The October 2024 issue of Fish Farmer is out now online
The October 2024 issue of Fish Farmer is out now online, and you can read or download it here. This month’s magazine covers a broad spectrum of the aquaculture sector, ranging from shrimp and oysters to salmon and trout.
Our cover image depicts a boat laden with scallop shells, part of a project to recreate oyster reefs in the North Sea using “cultch”, hard organic material that acts as the perfect surface for native oyster spat to grow.
By using scallop and oyster shells from the seafood industry, not only is this ideal example of the circular economy helping to restore endangered native oyster populations, but it is also helping to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill.
Also in this issue we look at some of the projects underway to create a European shrimp industry. Farming the world’s favourite tropical shrimp – L.vannamei, better known to UK consumers as “king prawn” – in a cold climate presents many challenges, not least in terms of energy costs, but there are already ventures taking shape that suggest that a sustainable, premium supply of fresh shrimp on our doorstep could be a reality soon.
Our review of the trout industry internationally finds plenty of optimism among the producers of this arguably undervalued salmonid. Trout is in many ways a more robust fish than salmon, and at its best easily stands comparison with its rival, Atlantic salmon.
Martin Jaffa examines sentinel cages, one of the ways used to gather evidence on sea lice populations and finds the science to be wanting.
Salmon Scotland’s Tavish Scott reflects on lessons from a visit to the Faroes, and Nick Joy expresses some scepticism over the rush to RAS production.
Meanwhile, we also feature the embattled salmon industry in British Columbia and a restocking scheme in Washington state, in the USA, involving a helicopter airlift.
Finally we also look at two aquaculture projects in the UK that have run into opposition: the plan for a RAS salmon farm in Grimsby and an ambitious seaweed farming project off the coast of Cornwall.
