Annual Fish Farm Production Survey 2012

5. CONCLUSIONS

Rainbow trout

The production of rainbow trout increased by 22.8% in 2012 to 5,670 tonnes and was directed at the table (89.2%) and restocking (10.8%) markets. The total numbers of staff employed by the sector decreased by 11 to 107. There was an overall increase in the productivity of the industry to 53.0 tonnes per person.

The number of ova laid down to hatch (13 million) decreased by 2.1 million in 2012 and was mainly all-female diploid stock (85%). The proportion of ova that were sourced within GB decreased to 1.9%. There were no imports from the Southern hemisphere during 2012. There was an increase in the trade with USA (14.2% of total ova imported)and Norway (2.4% of total ova imported). Northern Ireland was the largest source of imported ova with 66% of the total ova imported. There is a continued high dependence of the Scottish trout industry on imported ova.

Atlantic salmon

The total production of Atlantic salmon increased by 2.7% in 2012 to 162,223 tonnes. This follows on from a 2.5% increase in 2011 and is the highest production recorded since 2003. The survey shows increases in the production of grilse but a decrease in the production of pre-salmon and salmon. Overall there was a decrease in the productivity of tonnes produced per person.

Smolt production increased to 44.3 million, with the majority (56.9%) being S1 and the remainder being S½ smolts (42.4%) and S1½ smolts (0.7%). The number of staff directly employed on freshwater sites increased by 35. Productivity decreased to 135,100 fish per person. The number of ova laid down to hatch decreased by 2.1%. The ratio of ova laid down to smolts produced has decreased to 1.4 in 2012. Projected estimates for 2013 suggest a decreased number of ova were laid down to hatch and that fewer smolts will be produced in 2013, followed by an increase in 2014. Ova were derived from both Great British (45.1%) and foreign (54.9%) sources in 2012. There was no export of ova to other countries in 2012.

The production tonnage in seawater increased by 2.7% in 2012. The number of staff directly employed on the farms increased by 46. The estimated smolt placement in 2013 has decreased to 28.1 million. The estimated harvest forecast for 2013 of 152,507 tonnes is 6.0% lower than production in 2012.

The production tonnage increased in 2012 and the number of sites in production increased from 254 to 257. The trend towards concentrating production in larger sites was maintained with 78.8% of production being concentrated in the sites producing over 1,000 tonnes per annum.

Other Species

There was a decrease in the production of brown/sea trout from 61 tonnes in 2011 to 42 tonnes in 2012. Halibut production decreased by 12% on the 2011 figure and there was no reported cod production for the table market in 2012. However, an increase in the number of companies active in the culture of several species of wrasse was noted in 2012.