In an ideal world we would leave this to nature because, as is often said, ‘nature knows best’. But in the case of salmon it is highly unlikely that leaving it to nature will achieve the outcome we desire.

Deﬁnitive evidence on stocking “related to a Highland river in the

heart of the aquaculture zone is of great importance for both sectors’

”

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06/05/2019 10:10:11

Swimming against the tide Most species produce enough offspring to replace themselves with perhaps a little extra. In the case of salmon, an average sized hen will produce approximately 5,000 eggs, of which about 50 will reach the smolt stage, providing there are no disasters. At a marine survival level of four per cent this would result in two adults returning to the river, which is replacement level with no opportunity for an increase in numbers. When this is combined with the fact that we now have less spawning fish, it is clear that, at best, nature will keep the stocks of salmon ticking over but will not increase abundance. In reality, natural spawning is not very efficient, hence the large number of eggs produced by each hen. Last winter a short video was posted of a small hen grilse spawning in the River Ness. She dug a shallow redd, which would have been susceptible to wash-out in a spate; as she deposited her eggs the cock produced a cloud of milt to fertilise them, which has to happen before the eggs reach the gravel, but several eggs were washed away in the current and then four brown trout moved in for a feed. The number of fry emerging from the redd would only be a fraction of the number of eggs produced by the hen. In stark contrast, artificial spawning is extremely efficient. As an example taken from the stocking programme on the River Carron, for a batch of 6,400 eggs stripped from one MSW hen last winter, only 12 failed to reach the eyed stage and a further 25 failed to hatch. Almost all the rest reached the feeding stage and, all things being equal, all of them will reach the stocking-out stage. This means that in excess of 6,000 autumn fry could be stocked out, a figure that is at least 10 times the number of equivalent fry had the hen been left to spawn naturally. Artificial spawning, the use of hatcheries and the development of appropriate stocking programmes have to be considered if we are to increase the smolt output to a level that will make a real difference. We need to at least double the number of smolts to potentially get an acceptable number of returning adults. This is exactly what has been achieved on the River Carron, where a stocking programme has been in operation for more than 20 years. The story of the stocking project has been well documented, describing the journey from a near empty river to one achieving record catches, but it is worth highlighting some salient points: • Initial recovery achieved using stock from captive broodstock; • Stock then maintained using both captive broodstock and wild broodies caught on rod and line; • Stocking using all life stages from eyed ova to smolts; • Stocking into all parts of the catchment, from the headwaters to above the tidal water; • Ability to demonstrate the success of stocked autumn fry through to the smolt stage from a tagging programme and the use of a rotary

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Bob Kindness.indd 47

screw trap. On a par with the expected success from wild fish with no signs of domestication; • Use of the screw trap over the last 12 years to estimate smolt output at more than double what might be expected from natural production. Autumn stocking replaces wild stock lost through the winter (spates) and summer (predation) and goes out after most of the young goosanders have fledged and left the river; • Using known stocked hens as broodstock and achieving the same high level of success from eggs and fry as from wild hens. No indication of lack of fitness. Unfit fish do not return from the North Atlantic; • Achieving excellent catches throughout the years of the stocking programme. Catches are at historically high levels for salmon and especially for grilse. Catch figures portray a very telling story, with the average yearly catch from 1952 to 2003 (pre-effect of stocking) being 57 for MSW salmon and 23 for grilse in contrast to the years from 2004 to 2018 (post-effect of stocking) when the figures rose to 92 MSW salmon and 131 grilse. The 2018 salmon catch was higher than the 10-year average, indicating that catches are holding up well at a time when the general trend across the country is a downward one. Samples of over 300 sea trout and finnock in both 2017 and 2018 showed that more than 90 per cent of the fish were carrying no sea lice and had no fin damage, despite the fact that the River Carron is in the centre of a very busy salmon farming area. Fin clips for DNA analysis from all broodstock used in the programme have been taken since 2011, clips from screw trap smolts and rod caught salmon since 2013. This last point is possibly the most important. There is a great deal of scepticism in certain quarters regarding whether stocking works and whether it damages wild stocks. It is fair to say that it is being actively discouraged. In the case of the River Carron, there is no doubt that, in the absence of any other plausible reason, the initial stock recovery was as a result of the early stocking. However, what is of more interest to the salmon angling community is to what degree is stocking influencing salmon catches after the initial recovery took place. In other words, what proportion of the rod catch is coming from stocking and what is coming from natural spawning. DNA analysis of the fin clips collected over the years would provide the answer and would be extremely informative for decision makers who want to improve salmon stocks around the country. Unfortunately, the process of analysing the DNA is expensive and requires a significant amount of funding. Definitive evidence on stocking related to a Highland river in the heart of the aquaculture zone is of great importance for both salmon farming and wild salmon sectors. Every effort needs to be made to gather this evidence so proper decisions can be taken on the way forward to boost our wild salmon stocks and salmon fisheries. FF

Opposite: Bob Kindness in the River Carron. Below: The screw trap in position towards the lower end of the river.

06/05/2019 10:10:39

Containment – Introduction

Advance of technology Predators don’t change but the solutions do! people who have more restrictions on sites with acoustic devices, which is primarily the US, Canada and then Australia and New Zealand.’ Ace Aquatec has a couple of the electric fish on sites in Scotland and is currently ramping up production for the commercial systems, with units destined for New Zealand and Australia. ‘We’ve already got homes for the next ones we produce, in Scotland, where we see it as more of a complement. ‘Sites in Scotland that have used it so far have been the ones that customers find the most challenging [with predators]. ‘Often, it’s been a temporary fix when there’s a particular issue on a couple of cages, or one bad site, and they just want another tool in their arsenal to avoid having to call in a marksman. ‘When we put it on a particular cage we got the morts down to zero. They saw it as a big benefit using it.’ Over the following pages we bring more news of the industry’s solutions to predation and escapes. FF

WO images reveal how far anti-predation measures have developed over the decades. Although both inventions have the same goal, there the similarity ends! The painting of the whale was one of the early attempts to prevent seal attacks, by Marine Harvest, and it was deployed at Cairidh, Loch Ainort, on Skye in the early 1990s. A more advanced version of this ‘technology’ was produced on a farm in the north of Scotland at Loch Eriboll, where independent operator Charles Marsham made a life size fibreglass killer whale that he used to try and scare off seals. According to recently retired AKVA sales manager Dougie Johnson, there was great interest, particularly from Japanese journalists, in the whale at the time. A local newspaper report from 1995 revealed that the whale was constructed by boat builder Marty Mackay. In fact, there were several whales, described as a scarecrow for seals and nicknamed the Whalley. The Whalley was designed to be tethered underwater near salmon nets, and the trial of a wooden prototype over a six-month period in 1994 showed a dramatic and sustained drop in salmon killed by seals. Whalleys were subsequently sold to Maine and Seattle, but Marsham did not claim 100 per cent success. ‘The deterrent is visual,’ he told reporters. ‘The seal has got to see it. It has to be placed on the seals’ route toward the sea pens.’ Fast forward to the present day, and the engineering may have advanced considerably but the predators remain stubbornly persistent. One of Scotland’s most innovative aquaculture companies, Ace Aquatec, has reinvented the concept with its electric fish. The innovation, which is shortlisted for the Animal Welfare Award in this month’s Scottish Aquaculture Awards, is a non-acoustic deterrent. It is designed to look like a dead salmon and sits at the bottom of a pen. The electrodes that protrude from the ‘fish’ deliver electric shocks to seals that try to eat morts in the pen. It attracted much interest at the Boston seafood show earlier this year, and also proved a hit at the Aqua Sur exhibition in Chile last year. The Ace Aquatec team were taking it to the Brussels show too, where they hoped to introduce it to an even wider global market. Sales and marketing director Mike Forbes said: ‘We designed it for

