Scottish Fish Farm Production Survey 2011

5. CONCLUSIONS

Rainbow trout

The production of rainbow trout decreased by 10.1% in 2011 to 4,619 tonnes and was directed at the table (83.5%) and restocking (16.5%) markets. This follows on from a 24% decrease in 2010 and is the lowest recorded production over the time series. The total numbers of staff employed by the sector decreased by 11 to 118. There was an overall decrease in the productivity of the industry to 39.1 tonnes per person.

The number of ova laid down to hatch (15.1 million) remained the same as in 2010 and was mainly all-female diploid stock (84%). The proportion of ova that were sourced within GB decreased to 2.7%, resulting from a decrease in the number of ova sourced from own stock. There were no imports from the Southern hemisphere during 2011. There was an increase in the trade with Denmark (35% of total ova imported). Northern Ireland was the largest source of imported ova with 49% 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 2.5% in 2011 to 158,018 tonnes. This follows on from a 6.9% increase in 2010 and is the highest production recorded since 2004. The survey shows increases in the production of grilse but a decrease in the production of pre-salmon and salmon. Overall there was an increase in the productivity of tonnes produced per person.

Smolt production increased to 43.6 million, with the majority (60.5%) being S1 and the remainder being S½ smolts (39.5%). The number of staff directly employed on freshwater sites increased by four. Productivity increased to 148,900 fish per person. The number of ova laid down to hatch decreased by 7.2%. The ratio of ova laid down to smolts produced has decreased to 1.5 in 2011. Projected estimates for 2012 suggest a decreased number of ova were laid down to hatch and that fewer smolts will be produced in 2012, followed by an increase in 2013. Ova were derived from both Great British (46.9%) and foreign (53.1%) sources in 2011. The export of ova to other countries remained steady.

The production tonnage in seawater increased by 2.5% in 2011. The number of staff directly employed on the farms decreased by 51. The estimated smolt placement in 2012 has decreased to 31.3 million. The estimated harvest forecast for 2012 of 158,026 tonnes is similar to the actual production in 2011.

The production tonnage increased in 2011 and the number of sites in production increased from 249 to 254. The trend towards concentrating production in larger sites was maintained, with 78.9% of production being concentrated in the sites producing over 1,000 tonnes per annum.

Other Species

There was a small increase in the production of brown/sea trout from 53 tonnes in 2010 to 61 tonnes in 2011. Halibut production decreased by 40.3% on the 2010 figure and there was no reported cod production for the table market in 2011.