Scottish fish farm production survey 2016

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


1. Rainbow Trout ( Oncorhynchus mykiss)

Production survey information was collected from all 24 companies actively involved in rainbow trout production, farming 44 active sites. This figure represents the entire industry operating in Scotland.

Production

Table 1a: Annual production (tonnes) of rainbow trout during 2002-2016 and projected production in 2017

Year Tonnes Year Tonnes
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 8,096
2009 6,766 2017 7,208*

* Industry estimate based on stocks currently being on-grown.

Production decreased in 2016 by 492 tonnes, a decrease of 6%, to 8,096 tonnes. Production remained high as the 2016 total is the second highest level of rainbow trout production ever recorded in Scotland.

Table 1b: Production (tonnes) for the table trade during 2006-2016 according to weight category

Year <450 g 450-900 g >900 g Total
<1 lb 1-2 lbs >2 lbs Tonnes
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
2016 2,393 234 4,735 7,437

Production for the table in 2016 was 7,437 tonnes, a decrease of 596 tonnes (7%) on the 2015 total, and accounted for 92% of the total rainbow trout production, a decrease on the proportion to that produced in 2015. Also, an increase in the number of fish in the small size range and a decrease in the number of fish in the medium and large size ranges were highlighted.

Table 1c: Production (tonnes) for the restocking trade during 2006-2016 according to weight category

Year <450 g 450-900 g >900 g Total
<1 lb 1-2 lbs >2 lbs Tonnes
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
2016 35 183 441 659

In 2016, production for the restocking of angling waters increased to 659 tonnes representing an increase of 104 tonnes (19%) on the 2015 total. This accounted for 8% of total rainbow trout production in 2016. 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 small, medium and large sized fish all showed an increase.

Production by Site

Table 2: Numbers of sites grouped by tonnage produced during 2006-2016

Year Number of sites per production tonnage Total number of sites
<1-25 26-100 101-200 >200
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
2016 6 10 3 13 32

Production was reported from 32 of the 44 active sites. The number of producers in the size bracket 101-200 tonnes decreased while those in the <1-25 tonnes and >200 tonnes size brackets increased. The number of sites in the 26-100 tonnes bracket remained the same as in 2015. 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 2016 and comparison with production in 2015

Production method Production grouping (tonnes) in 2016 Total tonnage and (%) by method Number of sites
<10 10-25 26-50 51-100 >100 2015 2016 2015 2016
FW cages 1 0 0 0 5 2,433 (28.3%) 2,836 (35.0%) 6 6
FW ponds and raceways 1 1 6 2 5 1,405 (16.4%) 1,420 (17.6%) 14 15
FW tanks and hatcheries 3 0 0 1 0 72 (0.8%) 81 (1.0%) 4 4
SW cages 0 0 0 1 6 4,678 (54.5%) 3,759 (46.4%) 6 7
SW tanks 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 5 1 6 4 16 8,588 8,096 30 32

Freshwater production accounted for 4,337 tonnes (53.6%) and seawater production for the remaining 3,759 tonnes (46.4%). Production from freshwater cages increased whilst there was a decrease in production from seawater cages.

Company and Site Data

Table 4: Number of companies and sites in production during 2003-2016

Year No. of companies No. of sites
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
2016 24 44

In 2016 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 44.

Staffing and Productivity

Table 5: Number of staff employed and productivity per person during 2003-2016

Year Full-time Part-time Total Productivity (tonnes/person)
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
2016 100 21 121 66.9

The overall number of staff employed in 2016 decreased by five to 121. The number of full-time staff decreased by 10 while the number of part-time staff increased by five. Productivity, measured as tonnes produced per person, decreased by 1.9% in 2016 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 2016

Area No. of sites Table production (tonnes) Restocking production (tonnes) Mean tonnes per site Staffing Productivity (tonnes/person)
F/T P/T Total
North 3 3 30 11.0 2 1 3 11.0
East 13 1,131 332 112.5 38 6 44 33.3
West 15 5,331 40 358.1 43 5 48 111.9
South 13 972 257 94.5 17 9 26 47.3
All 44 7,437 659 184.0 100 21 121 66.9

Productivity was greatest in the West at 358.1 tonnes per site and 111.9 tonnes per person.