Containment - Intro.indd 48

Above: Ally Strachan, Marine Harvest farm manager, with the deterrent at Cairidh in 1992. Photo by Alistair Ferguson, of the Maol Ban farm on Skye (with thanks to Steve Bracken) Right: Ace Aquatec’s electric fish

we put it on a particular cage “When we got the morts down to zero ” www.fishfarmermagazine.co.uk

06/05/2019 10:11:40

Advance of technology

Australian netting that’s legally binding A PREDATOR net used in Australia is considered to be so effective that a court has made its installation a legal requirement. KGrid is a semi ridged, high tenacity Vietnamese made netting which supplier Nets Tasmania claims has an ideal containment inner surface and an outer surface that prohibits predatory attack. Tasmania based salmon farmer Tassal appears to agree and already uses this this type of netting on its farm, in Okehampton Bay on the south east coast of Tasmania. But an appeal against an Australian Federal Court decision to allow the company to operate its 28-pen ﬁsh farm was partly upheld recently - due to the federal Environment Department’s decision not to write into the permit a requirement for Tassal to use KGrid netting and use bundled feed and servicing lines. This netting would allow for greater protection for migrating species such as the southern right whale. While the company has ﬁtted this type of netting on its farm, which extends over 86

Above: At work in KGrid’s net factory

hectares, the court decision has now made it a legal requirement, The Advocate reported last month. Tassal chief executive Mark Ryan told The Advocate that the ruling provided certainty over continuing operations at Okehampton Bay. KGrid has been developed to outperform all previous net types used for ﬁsh farm

enclosures, according to the company’s website. The netting uses the technical advantages of a refined Japanese knotless system, with the orientation of the polymer filaments providing the highest tenacity and unique physical rigidity characteristics. ‘The concept of these nets delivers a performance in conjunction with mechanical net cleaning in which the net can remain in the water for its entire working life,’ the company said. KGrid has established an ‘enviable reputation’ in sea areas subject to heavy seal attack, with the semi ridged high tenacity nature of this netting outperforming all previous netting types in predator resistance, said Nets Tasmania. ‘In the Northern Australian waters, KGrid has demonstrated its capacity to resist shark and crocodile attacks on cages used for barramundi farming.’ KGrid nets can be manufactured to any configuration of fish cage, with design undertaken in consultation with customers’ specific site and culture requirements.

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Containment - Intro.indd 49

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06/05/2019 10:12:06

Containment – Scottish Technical Standard

Passing the baton

Jamie Smith on progress, problems and new leadership in the Containment Working Group

HE Containment Working Group, established to create the Scottish Technical Standard, is to have another change in leadership. Jamie Smith, who took over the reins last year following the retirement of Mowi’s Steve Bracken, has recently left the Scottish Salmon Producers Organisation after ten years. He has handed over his CWG responsibilities to SSPO colleague Anne Anderson, who will act as interim chair at this month’s meeting.

Smith had been involved in the group since the beginning, was there to see the Scottish Technical Standard published in 2015, and on his departure, he spoke to Fish Farmer about its progress. Last year he highlighted three areas of focus: how to implement the standard, training staﬀ to comply with it, and updating its criteria. Smith said they have now developed and agreed a way of updating the standard so there is a means of continuously upgrading the standard. There has also been some progress and ‘certainly commitment’ on the training front, said Smith. He said last November that on-farm training carried out by the Scottish Salmon Company’s head of production,

Above: Jamie Smith Opposite: Anne Anderson

Containment - Jamie.indd 50

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06/05/2019 10:13:23

Passing the baton

never going to be a ﬁnished “job,It iswe’re just trying to be as good as we can be ”

cope with innovation, with new sites and new areas. ‘I think there is a commitment to support this particular standard but it needs continual work on it. It is never going to be a finished job, we’re just trying to be as good as we can be.’ While there will be a change at the top of the Containment Working Group, and the government’s main driver, Jeff Gibbons, has now left the aquaculture policy team, Smith said there remains a huge amount of experience within the group, and it just needs to be coordinated. As for his own future in the industry, he is planning to set up a consultancy, and is especially interested in the area of waste produced by dead fish. ‘We could work together better to dispose of this,’ he said, adding that he has already been working on solutions with Zero Waste Scotland. FF

Iain MacIntyre, had proved to be particularly successful. The training involves going out on to a site and setting up a cage with faults, and then the staff have to find those faults and report them. ‘The bigger companies, Mowi, the Scottish Salmon Company and Scottish Sea Farms, have all committed to undertake practical on farm training,’ said Smith. ‘And there is a desire to have the NAFC [Marine Centre UHI] containment module as essentially the industry standard. ‘Those three companies are the most able to undertake that training in terms of the number of sites they have, and Cooke is pretty keen on that as well.’ Where the CWG has not moved forward much is the challenge of legally implementing the standard, he said. ‘The government will lead on how that is going to be implemented. Their desire is to have a legal position there…a requirement to meet the standard and if you don’t there are penalties. That needs the most work on it and hasn’t really progressed.’ He said there is disagreement over how to take this forward. ‘The government would like it to be wholly undertaken by the industry, funded by the industry. Whereas the industry is less keen on that for obvious reasons, in terms of if you look at the additional cost burden of auditing. ‘This needs to be a document that can take new technology and make sure innovation is not stifled by the standard,’ said Smith. The standard is supposed to come into operation in 2020, and Smith said there is ‘certainly a desire’ for the government, and the Rural Economy minister Fergus Ewing, to make sure this is undertaken by then. Does he feel that over the past five to six years the industry has really moved on in addressing its containment issues? ‘There will always be challenges with containment,’ he admitted. ‘There is that recognition by the farming side that there are areas where we can always look at, especially if we’re going to more exposed sites. ‘We have to have a standard that evolves over time to be able to

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Containment - Jamie.indd 51

06/05/2019 10:14:17

Containment – Nets

Pro-farms, anti-predator Keeping the seals out and the salmon in BY SANDY NEIL

ITH an imminent US import ban on salmon from fish farms that shoot seals, pressure is mounting in Scotland to find new ways to prevent predators from penetrating their nets. Seals can each eat 3-7kg (6.6-15.4lbs) of food per day, depending on the species, and over the years the holes they bite through the nets have released hundreds of thousands of farmed fish into the wild. Currently, fish farms are licensed to shoot seals in Scotland, but only as a ‘last resort’ when the mammals persist beyond all other preventative measures. Now, US legislation, due to be applied to imports from 2022, will ban any seafood produced in contravention of its rules on animal welfare, which prohibit the shooting of seals. There are ‘no ifs, no buts, no bullets,’ as one conservation group put it.

