Scottish Fish Farm Production Survey 2015
Report based on the returns of an annual survey questionnaire sent to all active authorised fish farming businesses.
1. Rainbow Trout ( Oncorhynchus mykiss)
Production survey information was collected from all 24 companies actively involved in rainbow trout production, farming 45 active sites. This figure represents the entire industry operating in Scotland.
Production
Table 1a: Annual production (tonnes) of rainbow trout during 2001-2015 and projected production in 2016
Year | Tonnes | Year | Tonnes |
---|---|---|---|
2001 | 5,466 | 2009 | 6,766 |
2002 | 6,659 | 2010 | 5,139 |
2003 | 7,085 | 2011 | 4,619 |
2004 | 6,352 | 2012 | 5,670 |
2005 | 6,989 | 2013 | 5,611 |
2006 | 7,492 | 2014 | 5,882 |
2007 | 7,414 | 2015 | 8,588 |
2008 | 7,670 | 2016 | 7,415* |
* Industry estimate based on stocks currently being on-grown.
Production increased in 2015 by 2,706 tonnes, an increase of 46%, to 8,588 tonnes. This was the highest ever level of rainbow trout production recorded is Scotland.
Table 1b: Production (tonnes) for the table trade during 2005-2015 according to weight category
Year | <450 g <1 lb |
450-900 g 1-2 lbs |
>900 g >2 lbs |
Total Tonnes |
---|---|---|---|---|
2005 | 2,856 | 1,203 | 2,111 | 6,170 |
2006 | 2,182 | 1,810 | 2,636 | 6,628 |
2007 | 2,499 | 1,663 | 2,407 | 6,569 |
2008 | 2,375 | 1,950 | 2,487 | 6,812 |
2009 | 2,232 | 1,143 | 2,620 | 5,995 |
2010 | 2,125 | 727 | 1,606 | 4,458 |
2011 | 1,421 | 1,004 | 1,433 | 3,858 |
2012 | 1,195 | 1,655 | 2,209 | 5,059 |
2013 | 1,908 | 825 | 2,268 | 5,001 |
2014 | 2,334 | 290 | 2,704 | 5,328 |
2015 | 2,299 | 258 | 5,476 | 8,033 |
Production for the table in 2015 was 8,033 tonnes, an increase of 2,705 tonnes (51%) on the 2014 total, and accounted for 94% of the total rainbow trout production, an increase on the proportion to that produced in 2014. Also an increase in the number of fish in the large size range and a decrease in the number of fish in the small and medium size ranges were highlighted.
Table 1c: Production (tonnes) for the restocking trade during 2005-2015 according to weight category
Year | <450 g <1 lb |
450-900 g 1-2 lbs |
>900 g >2 lbs |
Total Tonnes |
---|---|---|---|---|
2005 | 21 | 390 | 408 | 819 |
2006 | 36 | 357 | 471 | 864 |
2007 | 24 | 413 | 408 | 845 |
2008 | 27 | 351 | 480 | 858 |
2009 | 32 | 294 | 444 | 770 |
2010 | 19 | 201 | 461 | 681 |
2011 | 8 | 419 | 334 | 761 |
2012 | 22 | 266 | 323 | 611 |
2013 | 24 | 221 | 365 | 610 |
2014 | 28 | 256 | 270 | 554 |
2015 | 15 | 158 | 382 | 555 |
In 2015, production for the restocking of angling waters increased to 555 tonnes representing an increase of one tonne (0.2%) on the 2014 total. This accounted for 6% of total rainbow trout production in 2015. These figures represent the tonnage of fish supplied to angling waters for restocking purposes; they do not account for the catch taken by anglers. The production of large sized fish showed an increase, while there was a decrease for small and medium sized fish.
Production by Site
Table 2: Numbers of sites grouped by tonnage produced during 2005-2015
Year | Number of sites per production tonnage | Total number of sites | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
<1-25 | 26-100 | 101-200 | >200 | ||
2005 | 18 | 12 | 6 | 11 | 47 |
2006 | 16 | 15 | 6 | 13 | 50 |
2007 | 14 | 15 | 3 | 16 | 48 |
2008 | 8 | 15 | 7 | 14 | 44 |
2009 | 10 | 11 | 7 | 11 | 39 |
2010 | 7 | 13 | 9 | 7 | 36 |
2011 | 9 | 10 | 6 | 8 | 33 |
2012 | 10 | 10 | 6 | 8 | 34 |
2013 | 6 | 11 | 5 | 8 | 30 |
2014 | 6 | 11 | 5 | 9 | 31 |
2015 | 4 | 10 | 5 | 11 | 30 |
Production was reported from 30 of the 45 active sites. The number of producers in the size brackets <1-25 tonnes, 26-100 tonnes decreased while those producers in the 101-200 tonnes bracket remained the same and those in the >200 tonnes size bracket increased. These figures do not include those sites specialising in the production of ova or young fish for on-growing.
