Scottish Fish Farm Production Survey 2015

Marine Scotland Science today published the Scottish Fish Farm Production Survey 2015. The publication details statistics on the employment and production from Scottish fish farms. It is structured to follow industry trends within the farmed Atlantic salmon, rainbow trout and other species sectors. Some statistics are given for the 21-year period 1995-2015.

The main findings are;

• In 2015, production of Atlantic salmon decreased by 7,300 tonnes (4.1%) to 171,722 tonnes. Production levels remained high with this being the second highest level production recorded in Scotland.
• Production tonnage of rainbow trout increased by 46% in 2015 to 8,588 tonnes. This is the highest ever level of rainbow trout production recorded in Scotland and was due to an increase in marine production (4,678 tonnes compared to 1,909 tonnes in 2014).
• During 2015 there was an increase in the production of lumpsuckers and wrasse which are used as biological controls for parasites but there was a decrease in brown trout/sea trout and halibut production.