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Containment - Sandy.indd 52

It is concentrating minds at home, as fish farms must find alternative ways to protect farmed salmon stocks from predators. The economic incentive is huge. The US is the world’s largest importer of seafood, buying about $20 billion of product every year, including Scottish salmon worth £193 million last year – the industry’s second most lucrative export market. Nearly all salmon farms in Scotland are likely to be affected by the ban. The annual economic value of Scottish salmon passed the £1 billion mark for the first time last year, and the active farms support more than 10,000 jobs, many of which are in rural communities. The Scottish government had tried, and failed, to secure an exemption for Scottish fish farms, according to a BBC report last year. Officials argued the rules in Scotland do not allow the ‘reckless’ shooting of seals, and the intention is not to reduce the overall seal population. However, their efforts were unsuccessful, as the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration listed Scotland’s industry under the ban. The Cabinet Secretary for the Rural Economy, Fergus Ewing, had voiced hopes that killing seals may become unnecessary in the near future, as fish farms deploy innovative technology that scares, or stops, seals from stealing fish from the nets. There seems to be growing evidence for his optimism. Government figures show salmon farms have shot more than 800 seals since 2011, but recently numbers per year are falling. In Shetland, salmon producers say they are confident 2019 could be the first year in the industry’s history that no seals will be shot in

Above: Seal Pro netting ﬁtted to a Scottish salmon farm Right: AKVA’s EcoNet

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06/05/2019 10:15:51

Pro-farms, anti-predator

company said it is using Sapphire Seal Pro nets on most of its sites in Shetland, and found them to be very eﬀective. The company has already ordered nets at a cost of just over £750,000 for the remaining sites, and it expected the number of seals shot on its farms to drop to zero, once all sites are equipped with the new anti-predator netting, due for completion by the end of 2019. ‘It’s an ambitious goal but we are investing heavily to make this a reality,’ said Cooke spokesman Chris Duncan, adding that the nets should pay for themselves within two years. Another salmon producer operating in Shetland, Grieg Seafood Shetthe islands, as multi-million pound investments land, also conﬁrmed that its new anti-predator netting had been largely into anti-predator nets begin to show positive successful, so much so that it did not have to shoot any seals in 2018. results. Most recently, Scottish Sea Farms (SSF) announced a reduction in the Cooke Aquaculture is reported to be investing number of seals culled, following ongoing investment in rigid new pen a total of £4.7 million in anti-predator nets. The netting.

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Containment - Sandy.indd 53

06/05/2019 14:06:23

Containment – Nets

Left: Common seals Opposite: ’Escape proof’ EcoNets

SSF say protective netting like Seal Pro, combined with acoustic deterrent devices, has contributed to an 81 per cent drop in the number of seals culled by salmon farmers since 2011 – with the ambition being zero culls. Seal Pro, one of the most popular anti-predator products on the market, is manufactured by Scottish netmaker W & J Knox in Kilbirnie, Ayr-

Containment - Sandy.indd 54

shire, and Garware Technical Fibres of India. Engineered from high density polyethylene, the net has a more rigid surface, whereas traditional nylon netting allows hungry seals to push their snouts into the twine and catch salmon as they swim by.

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06/05/2019 10:16:30

Pro-farms, anti-predator

Garware has also developed a single-sided knot, which is smoother on the inside of the net, and rougher on the outside, deterring the seals’ sensitive snouts. Finlay Oman, commercial director of W & J Knox, said: ‘The Marine Mammal Research Unit at St Andrews University explained to us that seals have very sensitive snouts and will find the knots relatively uncomfortable to deal with.’ Securing the nets in place is an intricate system of individual weights placed at 5m intervals or a circular sinker tube at the net base, which increases tension, prevents the netting from flexing and reduces potential entry points for seals. The manufacturers say it also brings other benefits. The nets have a stronger frame that can withstand regular cleaning in-situ and a smoother surface that is harder for marine organisms to adhere to and is also easier to clean. This removes the need for copper, one of the heavy metals naturally found in trace amounts in marine and freshwater environments, helping preserve the balance of the surrounding habitat. Oman said: ‘Seal Pro has been performing very well, deterring the predators with a single layer of netting. Like any other nets, they require to be effectively tensioned to provide an efficient barrier to attack and, in this respect, we would advocate the use of sinker tubes. ‘The inherent stiffness of this product goes beyond standard HDPE netting and this, combined with the applied tension during deployment, substantially increases the effort required on behalf of the predator to penetrate the internal volume of the pen, when compared to a standard nylon net.

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Containment - Sandy.indd 55

‘The compact twine achieved during the braiding and knotting process provides not only an enviable level of abrasion, but also cut resistance. ‘For a practical test, try cutting a metre of nylon netting with a pair of scissors and then attempt to repeat with Seal Pro. You will certainly

“

The key issue has always been in maintaining adequate separation between the predator and the ﬁsh net

”

06/05/2019 10:16:59

Containment – Nets

experience the differential.’ He said some farms on Scotland’s west coast of Scotland had experienced challenges from marauding spur dogfish, which have easily chewed through the bases of nylon nets. ‘We have identified a variant of Sapphire netting with fine strands of marine grade stainless steel, which we hope will be a match for the small but bothersome sharks. ‘Unlike standard HDPE netting and being designed with aquaculture

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Containment - Sandy.indd 56

The “ EcoNets

are virtually escape proof, predator proof and are also used as shark nets

”

in mind, Seal Pro mesh stays on the square, resisting the natural pull back to the diamond structure formed during netting manufacture. ‘This is a great benefit in retention of small smolts and cleaner fish, as well as maintaining maximum water flow.’ Of Scottish Sea Farms’ 45 sites, 21 now have the netting installed at a cost of £4.2 million. There are plans to install the netting over the next few years at nine more farms, to be equipped in 2019 and 2020 at the start of each new crop cycle. In February, SSF said the number of seals culled last year was 31 per cent down on the year before. The figures suggest nine of the producer’s 45 salmon farms culled seals between February 1, 2018, and January 31, 2019. At the company’s seven farms in Orkney, where the new protective Seal Pro nets were first trialled in 2016 before being rolled-out, there have been no seal culls in almost three years. Outside Scotland, more anti-predator technologies are being developed. In Norway, Botngaard, based in Oksvoll, specialises in making closed cage systems, consisting of a solid steel floater, strong PVC bag, a 10,000m3–15,000 m3 inside net, seawater intakes, sludge collector, oxygen inserter and system for inserting oxygen and monitoring. Smolts weighing 100g are transferred from a land based facility to the sea based closed cages until they reach up to 1.5kg, when, strong and robust, they are moved to an open cage to grow until slaughter. Beside protection from predators, the system boasts other advantages, such as ‘protecting salmon against lice, parasites and contamination from the environment’, and ‘reducing interaction between farmed salmon and wild salmon’, while ‘not contributing to an increase in total production costs’. Magnus Stendal, Botngaard’s system deliver-

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06/05/2019 10:17:35

Pro-farms, anti-predator

ies manager, told us: ‘So far, our closed cages are only sold to the Norwegian market, where predators such as seals and sea lions are not a particular problem. ‘However, the strong ﬂexible walls in the closed cage will also function as extra protection against such predators in areas where they are a big challenge. ‘Our latest installation for Cermaq Norway is performing very well, and we are seeing increased interest for our technology both in

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Containment - Sandy.indd 57

Clockwise from top left: Seal Pro is proving popular; ﬁtting AKVA’s EcoNet to a farm site; Seal Pro netting on a Scottish farm; keeping ﬁsh in, predators out.