Production by Method
Table 3: Grouping of rainbow trout sites by production tonnages, main methods of production in 2015 and comparison with production in 2014
Production method | Production grouping (tonnes) in 2015 | Total tonnage and (%) by method | Number of sites | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
<10 | 10-25 | 26-50 | 51-100 | >100 | 2014 | 2015 | 2014 | 2015 | |
FW cages | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2,611 (44.4%) | 2,433 (28.3%) | 5 | 6 |
FW ponds and raceways | 0 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 5 | 1,291 (21.9%) | 1,405 (16.4%) | 17 | 14 |
FW tanks and hatcheries | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 71 (1.2%) | 72 (0.8%) | 4 | 4 |
SW cages | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1,909 (32.5%) | 4,678 (54.5%) | 5 | 6 |
SW tanks | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Total | 4 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 16 | 5,882 | 8,588 | 31 | 30 |
Freshwater production accounted for 3,910 tonnes (45.5%) and seawater production for the remaining 4,678 tonnes (54.5%). Production from seawater cages increased whilst there was a decrease in production from freshwater cages.
Company and Site Data
Table 4: Number of companies and sites in production during 2002-2015
Year | No. of companies | No. of sites |
---|---|---|
2002 | 39 | 57 |
2003 | 37 | 56 |
2004 | 38 | 62 |
2005 | 42 | 70 |
2006 | 36 | 66 |
2007 | 38 | 70 |
2008 | 31 | 66 |
2009 | 27 | 56 |
2010 | 25 | 51 |
2011 | 23 | 48 |
2012 | 25 | 48 |
2013 | 24 | 46 |
2014 | 24 | 46 |
2015 | 24 | 45 |
In 2015 the number of companies authorised by the Scottish Government and actively engaged in rainbow trout production was 24. The number of sites registered and in production was 45.
Staffing and Productivity
Table 5: Number of staff employed and productivity per person during 2002-2015
Year | Full-time | Part-time | Total | Productivity (tonnes/person) |
---|---|---|---|---|
2002 | 114 | 46 | 160 | 41.6 |
2003 | 107 | 41 | 148 | 47.9 |
2004 | 115 | 37 | 152 | 41.8 |
2005 | 108 | 35 | 143 | 48.9 |
2006 | 112 | 35 | 147 | 51.0 |
2007 | 111 | 32 | 143 | 51.8 |
2008 | 107 | 34 | 141 | 54.4 |
2009 | 111 | 27 | 138 | 49.0 |
2010 | 98 | 31 | 129 | 39.8 |
2011 | 95 | 23 | 118 | 39.1 |
2012 | 79 | 28 | 107 | 53.0 |
2013 | 89 | 21 | 110 | 51.0 |
2014 | 93 | 20 | 113 | 52.1 |
2015 | 110 | 16 | 126 | 68.2 |
The overall number of staff employed in 2015 increased by 13 to 126. The number of full-time staff increased by 17 while the number of part-time staff decreased by four. Productivity, measured as tonnes produced per person, increased by 31% in 2015 with no distinction between full and part-time employees being made for this calculation.
Production by Area
Table 6: Production and staffing by area in 2015
Area | No. of sites | Table production (tonnes) | Restocking production (tonnes) | Mean tonnes per site | Staffing | Productivity (tonnes/person) | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
F/T | P/T | Total | ||||||
North | 6 | 2 | 26 | 4.7 | 7 | 2 | 9 | 3.1 |
East | 12 | 962 | 255 | 101.4 | 38 | 5 | 43 | 28.3 |
West | 13 | 6,115 | 40 | 473.5 | 46 | 3 | 49 | 125.6 |
South | 14 | 954 | 234 | 84.9 | 19 | 6 | 25 | 47.5 |
All | 45 | 8,033 | 555 | 190.8 | 110 | 16 | 126 | 68.2 |
Productivity was greatest in the West at 473.5 tonnes per site and 125.6 tonnes per person.
