Scottish fish farm production survey 2016

Report based on returns of annual survey questionnaire sent to all active authorised fish farming businesses in Scotland.


Executive Summary

The tables below summarise the results from the 2016 fish farms annual production survey.

Rainbow Trout ( Oncorhynchus mykiss)

  2015 2016
Total production (tonnes) 8,588 8,096
Production for the table (tonnes) 8,033 7,437
Production for restocking (tonnes) 555 659
Number of staff employed   126 121
Mean productivity (tonnes/person) 68.2 66.9
Number of ova laid down to hatch (millions) 12.1 9.9
Number of ova imported (millions) 11.2 9.6

In 2016, the production of rainbow trout decreased by 492 tonnes. Employment decreased by five staff and mean productivity decreased to 66.9 tonnes per person. The number of ova laid down to hatch decreased by 2.2 million and the number of ova imported decreased by 1.6 million.

Atlantic salmon ( Salmo salar)

Smolts

2015 2016
Number of ova produced (millions) 11.6 13.7
Number of ova laid down to hatch (millions) 68.2 64.3
Number of ova exported (millions) 0.1 0.4
Number of ova imported (millions) 59.7 49.4
Number of smolts produced (millions) 44.6 42.9
Number of smolts put to sea (millions) 45.5 43.0
Number of staff employed   294 294
Mean productivity (000's smolts/person)   151.6 145.9

The production of ova increased by 2.1 million in 2016 and the number of ova laid down to hatch decreased by 3.9 million. A very small amount of ova were exported in 2016 (0.4 million) and the number of ova imported decreased by 10.3 million from the 2015 figure. The number of smolts produced decreased by 1.7 million. In 2016 the number of staff remained the same and mean productivity decreased by 5,700 smolts per person.

Production fish

2015 2016
Total production (tonnes) 171,722 162,817
Production of 0-year fish (tonnes) 626 333
Production of grilse (tonnes) 53,930 59,853
Production of pre-salmon (tonnes) 60,182 51,310
Production of salmon (tonnes) 56,984 51,321
Mean fish weight 0-year (kg) 2.8 2.9
Mean fish weight grilse (kg) 4.8 4.4
Mean fish weight pre-salmon (kg) 4.7 4.6
Mean fish weight salmon (kg) 5.2 4.7
Number of staff employed   1,363 1,486
Mean productivity tonnes/person 126.0 109.6

Production tonnage decreased by 8,905 tonnes with an increase in the mean weight of 0-year fish but a decrease in the mean harvest weights of grilse, pre-salmon and salmon. Staff numbers increased by 123 and mean productivity decreased to 109.6 tonnes per person.

Smolt survival (percentage harvested)

Survival (%) Years 0+1 Year 2 Total
2013 input year class 49.6 26.7 76.3
2014 input year class 50.6 22.7 73.3

The smolt survival rate for the 2014 input year class decreased to 73.3%.

Other Species

Including Arctic charr ( Salvelinus alpinus); brown/sea trout ( Salmo trutta) ; halibut ( Hippoglossus hippoglossus) ; lumpsucker ( Cyclopterus lumpus) and several species of wrasse (Labridae)

2015 2016
Total production (tonnes) 107 a 122
Number of staff employed (full-time) 35 43
(part-time) 15 20
Number of ova laid down to hatch (millions) 14.8 16.9
Number of ova imported (millions) 0.6 3.2

Some figures are excluded from this report as providing them would reveal production information from individual companies.

a Excluding Arctic charr production.

In 2016, the production of other species increased by 15 tonnes from the 2015 total. Overall, employment increased by 13 people in 2016. There was an increase in the number of ova laid down to hatch.

Number of Confirmed Escape Incidents from Fish Farms Notified to the Scottish Government

Species Number of reported incidents which could have led to an escape of farmed fish Number of reported incidents which did lead to an escape of farmed fish Number of fish escaped
Rainbow trout 0 1 200
Atlantic salmon (freshwater stages) 0 0 0
Atlantic salmon (seawater stages) 3 5 311,496

Contact

Email: Lorna Munro, lorna.munro@gov.scot

Phone: 0300 244 4000 – Central Enquiry Unit

The Scottish Government
St Andrew's House
Regent Road
Edinburgh
EH1 3DG

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