06/05/2019 10:18:11

Containment – Nets

Norway and other markets.’ Net cage supplier Aqualine promises ‘the industry’s first escape proof fish farming system’: the Midgard. ‘Double net systems are not new to the aquaculture industry,’ the Trondheim firm states. ‘However, the key issue has always been in maintaining adequate separation between the predator and the fish net - and maintaining sufficient tensioning on all nets, even in most challenging environmental conditions. ‘The cage, predator and fish nets, and sinker ring, are designed as one integrated cage system (strength is paramount). The Midgard system has proven that even during extreme weather conditions – at very exposed locations – the interaction between fish net, sinker tube and cage flotation collar functions optimally.’ Meanwhile, AKVA has pioneered another alternative: non-fibre EcoNets, made of extremely strong, lightweight PET (Polyethylene Terephthalate) wire. The company explained: ‘The net is the only barrier keeping your valuable farmed fish inside the pen, it is the most critical piece of equipment on a pen farm. ‘The EcoNets are virtually escape proof, predator proof and are

Containment - Sandy.indd 58

also used as shark nets. Around the world, EcoNet has proven very resistant to predator attacks (from grey seals, fur seals, tiger tooth fish, barracuda, travelli) due to the strong PET monofilament and semi-rigid and tightly stretched net walls. ‘The semi-rigid structure also keeps the net shape intact to maximise water flow and oxygen to the fish. Should damage to the net occur, the semi-rigid structure has proven to have self-closing properties that prevent fish escapes. ‘The thermo-formed double twisted PET mesh also prevents unravelling. The Eco-Nets have a 20-year lifespan.’ All these new technologies can come at a cost, but the manufacturers hope it will be paid for by the value of the fish not lost to seal attacks. FF

Above: Higher energy sites demand robust anti-predator solutions

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06/05/2019 10:18:42

Untitled-1 59

06/05/2019 10:20:04

Research - Stirling workshop

Fertile minds BY CHRIS MITCHELL

focus on sterile ﬁsh Scientists from around the world share research ﬁndings

RESSURE to farm ﬁsh that are reproductively incompetent comes from both within and out-with the aquaculture industry but for rather diﬀerent reasons in each case. Fish farmers are well aware that maturation and gonadal development are always achieved at the expense of somatic growth and, caviar producers excepted, this represents a bottom line cost to the business.

Sterility.indd 60

Anglers have similar concerns but for diﬀerent reasons, reproductive competence in farmed stocks being perceived as a threat to wild ones should the former escape and gain access to them. And so for over 30 years in the salmonid farming sector, the use of stocks which have been rendered sterile, usually through triploidisation, has been an accepted and well understood practice, mainly in trout but also in some salmon farming operations. In the case of the latter, the propensity to produce and farm triploids came into, and out of, fashion in the early ‘90s due largely to some spectacularly poor farming outcomes.

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06/05/2019 10:21:33

Fertile minds focus on sterile fish

While the use of triploid salmon finished at this time, the requirement for sterile fish didn’t. Because of this, research into sterile production in general, and triploidy in particular, resumed about 10 years ago with, in Scotland, the inception of the EU FP7 funded SALMOTRIP project from 2008 to 2011, which was subsequently followed by the Innovate UK funded Salmotrip+ project running from 2014 to 2018. The requirement to disseminate the outcomes and findings of the project spawned the idea of a workshop as a useful way to achieve this and also include other technologies being developed to create sterile fish. And so, on March 25 and 26, ARCH-UK, in collaboration with the University of Stirling, put together the International Finfish Sterility Workshop which attracted scientists and aquaculture practitioners from Norway, North America and the UK. Following his welcome and introduction, Hervé Migaud of the Institue of Aquaculture went on to describe Salmotrip+, set up to establish ‘how to farm triploid salmon optimally’. It was hoped that a number of Key Performance Determinants (KPDs) would emerge which would form the basis of a ‘best practice’ guide for successfully culturing these fish; and this has indeed been achieved. Perhaps the greatest differences that determine successful outcomes for triploid salmon compared to diploid ones come in the early part of the production cycle. In Tasmania, where triploid salmon are used instead of lights to combat the early maturation of diploid fish, egg incubation temperatures are held at 6°C to optimise outcomes. Such outcomes can include the level of a variety of malformations of jaw, heart and vertebra, to which triploids appear to have a lower threshold of induction that diploids. But low incubation temperature successfully mitigates these without a concomitant reduction in performance; as Tom Fraser from IMR in Norway explained, triploids will actually out compete diploids at these temperatures. In addition to incubation temperature, Mikey Clarkson, in pursuit of his PhD thesis at Stirling University, warned against performing triploidisation on eggs which are approaching over-ripeness. While never ideal, triploids will display a much greater variation in performance outcomes when compared with diploid eggs from a late stripping. His findings were confirmed by Renee Contregas from Petuna Aquaculture in Tasmania, a production company that now only triploidise eggs from early hens (in their short stripping season) rather than the later ones. Another KPD for triploids is appropriate nutrition. John Taylor’s work at the University of Stirling in cooperation with Salmotrip+ partner, BioMar,

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Sterility.indd 61

revealed that phosphorous must be included in the diet at higher levels for young triploid salmon compared with diploids - up from typically 13g/kg to over 19g/kg. Higher inclusion in diets though is not the only way to achieve higher levels in fish. Probiotics could be deployed to improve both uptake and assimilation at existing dietary inclusion rates. Less than optimal levels in the early stages of triploids will pre-dispose them to an elevated risk of developing both jaw and trunk malformations following transfer to seawater. The Salmotrip+ project invested a great deal of effort in determining whether routine onfarm health operations can be conducted on triploid stocks using accepted practices. Vaccination is a key consideration here and much of Lynn Chalmers’ PhD focused on this aspect of husbandry as well as the use of therapeutants. In the case of the former, triploid stocks were not shown to be any more prone than diploids to developing side effects following intraperitoneal inoculation with a variety of oil adjuvanted vaccines provided by project partner Pharmaq. Efficacy, as measured both by survival as well antibody as response, was also found to be unaffected by ploidy. Lynn went on to demonstrate that above 12°C triploid salmon can suffer higher mortalities when treated with H2O2 in seawater, confirming the accepted wisdom that these fish are less temperature tolerant than diploids. This is suggestive of a higher risk borne by these fish when subjected to routine bath treatments, Above: Anna Wargelius particularly at higher temperatures. Opposite: Herve Migaud A possible explanation for this temperature mediated sensitivity came from Tillman Benfey, of the University of New Brunswick, who demonstrated that triploids do not have the same aerobic scope as their diploid peers. This means that the difference between their

