Rapid response to get the right genes

ST ANDREWS based genetics specialist Xelect has launched what it calls a rapid response range of services for the aquaculture sector. Xelect Express will provide services including genotyping, pedigree assignment, gene expression, ploidy and sex determination. The company has been managing breeding programmes for fish farmers since 2012, but the new service offers quick, cost…

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Careers fair connects students to industry

THIS year’s annual Aquaculture Careers Event, organised by Stirling University’s Institute of Aquaculture (IoA), is to take place on April 20 at the Stirling Court Hotel. The aim of the event – called #ACE2020 – is to connect students, particularly those at postgraduate level, with the wider industry, providing an opportunity for the next generation…

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Grieg grinds out Shetland improvements

GRIEG Seafood said today that costs at its Shetland operation were still not at target level due to long standing biological problems, but it was slowly making vital improvements. Announcing its 2019 fourth quarter results, Grieg said Shetland produced income of NOK 151.3 million compared with NOK 245.2 for the corresponding period in 2018. This…

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Tributes to former Northwards boss Murray Prentice

TRIBUTES have been paid to Murray Prentice, the former managing director of haulage firm Northwards, who died on February 2 after a short illness. He was 60. Northwards, a logistics company with bases in Lerwick and Kirkwall in the Northern Isles, as well as in Aberdeen, Glasgow, Inverness and Scrabster, has long put aquaculture at…

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Cooke steelhead plans face new hurdle

PLANS by Cooke Aquaculture to farm steelhead trout instead of Atlantic salmon in its US operations in Puget Sound are being challenged by environmental campaigners. The groups, which include Friends of the Earth and the Wild Fish Conservancy, filed a lawsuit against the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife yesterday. They claim the department…

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All aboard for February’s Fish Farmer

IN this month’s Fish Farmer we have a special report on Scotland’s biggest salmon farmer, Mowi. In the depths of January, our team visited the company’s headquarters in Fort William and from there were taken on a tour by communications director Ian Roberts. The first stop was the new Inchmore hatchery in Glenmoriston, where manager…

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Iceland salmon farmers grappling with storms

SEVERE weather conditions have been preventing at least one of Iceland’s main salmon companies from carrying out harvesting activities. According to Morgunbladid, Iceland’s main newspaper, the slaughter of fish at Arnarlax’s farms in Hringdal in Arnarfjordur has virtually come to a standstill over the past few weeks, with the result that salmon have been accumulating in the cages,…

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Costs and lice dampen Mowi Scotland Q4 performance

ALTHOUGH Mowi Scotland achieved record harvests last year due to smolt stocking, the financial performance was dampened by higher costs and challenging biological issues, the company said today as it published results for the fourth quarter of 2019. As reported last month, Scotland’s Q4 harvest rose by more than 2,000 tonnes to just over 14,000 tonnes. The…

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