Figure 1: The distribution of active Rainbow trout sites in 2015
Type of Ova Laid Down
Table 7: Number (000s) and proportions (%) of eyed ova types laid down to hatch during 2004-2015
Year | All female diploid no. (%) | Triploid no. (%) | Mixed sex diploid no. (%) | Total ova |
---|---|---|---|---|
2004 | 29,272 (90) | 3,146 (10) | 138 (<1) | 32,556 |
2005 | 16,773 (83) | 1,729 (8) | 1,745 (9) | 20,247 |
2006 | 22,378 (84) | 2,804 (10) | 1,626 (6) | 26,808 |
2007 | 23,630 (83) | 2,531 (9) | 2,140 (8) | 28,301 |
2008 | 22,978 (88) | 2,526 (9) | 725 (3) | 26,229 |
2009 | 15,469 (87) | 2,341 (13) | 35 (<1) | 17,845 |
2010 | 13,352 (89) | 1,052 (7) | 675 (4) | 15,079 |
2011 | 12,673 (84) | 2,254 (15) | 215 (1) | 15,142 |
2012 | 10,967 (85) | 2,005 (15) | 7 (<1) | 12,979 |
2013 | 7,857 (80) | 1,955 (20) | 77 (<1) | 9,889 |
2014 | 8,321 (75) | 2,710 (25) | 9 (<1) | 11,040 |
2015 | 10,245 (85) | 1,800 (15) | 76 (<1) | 12,121 |
Source of Ova Laid Down
Table 8: Number (000s) and sources of eyed ova laid down to hatch in 2004-2015
Year | Ova produced in Great Britain ( GB) | Imported ova | Total | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Own stock | Other stock | Total | Northern hemisphere | Southern hemisphere | Total | ||
2004 | 330 | 320 | 650 | 31,906 | 0 | 31,906 | 32,556 |
2005 | 281 | 105 | 386 | 16,977 | 2,884 | 19,861 | 20,247 |
2006 | 541 | 2,169 | 2,710 | 22,588 | 1,510 | 24,098 | 26,808 |
2007 | 936 | 230 | 1,166 | 26,650 | 485 | 27,135 | 28,301 |
2008 | 582 | 487 | 1,069 | 25,160 | 0 | 25,160 | 26,229 |
2009 | 603 | 220 | 823 | 17,022 | 0 | 17,022 | 17,845 |
2010 | 415 | 50 | 465 | 14,614 | 0 | 14,614 | 15,079 |
2011 | 215 | 189 | 404 | 14,738 | 0 | 14,738 | 15,142 |
2012 | 14 | 230 | 244 | 12,735 | 0 | 12,735 | 12,979 |
2013 | 77 | 537 | 614 | 9,275 | 0 | 9,275 | 9,889 |
2014 | 9 | 655 | 664 | 10,376 | 0 | 10,376 | 11,040 |
2015 | 6 | 888 | 894 | 11,227 | 0 | 11,227 | 12,121 |
In 2015, the total number of eyed ova laid down to hatch increased by just under 1.1 million (9.8%) on the 2014 figure. The proportion of ova from GB broodstock increased to 7.4% of the total and the rainbow trout industry remained reliant on imported ova. Data on the importation of ova into Scotland are also available from the health certificates and are shown in Table 9a. Any discrepancy between the figures in Tables 8 and 9a is due to data being obtained from two independent sources.