Perhaps “ the greatest diﬀerences that determine successful outcomes come in the early part of the production cycle

”

06/05/2019 10:21:56

Research - Stirling workshop

baseline and maximum level of metabolic rate is smaller than in diploids. Thus if some of their aerobic capacity is required for, say, digestion, the balance which remains for coping with other stressors, applied concurrently, is less than for a diploid in the same circumstances. The greater the stressor

Above: Mikey Clarkson Opposite: Yonathan Zohar

the more evident and problematic this becomes. Richard Hopewell of Dawnfresh, who spoke from the rare perspective of farming experience with both Atlantic salmon and rainbow trout, suggested that triploid trout are quite similar in their ‘farming temperament’ to diploid salmon, that is, less hardy than diploid trout but more so than triploid salmon. Of course, triploidisation is not the only way to render ﬁsh sterile. A

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06/05/2019 10:22:42

Fertile minds focus on sterile fish

niques goes hand-in-hand with developing an number of new technologies are under investigation including gene understanding of how to optimally farm the fish silencing, a technique explained by Helge Tveiten of Nofima. which result. By silencing the so-called Vasa gene, which is crucial for germ cell deChris Mitchell is sales manager of Pharmaq. FF velopment, offspring can be produced which are incapable of developing functional gonadal tissue. Research is underway to ‘vaccinate’ a female parent with a factor that will target her oocytes and cause them to develop into reproductively incompetent, but otherwise normal, offspring. Another approach being investigated is to target the cells that are the precursors to gonadal tissue – the Primordial Germ Cells (PGCs). Yonathan Zohar from the University of Maryland and Anna Wargelius from the Institute of Marine Research in Norway suggested that these, too, could be knocked out, leading to sterility in their host. The original drivers for the development of sterile farmed fish, including reproductive incompetence as a back-up to containment, and improved somatic performance, remain, but a new one has recently emerged. Debbie Plouffe, of the Centre for Aquatic Technologies in Prince Edward Island, said that for AquaBounty’s ‘AquAdvantage’ salmon to be allowed Broodstock Management to be reared in commercial conditions they must be sterile, according to the FDA which regulates these fish in a similar way to medicines! Currently, triploidisation (in excess of 95 per cent) is deemed acceptable alongside total containment; however, PGC knock out is also being mooted as an alternative technology with sterility being linked to a pigmentation construct, such that sterile animals can be easily identified by eye. So, the requirement for a simple and reliable method of producing sterile fish for aquaculture remains highly relevant across species, including tilapia, as explained by Yehwa Jin of the University of Stirling who is researching the use of CRISPR gene editing technology to induce sterility Providing specialist in Oreochromis niloticus. genetics support to the And, as the conference demonstrated, the development of these tech-

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Chalmers conﬁrmed the accepted wisdom that these ﬁsh are less temperature tolerant than diploids www.fishfarmermagazine.co.uk

Sterility.indd 63

”

aquaculture industry worldwide.

your expert genetics partner xelect.co.uk

06/05/2019 10:23:24

Research – Cleaner ﬁsh

How lumpﬁsh see the world Discovery of novel eye features could lead to better farming BY ROBERT L. GENDRON, RAAHYMA AHMAD AND HELENE PARADIS*

CEAN teleost Cyclopterus lumpus (C Lumpus, Lumpfish) is a cleaner fish species which in recent years has been listed as threatened (1-4). Lumpfish are becoming important in aquaculture for their natural ability to delouse salmon, which offers an attractive and sustainable alternative to chemically based delousing agents. Since lumpfish are predatory, the health of the visual system of these fish is important for both their survival in the wild, for living in culture and for salmon lice removal in aquaculture. A better understanding of the biological structures and functions specific to lumpfish, particularly their organs of sense, could ultimately underlie strategies to protect these fish both in culture and in the wild. There was previously no scientific literature on the characteristics of the lumpfish eye. Having extensive experience in mouse and human eye, our laboratory, with the resources of the Dr Joe Brown Aquatic Research Building at Memorial University (Figure 1), has recently studied the cultured lumpfish eye during post hatch development (5). We have applied both classical and state-of-the art methods such as his-

Research - Lumpfish.indd 64

Below: Figure 2 - novel eye structures of the lumpfish. Opposite: Figure 1 juvenile lumpfish in the Dr Joe Brown Aquatic Research Building at Memorial University. Middle and right panels show fish at surface of water or with eyes entirely out of water.

tology, immunohistochemistry, fundus imaging and spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) retinal imaging in order to systematically define features of the lumpfish eye (Figure 2). We found in the study, published in Journal of Fish Biology (J Fish Biol. 2019;94[2]:297-312), that cultured lumpfish harbour several features in their eyes that set them apart from other teleosts, and from mammals. Lumpfish have a very prominent retractor lentis, a muscle-like structure which serves to move the lens around their eye globes to allow them to focus on visual targets. This structure is physically associated with another robust vascular structure called the rete mirabile in the posterior (rear) portions of the eye which nourishes not only the retina but, because of its robustness, possibly other more anterior (front) portions of the eye. Quite surprisingly, we found that lumpfish eyes, unlike mammals, possess two partitioned separate lobes of retinal tissue containing both light sensing photoreceptors and other possibly regenerative cells. The smaller retinal lobe positioned at the base of the eye is reminiscent of an accessory retina previously described only in deep sea fish (6).We think that lumpfish might be using these extra retinal lobes to optimise their capabilities to detect light rays arriving at the eye from above. Further work will be needed to confirm this interesting notion. Considering that lumpfish are now known to move through significant ranges and depths of the water column, the extra retinal tissues might be useful to them in darker and deeper regions of the water column. We also found that, like deep sea fish, lumpfish eyes harbour extensive tapetum material, a mirror-like layer that serves to reflect light either back into the light sensing cells or to bounce light rays around inside the eye maximising the light signal. Again, further work will be needed to explore these notions. At tank side, cultured lumpfish

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06/05/2019 10:25:46

health monitoring of lumpfish and how the lumpfish might sense its world. Alternatively, other culture conditions, such as feed and physical attributes of the water, might also be adjusted based on a better understanding of lumpfish vision and otherHow senses. lumpfish see the world

are very curious and often swim with eyes entirely out of the water, as if they are looking at something (see Figure).This behaviour also raises interesting questions about how lumpfish might see their world. In the context of aquaculture and fish farming, we propose that a better understanding of the lumpfish eye, as well as its other organs of sense, can be used to bolster the health and wellbeing of these rather amazing animals. Some of the imaging techniques we used in our study are accessible and can be employed by aquaculture staff. Our work also indicates that live, non-invasive methodologies such as optical coherence tomography can be used to quickly and comprehensively assess lumpfish eye health, much like is done for humans in an optometrist’s office. Aquaculture facilities could perhaps one day be designed with some consideration for better

extra “The retinal tissues might be useful to them in darker and deeper regions of the water column

health monitoring of lumpfish and how the lumpfish might sense its world. Alternatively, other culture conditions, such as feed and physical attributes of the water, might also be adjusted based on a better understanding of lumpfish vision and other senses. FF *Division of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Memorial University, St John’s, NL, Canada. With thanks to Danny Boyce and the staff of the Dr Joe Brown Aquatic Research Building, Department of Ocean Science, Memorial University.