Figure 1: The distribution of active rainbow trout sites in 2016

Figure 1: The distribution of active rainbow trout sites in 2016

Type of Ova Laid Down

Table 7: Number (000's) and proportions (%) of eyed ova types laid down to hatch during 2005-2016

Year All female diploid no. (%) Triploid no. (%) Mixed sex diploid no. (%) Total ova
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
2016 7,986 (80) 1,943 (20) 5 (<1) 9,934

Source of Ova Laid Down

Table 8: Number (000's) and sources of eyed ova laid down to hatch in 2005-2016

Year Ova produced in Great Britain ( GB) Imported ova Total
Own stock Other stock Total Northern hemisphere Southern hemisphere Total
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
2016 35 349 384 9,550 0 9,550 9,934

In 2016, the total number of eyed ova laid down to hatch decreased by 2.2 million (18%) on the 2015 figure. The proportion of ova from GB broodstock decreased to 3.9% 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 (000's) and sources of ova imported into Scotland from outwith GB during 2009-2016

Source 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Denmark 4,070 1,715 5,250 1,950 1,315 2,500 2,330 5,535
Isle of Man 290 1,400 520 300 800 1,000 175 20
N. Ireland 10,090 9,247 7,320 8,332 5,125 4,780 6,535 3,040
Norway 750 200 130 300 175 710 670 500
USA 2,240 2,340 1,580 1,800 2,350 1,700 1,675 750
Totals 17,440 14,902 14,800 12,682 9,765 10,690 11,385 9,845

Table 9b: Seasonal variation in numbers (000's) and sources of ova imported into Scotland from outwith GB during 2016

Month Denmark Isle of Man N. Ireland Norway USA
January 0 0 870 250 0
February 5 0 0 0 0
March 1,390 0 0 100 0
April 0 0 180 150 175
May 970 0 0 0 10
June 1,150 0 0 0 205
July 0 0 320 0 205
August 220 0 970 0 0
September 200 0 20 0 155
October 1,200 0 360 0 0
November 0 20 0 0 0
December 400 0 320 0 0
Totals 5,535 20 3,040 500 750

Table 9c: Number (000's) and sources of fish imported into Scotland from outwith GB during 2009-2016

Source 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
N. Ireland 0 <1 72 155 537 674 746 592
Republic of Ireland 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0

Suppliers within the European Union ( EU) accounted for 87.3% of ova imported into Scotland during 2016 with the USA and Norway accounting for 7.6% and 5.1% 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 a trend for producers to import part grown rainbow trout into Scotland from outwith GB.

Trade in Fry and Fingerlings

Table 10: Number (000's) of fry and fingerlings traded during 2005-2016

Year Fry and fingerlings bought Total number bought Total number sold
All female diploid no. (%) Triploid no. (%) Mixed sex diploid no. (%)
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
2016 6,452 (85) 1,124 (15) 0 7,577 6,779

The established trade between hatcheries and on-growing farms continued in 2016. Some companies specialised in the production of fry and fingerlings. The total number of fry and fingerlings sold decreased by 2.8% while the number bought increased by 8.4%. 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 2005-2016

Year 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
No. of sites 37 31 28 28 31 27 26 24 19 21 17 18
No. of fish 30.0 36.4 41.4 29.1 27.5 20.0 20.3 20.4 9.9 10.0 8.3 7.3

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 7.3 million fish were vaccinated on 18 sites.

Organic Production

Of the 44 sites recorded as being active in rainbow trout production in 2016, none were certified as organic.

Escapes

There was one incident involving the loss of 200 fish from a rainbow trout site in 2016.

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

Back to top