The August issue of Fish Farmer is out now online

The August issue of Fish Farmer is out now online and you can read or download it here.

This month, we look at the programme for the UK’s new government and ask: what might it all mean for aquaculture? It’s safe bet that fish farming will feature pretty low on the PM Keir Starmer’s priorities, but even so Labour’s strategic aims will have an impact, from a willingness to improve relations with our European neighbours and the UK’s devolved governments to a commitment to clean up Britain’s waterways and coastlines. Our article on the new government suggests what’s next.

And as Salmon Scotland’s Tavish Scott writes in his column this month, the salmon industry is taking its message not only to a new UK government but to a (relatively) new First Minister in Scotland.

For Wester Ross Fisheries, change came suddenly two years ago when it emerged that the company, formerly one of Scotland’s few remaining independent salmon farmers, had been acquired by Mowi, the world’s biggest player in this industry.

Wester Ross has a very distinctive approach to rearing salmon, with smaller pens and hand feeding wherever possible. There was a lot of speculation, therefore, over how the Wester Ross way might change under Mowi’s ownership.

Fish Farmer visited Wester Ross to ask that question – you can see what we found out in our cover story this month.

Meanwhile, the August issue also features Sandy Neil’s article on “green energy” and how it could be deployed effectively in aquaculture. Vince McDonagh examines the impact (so far) of Norway’s “salmon tax” and at a couple of projects that are setting out to find out more about the jellyfish threat; and Nick Joy looks back at a quarter-century for Loch Duart, the business he co-founded.

It’s not all salmon – we also focus on a study showing how shrimp farming can benefit from a combined approach including seaweed and shellfish, and on the winning student projects at the University of Swansea, which raise interesting questions for tilapia and shrimp welfare.

Read all this and more in our packed August issue!