”

1. Jonassen et al., 2017, Journal of Fish Diseases. 40(12):1903-1914. 2. Imsland et al., 2014 Aquaculture. s424–425. 18–23. 3. Lorance et al., 2015. Cyclopterus lumpus.The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2015 e.T18237406A45078284. 4. Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada [COSEWIC], Government of Canada) 5. Ahmad et al., 2019. J Fish Biol. 94(2):297-312. 6. Partridge et al., 2014. Proceedings of the Royal Society Biological Sciences. 281(1782):20133223.

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Research - Lumpfish.indd 65

06/05/2019 10:26:11

Below I have included some pictur Left is control, so without Bio-Mos

Alltech Coppens â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Advertorial

Gut instinct Feed company takes control of fish health support

LLTECH Coppens is the Dutch company at the heart of Europeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s fish feed industry, now seeing unparalleled growth while minimising the impact on the environment. With a factory just over the German border, the company has its headquarters in Helmond and a research facility (ACAC) in Leende, both on the outskirts of Eindhoven. It is helping fish farms optimise the performance of fish growth even when up against challenging conditions such as low water supply or water temperatures rising to unfavourable levels. Alltech Coppens uses an Aquate premix which, among other beneficial components, contains Bioplex. Aquate is an innovative premix which optimises growth and the digestive function, supports immune response, and contributes to external barrier and mucous barrier protection. Bioplex are organically bound trace elements of zinc, copper, manganese and iron, and can improve the health, growth and performance of the fish.

Right: Illustrations of effect on the gut, left is control, without BioMos (Aquate) â&#x20AC;&#x201C; right is with Bio-Mos (Aquate) Left: The Aquate technology helps to achieve the true potential of the fish and enhance farmer profitability.

AllTech - PED.indd 66

These are organically bound trace minerals with a much higher bioavailability in comparison to conventional inorganic trace elements and without the pro-oxidative effect of copper and iron. Recently, Alltech Coppens moved to a more efficient dosage of Bioplex. This lower dose is possible due to the higher availability of the organic minerals. By fine tuning this dose, the requirements of the fish are sufficiently met while reducing the environmental impact. This leads to a reduction of the pollution from iron, copper and iodine in the fish pens. Iodine is the only inorganic mineral used by Alltech Coppens. The benefit of organically bound trace elements such as iron and copper is that they do not have a pro-oxidative effect. This helps to protect the vitamins and astaxanthin in the

www.fishfarmermagazine.co.uk

06/05/2019 10:27:55

rate this effect on the gut.   right is with Bio-Mos (Aquate)

Gut instinct

We had been having skin problems on our “ sturgeons for a long time. After we started using

Alltech Coppens’ fish feed containing the premix Aquate, these skin problems faded drastically – Stormfish, Bulgarian fish farm

”

microvilli length in the gut, which means that the digestive function is optimised. Bio-Mos also results in a thicker mucus layer, which effectively acts as an exterior barrier protection. The gut contains a large proportion of an animal’s immune system and it is where nutrients are absorbed as well as where the gut microflora live. Gut health is essential in keeping fish healthy. Meersman concluded: ‘The intestinal microbes are known to play a central role in how fish metabolise and use energy from feed. ‘Maintaining a good gut health is part of the functionalities of the entire Aquate premix and focuses on maximising growth and feed efficiency, while supporting animal performance by promoting good gut structure and a healthy gut microflora as well as building natural defences.’ But the best testimonials come from customers. Stormfish, a Bulgarian fish farm, said: ‘We had been having skin problems on our sturgeons for a long time. After we started using Alltech Coppens’ fish feed containing the premix Aquate, these skin problems faded drastically.’ FF

feed and achieve a higher and more stable flesh pigmentation in practice. The fish also gains reserves of Bioplex which they can use when needed. Bram Meersman, aquatic veterinarian at Alltech Coppens, explains: ‘As all our feeds contain this unique premix Aquate with organic minerals, the fish is more robust right from the start and this results in an increased immunity. ‘Due to the higher availability, more organic minerals can be stored in the tissue than with inorganic minerals. The fish can draw from this storage when required, leading to and supporting a high degree of robustness.’ Improved intestinal function comes with the use of Bio-Mos, which derives from the outer cell wall of yeast. Bio-Mos increases microvilli density and

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AllTech - PED.indd 67

06/05/2019 10:28:14

European Market Observatory on Fisheries and Aquaculture

Barriers to

growth

Focusing on specific species and scale will help attract investment BY VINCE MCDONAGH

UREAUCRACY and a reluctance by banks to lend are among the factors holding back investment in aquaculture across Europe, a recent investigation has suggested. The study was carried out by EUMOFA, the European Market Observatory on Fisheries and Aquaculture, and has looked closely into cross border investment in fish farming in the EU in order to identify barriers and drivers influencing decisions. The UK is included in the survey because it was a member when the evidence was compiled and is likely to remain so for the next few months at least. The report says European aquaculture, although comparatively small in world terms (1.2 per cent of global output), is highly diversified, with many different species farmed by a variety of enterprises, ranging from large, world leading companies to small, family owned businesses. ‘This diversity leads to large differences in structures and technologies across EU member states, which in turn impacts the factors considered important for investment and growth,’ it adds. While it blames financial and government institutions for being among the barriers to cross border growth, it also suggests the industry could and should do more for itself. ‘By focusing on specialisation and scalability rather than diversification, EU member states could encourage economies of scale, making the sector more attractive to investors and others – research and educational institutions, suppliers, and qualified workers - who ultimately will inject increased productivity and innovations into the sector.’ However, it says the position is better for salmon farming (largely confined to Scotland and Ireland within the EU), where many of the companies are listed on international stock exchanges and have better access to capital. This is not the case in the Mediterranean, where sea bass and sea bream are the main

