Young's to axe 50 jobs at Edinburgh site

YOUNG’S Seafood looks set to cut more jobs in Scotland. The company has confirmed that it is looking to reduce the number of staff at its Macrae plant at Livingston, near Edinburgh, by up to 50 people. The announcement comes less than a year after it controversially closed its Pinneys salmon site at Annan with…

Read More

Norway stages summit as Brexit fears mount

BREXIT and its impact on the Norwegian seafood industry will be the focus of a major summit meeting in London today. As speculation mounts in the Oslo media that a no-deal scenario could almost bring exports to a halt in a worst case scenario, three senior Norwegian government ministers, fisheries minister Harald Tom Nesvik, the…

Read More

New barges will boost farm growth

SCOTTISH salmon farmer Loch Duart is to invest in new feed barges after securing £1.2 million finance from a local bank. The money, from HSBC, will enable the company, which exports salmon globally, to continue developing sustainable farming methods. The additional barges, to be built by Gael Force and significantly bigger than the producer’s existing…

Read More

Prize panel named for aqua awards

THE judging panel for the 2019 Aquaculture Awards has been selected for its breadth of knowledge of the varied aspects of the global industry, said the award organisers. Announced this morning, the judges are: Alex Adrian, aquaculture operations manager of Crown Estate Scotland; Nicki Holmyard, seafood journalist and director of Offshore Shellfish; Martin Gill, head…

Read More

Pinneys staff forgotten claims MSP

THE 450 people who lost their jobs following the closure of Young’s owned Pinneys salmon site at Annan have been forgotten, according to a local member of the Scottish parliament. Speaking in Holyrood during a debate on the regional economy, Colin Smyth, the Labour MSP for South Scotland, said the community were told no stone…

Read More

Lowest lice figures since records began

SEA lice numbers recorded at Scottish salmon farms in September were the lowest for that month in five years, and overall numbers for 2018 were the lowest since reporting began in 2013. According to the Scottish Salmon Producers Organisation (SSPO), which published the latest figures on its website this week, the industry lice average for…

Read More

Aquaculture stars in prize shortlist

FOUR aquaculture trainees have made the shortlist for this year’s Land-based and Aquaculture Learner of the Year Awards. They are among 24 finalists named by Lantra Scotland, the sector skills council for land-based, aquaculture and environmental conservation industries, which organises the competition. Among the aquaculture hopefuls are Harry Hamlin-Wright, a vet from Perth, who was…

Read More

SEPA’s one-size-fits-all plan ‘won’t work’

SCOTLAND’S salmon farmers have raised several concerns over the proposed regulatory overhaul by the environmental watchdog, outlined in a report published in November. The Scottish Salmon Producers Organisation (SSPO), which represents the sector, said in a statement on its website that it is ‘delighted SEPA [the Scottish Environment Protection Agency] proposes to give salmon farmers…

Read More

Prize winning Prof is new Stirling boss

PROFESSOR Selina Stead has been appointed director of the Institute of Aquaculture at Stirling University. She takes up her new post on March 1. Stead (pictured) is currently Dean, Public Orator and Professor of Marine Governance and Environmental Science at Newcastle University, where she has worked for the past 15 years. In July 2017 she…

Read More

Japanese plan land based farm sales

AT least two Japanese seafood companies have unveiled plans to start commercial shipments of farmed fish from closed containment facilities later this year. The processors are Maruha Nichiro and Nippon Suisan Kaisha or Nissui, which owns the Waitrose supplier Caistor Seafoods, near Grimsby. Although Japan buys huge amounts of farmed fish, including salmon from Scotland…

Read More