Imports from Official Import Health Certificates
Table 9a: Number (000s) and sources of ova imported into Scotland from outwith GB during 2008-2015
Source | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Denmark | 5,530 | 4,070 | 1,715 | 5,250 | 1,950 | 1,315 | 2,500 | 2,330 |
Isle of Man | 775 | 290 | 1,400 | 520 | 300 | 800 | 1,000 | 175 |
N. Ireland | 16,130 | 10,090 | 9,247 | 7,320 | 8,332 | 5,125 | 4,780 | 6,535 |
Norway | 1,500 | 750 | 200 | 130 | 300 | 175 | 710 | 670 |
USA | 1,490 | 2,240 | 2,340 | 1,580 | 1,800 | 2,350 | 1,700 | 1,675 |
Totals | 25,425 | 17,440 | 14,902 | 14,800 | 12,682 | 9,765 | 10,690 | 11,385 |
Table 9b: Seasonal variation in numbers (000s) and sources of ova imported into Scotland from outwith GB during 2015
Month | Denmark | Isle of Man | N. Ireland | Norway | USA |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
January | 60 | 0 | 1,150 | 220 | 0 |
February | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
March | 100 | 0 | 750 | 350 | 0 |
April | 0 | 175 | 665 | 100 | 0 |
May | 970 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
June | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1,325 |
July | 0 | 0 | 320 | 0 | 175 |
August | 75 | 0 | 1,370 | 0 | 0 |
September | 200 | 0 | 1,230 | 0 | 175 |
October | 0 | 0 | 1,050 | 0 | 0 |
November | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
December | 925 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Totals | 2,330 | 175 | 6,535 | 670 | 1,675 |
Table 9c: Number (000s) and sources of fish imported into Scotland from outwith GB during 2008-2015
Source | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
N. Ireland | 33 | 0 | <1 | 72 | 155 | 537 | 674 | 746 |
Republic of Ireland | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Suppliers within the European Union ( EU) accounted for 79.4% of ova imported into Scotland during 2015 with the USA and Norway accounting for 14.7% and 5.9% respectively. To maintain their ability to regulate production throughout the year and produce a constant supply of fish for their markets, producers have to rely upon supplies of out of season ova. In recent years there has been an increasing trend for producers to import part grown rainbow trout into Scotland from outwith GB.
Trade in Fry and Fingerlings
Table 10: Number (000s) of fry and fingerlings traded during 2004-2015
Year | Fry and fingerlings bought | Total number bought | Total number sold | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
All female diploid no. (%) | Triploid no. (%) | Mixed sex diploid no. (%) | |||
2004 | 18,859 (91) | 1,536 (7) | 364 (2) | 20,759 | 19,166 |
2005 | 14,618 (83) | 1,532 (9) | 1,480 (8) | 17,630 | 16,919 |
2006 | 19,731 (89) | 1,675 (7) | 790 (4) | 22,196 | 20,460 |
2007 | 14,830 (89) | 1,140 (7) | 675 (4) | 16,645 | 23,631 |
2008 | 24,298 (95) | 1,082 (4) | 118 (0.5) | 25,498 | 31,036 |
2009 | 21,113 (94) | 1,358 (6) | 0 | 22,471 | 20,597 |
2010 | 15,539 (95) | 585 (4) | 141 (1) | 16,265 | 14,686 |
2011 | 16,288 (88.5) | 1,970 (10.7) | 138 (0.8) | 18,396 | 16,612 |
2012 | 12,543 (91) | 1,226 (9) | 0 | 13,769 | 12,088 |
2013 | 6,734 (84) | 1,239 (16) | 0 | 7,973 | 6,749 |
2014 | 5,911 (81) | 1,423 (19) | 0 | 7,334 | 6,719 |
2015 | 6,104 (87) | 598 (9) | 290 (4) | 6,992 | 6,971 |
The established trade between hatcheries and on-growing farms continued in 2015. Some companies specialised in the production of fry and fingerlings. The total number of fry and fingerlings sold increased by 3.8% while the number bought decreased by 4.7%. The disparity between supply and demand is due to trade with England and Wales.
Use of Vaccines
Table 11: Number of sites rearing fish vaccinated against enteric redmouth disease ( ERM) and number of fish vaccinated (millions) during 2004-2015
Year | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
No. of sites | 42 | 37 | 31 | 28 | 28 | 31 | 27 | 26 | 24 | 19 | 21 | 17 |
No. of fish | 30.6 | 30.0 | 36.4 | 41.4 | 29.1 | 27.5 | 20.0 | 20.3 | 20.4 | 9.9 | 10.0 | 8.3 |
Vaccines continued to be used as a preventative treatment against enteric redmouth disease ( ERM), a potentially serious bacterial infection, caused by Yersinia ruckeri. Vaccination is generally carried out as a bath treatment at the fingerling stage, although some vaccines are administered by intra-peritoneal injection. A total of 8.3 million fish were vaccinated on 17 sites.
Organic Production
Of the 45 sites recorded as being active in rainbow trout production in 2015, none were certified as organic.
Escapes
There was one incident involving the loss of 2,091 fish from a rainbow trout site in 2015.
Contact
Email: Lorna Munro, lorna.munro@gov.scot
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