Vince Story.indd 68

species, and where there is a lack of incentives to build scale. EUMOFA says this sector of the industry has experienced cycles of boom and bust down the years. ‘The lack of incentives to build scale, and to both promote and accept a focus on producing fewer species, where EU member states could take a leading role in cost competitiveness or market volume leadership, is mentioned as a potential barrier to achieving economies of scale.’ By enhancing diversification rather than specialisation and scalability, there was a risk that enterprises end up without sufficient size to be attractive. At 492,000 tonnes, mussels are the largest volume farmed species in Europe, worth €443 million, but salmon (172,000 tonnes) is way out in the lead in value terms and worth more than €975 million a year, followed by trout at €614 million, gilt head sea bream €449 million and oysters at €434 million. The report points out that marine aquaculture is capital intensive, in the sense that relatively large investments are needed for the physical equipment and the stocking of cages compared to the input of labour. EUMOFA says: ‘Successful aquaculture production is dependent on several factors. First, in all states one needs licensing from the relevant regulatory authorities (local, regional and national). ‘But the various interactions between these groups, along with European legal requirements, can make the licensing process unpredictable and protracted. ‘The main reasons for the burden in the licensing process are bureaucracy and conflicts between different governing units. ‘Multi-level governance can also constitute barriers, both with respect to different levels within the member states and between the states and the EU.’ The report concedes that the European Commission has already identified the need for a faster, more responsive, less bureaucratic approach by member state governments as one of the keys to successful development of European aquaculture. Despite this, there are still examples of licensing processes taking several years. Locations and access can also limit growth and investment. Finfish cages tend to be concentrated close to shore, hidden from beaches and tourist centres. ‘Despite that, there are strong conflicts with tourism based uses of

cages occupy less than two per “Aquaculture cent of available coastline ” www.fishfarmermagazine.co.uk

06/05/2019 10:29:26

Barriers to growth

the coastline,’ the report says. ‘A significant challenge for marine cage aquaculture operators is to find ‘good’ sites in terms of current, depth, temperature, water quality, wave and wind exposure and established infrastructure, such as roads and harbours. ‘When taking these factors into consideration, the access to suitable sea sites becomes more limited. Where suitable locations are available, approving them for aquaculture production, both on land and in the sea, is often subject to resistance from, inter alia, environmental agencies, the fisheries sector, the tourist industry and the local inhabitants. ‘In this regard, prudent spatial planning that takes into account future possibilities and needs of aquaculture could reduce the administrative burden for private developers and limit the uncertainty and duration of approval processes, thus making investments more attractive.’ But of the ten countries studied, EUMOFA found that aquaculture cages occupied less than two per cent of available coastline. Turning to financial barriers, EUMOFA says banks are looking for low-risk business opportunities, which have to be of a certain size in order for them to support the investment. It also pinpoints a lack of knowledge and interest in the industry by some financial institutions, plus a reluctance to be involved in the development of new species. ‘Normally, banks only accept real estate, inventory, equipment and machinery as collateral. In Norway, however, companies can pledge biomass as a collateral and this has been an important factor for (Norway’s) growth in the salmonid aquaculture sector. ‘Using biomass as collateral requires the bank’s involvement and

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Vince Story.indd 69

knowledge. To agree to put effort into increased knowledge in the aquaculture sector, a bank demands a minimum production scale and a minimum level of predictability of the project.’ More targeted awareness and promotional activities towards the financial sector could lower such thresholds. The report also says the licensing processes in various countries could and should be simplified. To help improve marketing, EUMOFA says the Norwegian model, where the industry pays a small fee on exports, allowing the country’s seafood council to promote their products abroad, should be looked at as a possible solution. And it recommends concentrating on fewer species (especially true in southern Europe) to achieve scale and attract banks and investors. Educating the financial industry about aquaculture and what it can offer should also be taken up. It also suggests that the industry should invite financial institutions for talks to educate them on the considerable benefits of aquaculture and its role in providing the world with healthy protein. FF

Above: Fish farm in Croatia

06/05/2019 10:29:49

Obituary

Johnnie Stansfeld,

salmon leader and visionary BY NICK JOY

NE of the stalwarts of our industry has died, aged 84. Johnnie Stansfeld was involved in the advent of both rainbow trout, salmon and mussel farming from the earliest stages of our industries. He was a visionary who understood that the old ways of wild salmon were outmoded and unlikely to continue. He had seen the heady days of wild salmon netting and angling in the late 60s and understood that this would not continue. He was a man of quiet determination and fierce intelligence. Having been steeped in salmon fishing from an early age, when he spoke about it he was well worth listening to. In 1959, he followed his father into the salmon fishing company, Joseph Johnston and Sons (JJS), which was responsible for developing the fisheries on the North Esk. JJS had a reputation for researching the population dynamics of the Atlantic salmon, making the North Esk the most researched river possibly in the world and for many years the most stable fishery in the UK. In 1961, JJS, which had a reputation for innovation and river improvement, became interested in hatcheries as a fisheries management tool. One was constructed at Brechin. In the years ahead, Johnnie oversaw the company’s move from wild salmon netting on the east coast to salmon farming on the west coast, at Scourie in Sutherland. The operation lives on as Loch Duart, formed by former employees (me included) who bought the fish farm in 1999. It was Johnnie who drove the formation, with his fellow pioneering farmers, of the Scottish Association of Fish Farmers in 1971. Joseph Johnston and Sons has left our industry but it was one of the first pioneers in salmon farming, to a large degree driven by Johnnie’s thinking and vision. This is not to say that he avoided difficult issues. During his career he was involved in the scientific work and campaign to control the grey seal numbers, and after that the conflict with the drift netters in the North Sea. On both occasions he was closely involved in the research and implementation, resulting in law, which significantly changed the playing field. He published a paper on the interaction between farmed and wild salmon in the marketplace in 1986 and wrote many other documents and books. He received his MBE for work with the young people of Montrose, continuing his encouragement of people, something that he had exhibited during his working life. The salmon industry will be the lesser for the loss of one who bridged the divide between wild and farmed salmon interests so elegantly, resourcefully and with a very clear view of the realities. Joseph Johnston and Sons was the only company globally that had two feet planted squarely in two very different and often conflicted camps. Its ability to navigate these difficult days in the 90s were largely down to Johnnie. He may have been an enormous force in the creation and early development of our industry but his greatest pride was his house, Dunninald, and its environs, and his family, to whom our thoughts go out. He leaves behind his wife Rosalinde, his three sons and six grandchildren. I could write about the fact that he always went to sea on each of his visits, even though his hip was hurting him, or that he told me that he believed you should speak with and say goodbye to every member of staff on a group of

pens. This has become something I have tried to do ever since he mentioned it to me. I consider myself lucky to have have known and worked with him. John (Johnnie) Stansfeld MBE DL, born in London, January 15, 1935, died in Montrose, March 17, 2019. FF

His was the only company that had two feet planted “ squarely in two very diﬀerent and often conﬂicted camps 70

Obituary.indd 70

Above: Johnnie Stansfeld Left: The article is from 1971

”

www.fishfarmermagazine.co.uk

06/05/2019 10:31:07

Processing News

Japanese seafood giant buys Grimsby processor The Japanese seafood giant Nissui has acquired a controlling interest in Flatfish, the award winning Grimsby based fish processing business.

