Ace pair put Prince in the picture at Palace

PRINCE Charles learnt about welfare improvements on fish farms when Dundee based business Ace Aquatec paid a visit to Buckingham Palace yesterday. The aquaculture technology company won a prestigious Queen’s Award for Enterprise Innovation, its second in two years, for developing a humane electric stunner. Ace’s head of sales and marketing, Mike Forbes, went to…

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Finding out fish farm facts on FaceTime

SCHOOLCHILDREN in England are being taught about salmon farming in Scotland thanks to an initiative called ‘FaceTime a Farmer’. Pupils at Washingborough Academy in Lincolnshire were paired with Mowi Scotland and taken on a virtual tour of the company’s Inchmore hatchery. Mowi’s Jayne MacKay, who hosted the call with the class of nine and ten-year-olds, said…

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Crown Estate shake-up empowers local communities

LOCAL communities will have more say in how the seabed and coastline is managed as changes to the Scottish Crown Estate come into force. Crown Estate Scotland launched the Local Pilots Management Scheme in 2018 to create opportunities for organisations to get more involved in managing Crown assets. Four communities – Orkney Islands Council, Shetland…

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Read all about it! June Fish Farmer out now

SALMON boss Craig Anderson agreed to be interviewed for the latest issue of Fish Farmer, which is now available online. The CEO of the Scottish Salmon Company discusses plans for expansion on Arran, recent attacks on the sector, and why he would like to see less of a Norwegian influence on how fish farming is…

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Sea lice legislation next year says Ewing

THE Scottish government is to introduce new legislation next year requiring all marine fish farms to report weekly sea lice levels, one week in arrears, it was announced today. Fergus Ewing, Rural Economy and Connectivity Secretary, outlined the first part of a programme of regulatory reform in the industry, following two parliamentary inquiries into the…

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Scottish Sea Farms scores awards hat-trick

IT was Scottish Sea Farms’ night at Aquaculture Awards 2019 yesterday, with the company picking up three coveted prizes at a special ceremony in Edinburgh. And the evening also saw Fish Farmer\’s William Dowds receive special recognition for his contribution to aquaculture. First up for Scottish Sea Farms (SSF) was the Applied Research Breakthrough award,…

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Don’t forget to vote – for industry prize night

THERE are just five days left to vote for the People’s Choice award in next week’s Scottish Marine Aquaculture Awards. The winners of all eight categories will be announced at a special ceremony at Dynamic Earth in Edinburgh on Wednesday, May 29. This year, the event has been opened up to international entrants, and the…

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SSF profits drop but Orkney performs well

SALMON farming giant SalMar has reported reduced revenues and profits from its Scottish Sea Farms operations in the first quarter of 2019, the group’s latest figures show today. Q1 revenues fell from NOK 519 million (£46.6 million) in 2018 to NOK 405 million (£36.3 million) this year, while pre-tax profits dropped from NOK 178 million…

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SSPO hits back at ‘sensationalist’ Panorama

THE Scottish Salmon Producers Organisation has hit back at the BBC for sensationalising the operations of the salmon farming industry. SSPO chief executive Julie Hesketh-Laird, who was interviewed for a half-hour Panorama show, broadcast last night, said no specific allegations had been made about any SSPO company during her meetings with the BBC team. Panorama…

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Mowi rejects BBC’s medicine claims

SCOTLAND’S biggest salmon farmer, Mowi, has rejected claims being made in a BBC programme that it was subject to unannounced visits by Scotland’s environmental watchdog. The makers of Panorama issued a press release this afternoon saying the programme ‘reveals multiple Scottish salmon farming companies’ are under investigation for possible misreporting of chemical use. However, Mowi,…

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