Promoting British fish

Young eat 50 per cent less fish than grandparents

“

The company has won many awards and was named seafood processor of the year twice

”

Above: Steven, Reece and Richard Stansfield with the Fish Processor of the Year Award 2018 Photo: Humber Business.com

NISSUI is a worldwide leader in fish, particularly farmed salmon, with operations in Chile, where it owns a salmon and trout aquaculture business. It also has extensive interests in the United States, and in Europe and the Nordic region. The cost of the deal

is not disclosed but it was carried out by Nissui’s European subsidiary. A statement said it had acquired 75 per cent of Flatfish. Started in 1979 by Bob Stansfield and his son Steven, Flatfish is a family owned business which has expanded impressively

in recent years and is recognised throughout the industry as one of the most forward thinking seafood processing companies in Europe. By 1991, the business was wholly owned by Steven and in 2002 it acquired a derelict bakery site which

became the focus for major expansion. It has won many awards over the past two decades and was named seafood processor of the year in 2016 and again in 2018. Its factory frequently hosts visits from seafood interests in the UK and overseas.

The company said it is passionate about promoting British fish and has customers in both the retail and food service sectors in the UK. Nissui said the acquisition fitted with its strategy to strengthen its seafood supply chain in the UK following its acquisition of Sealord Caistor (formerly Sealord), near Grimsby, in 2017. The statement added: ‘Through this acquisition, Nissui will further enhance synergies within its European operations in conjunction with Cite Marine and Nordic Seafood.’

Humber firm reaches new standard FAMILY owned Grimsby seafood firm JCS Fish has become one of the first businesses in the Humber region to achieve accreditation to the new Issue 8 of the BRC Global Standard for Food Safety. Auditing to the new standard started in February this year and JCS Fish undertook its annual BRC audit in the same month, receiving its AA Grade certificate last month. The BRC Global Standard for Food Safety is the most widely used of the commercial standards for assuring production of safe food, and a universal benchmark set by the UK’s major retailers to identify suitable suppliers. JCS Fish has been accredited to the BRC standard since 2008 and first achieved AA status in 2017. Quality manager Ann Rogers, who oversees the process, said: ‘The new BRC regime proved tougher than any of those we’ve done before, with nine sections rather than the previous seven and an even stronger emphasis on achieving the right food culture in a business.’ JCS Fish specialises in the processing and supply of salmon products and continues to grow both its food service business and its BigFish Brand, which is distributed in independent and online retailers. Director Louise Coulbeck said: ‘It has been a great first

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quarter for our business. We’re a close-knit team and it is a pleasure when we continue to achieve important accreditations, such as our BRC AA status, which is a stiff test even for much larger organisations than our own.’ JCS Fish was founded in Grimsby in 2000 by Andrew and Louise Coulbeck. It has a turnover of around £7 million a year

Above: JCS fish quality manager Ann Rogers (centre) with factory manager Luke Gallagher (left) and commercial manager Jack Coulbeck

YOUNG people are eating half the amount of fish that their grandparents’ generation consumed, according to research. Inadequate cooking skills are thought to be behind the decline among 18-34-yearolds, with only a quarter of millennials saying they felt very confident cooking seafood at home. The findings, from industry body Seafish, follow a recent report by the Lancet, claiming that poor diet causes one in five deaths worldwide. A lack of omega-3, present in seafood, was highlighted as one of the contributing factors. Marcus Coleman, CEO of Seafish, said: ‘With seafood containing many nutrients, including omega-3, that form a vital part of a healthy balanced lifestyle, this drastic change in seafood consumption among millennials is deeply concerning.’ Last year, Seafish revealed that 68 per cent of the population were not eating the recommended government health guideline of two portions of fish a week.

. Processing News.indd 71

06/05/2019 10:31:54

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Opinion – Inside track

Closed for business BY NICK JOY

KNOW, I can’t apologise enough for writing about Brexit, but I also can’t bear the utter incompetence of what is going on. It has the mesmeric attraction of a car crash in extremely slow motion, with all of the destruction, gore and misery displayed for public view. The problem is the breath-taking ineptitude of our politicians. From whichever side you come, this is the taste left in all of our mouths. We have elected a class of people from a range of professions who are unable to negotiate, compromise and deliver a deal. They are good at pontificating, virtue signalling and prevaricating, but when it comes to understanding the most basic of business tenets they are hopeless. Making no decision is the worst decision and most of us have been bitten by that one in our time. From what is in the news, it also appears pretty clear that the public want the referendum to be honoured, but also that the wishes of almost 50 per cent of the voters should not be ignored. So it is logical to think that there is now a majority of our country who want some sort of middle road deal. The constant using of this as a political football demonstrates that the politicians seem not to realise the damage they are doing by not agreeing a position. The two poles in this debate can never be satisfied, as one would mean that a democratic decision is overthrown and the other is simply not going to get a majority in parliament. It all seems too obvious and also far too predictable. Meanwhile, as far as I understand it, talking to a number of businesses, companies have written in the cost of a no deal Brexit as much as it is possible to do. Again, the point of this seems to have been missed by almost all politicians. If companies have written in cost and there is a deal, then there will be a Brexit deal dividend. In other words, in the event of a deal, all of the costs that have been written in can be released and spent, which can only bode well for the future. If they fail, then the initial cost has been prepared for and we will have to move on and accept that there will be a period of uncertainty, but even this will be lessened by the fact that businesses have had enough time to look at the options and prepare as best they can. My greater fear is the unwritten, unquantifiable damage done by the current impasse. The UK used to be known as a place where you could do business, both before it was in the EU and during its membership. What is now very clear is that we are a country unable to make major decisions, let alone make them in a reasonable timescale. For companies looking to invest in the UK in the future, this has reached an unforgettable state. I fear we will rue this debate and its consequences. What is also becoming clear, rather like the Scottish referendum, is that the polarisation of the country will have severe political consequences too. The two-party system is under intense scrutiny and not looking too healthy. There may be talk of parties splitting and new parties forming, with our politics fractured into smaller and smaller pressure groups - none of which will aid decision making, develop better understanding or help the UK’s economy. For a relatively small, rural industry which is substantially significant to Scotland and modestly so to the UK, this cannot but affect our future.

Nick Joy.indd 74

Making no “decision is the

worst decision and most of us have been bitten by that one in our time

”

Being essentially an export business, we cannot afford the effect of this sort of paralysis. What government rarely realises is that stock needs to come out each week, not just to fund our cash ﬂows but also to make room for more stock, either through growth or replacement. Endlessly reviewing plans to try to minimise the impact of potentially signiﬁcant dates uses resources that are needed elsewhere in the business. The risks to all of our businesses increase when we cannot concentrate on the day job. I am not hopeful that this situation will be resolved at all, let alone in reasonable time. If it has taken this long, why would it come to a conclusion before the very last second? I know EC president Jean-Claude Juncker has said that there will be no further extension, but if you review all of his comments they are of less value than yesterday’s newspaper. I hope that I am wrong but my heart goes out to our industry in the UK, which has always suffered from a lack of political understanding. This situation is even worse. FF

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