Scottish Fish Farm Production Survey 2019

This report is based on the returns of an annual survey questionnaire sent to all active authorised fish farming businesses in Scotland during 2019. Statistics on employment, production and value are presented.


1. Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)

Production survey information was collected from all 22 companies actively involved in rainbow trout production, farming 52 active sites. This figure represents the entire industry operating in Scotland.

Production

Table 1a: Annual production (tonnes) of rainbow trout during 2005-2019 and projected production in 2020
Year Tonnes Percentage difference Year Tonnes Percentage difference
2005 6,989 10 2013 5,611 -1
2006 7,492 7 2014 5,882 5
2007 7,414 -1 2015 8,588 46
2008 7,670 3 2016 8,096 -6
2009 6,766 -12 2017 7,637 -6
2010 5,139 -24 2018 6,413 -16
2011 4,619 -10 2019 7,405 15
2012 5,670 23 2020 10,011*

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

Production increased in 2019 by 992 tonnes, an increase of 15%, to 7,405 tonnes.

Table 1b: Production (tonnes) for the table trade during 2010-2019 according to weight category
Year <450 g 450-900 g >900 g Total
<1 lb 1-2 lbs >2 lbs Tonnes
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 4,810 7,437
2017 2,000 544 4,453 6,997
2018 803 223 4,848 5,874
2019 343 228 6,335 6,906

Production for the table in 2019 was 6,906 tonnes, an increase of 1,032 tonnes (18%) on the 2018 total. This accounted for 93% of the total rainbow trout production, an increase on the proportion to that produced in 2018. Also, an increase in the number of fish in the large and medium size ranges and a decrease in the number of fish in the small size range were highlighted.

Table 1c: Production (tonnes) for the restocking trade during 2010-2019 according to weight category
Year <450 g 450-900 g >900 g Total
<1 lb 1-2 lbs >2 lbs Tonnes
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
2017 10 150 480 640
2018 14 143 382 539
2019 16 113 370 499

In 2019, production for the restocking of angling waters decreased to 499 tonnes representing a decrease of 40 tonnes (7%) on the 2018 total. This accounted for 7% of total rainbow trout production in 2019. 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 medium and large sized fish showed decreases while there was an increase in the production of small sized fish.

Production by Site

Table 2: Number of sites grouped by tonnage produced during 2010-2019
Year Number of sites per production tonnage Total number of sites
<1-25 26-100 101-200 >200
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
2017 4 8 5 11 28
2018 5 10 3 11 29
2019 5 9 4 10 28

Production was reported from 28 of the 52 active sites. The number of producers in the 101-200 tonnes size bracket increased while those in the 26-100 and >200 tonnes size brackets decreased. The number of producers in the <1-25 tonnes size bracket remained the same as in 2018. 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 2019 and comparison with production in 2018
Production method Production grouping (tonnes)
in 2019
Total tonnage and (%) by method Number of sites
<10 10-25 26-50 51-100 >100 2018 2019 2018 2019
FW cages 1 0 0 0 5 1,838
(28.7%)
2,273
(30.7%)
6 6
FW ponds and raceways 0 1 5 3 3 1,142
(17.8%)
971
(13.1%)
14 12
FW tanks and hatcheries 3 0 0 1 0 70 (1.1%) 78 (1.1%) 3 4
SW cages 0 0 0 0 6 3,363
(52.4%)
4,083
(55.1%)
6 6
SW tanks 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 4 1 5 4 14 6,413 7,405 29 28

Seawater production accounted for 4,083 tonnes (55.1%) and freshwater production the remaining 3,322 tonnes (44.9%). Production from freshwater cages, freshwater tanks and hatcheries and seawater cages all increased during 2019 while production from freshwater ponds and raceways decreased.

Company and Site Data

Table 4: Number of companies and sites in production during 2010-2019
Year No. of companies No. of sites
2010 25 51
2011 23 48
2012 25 48
2013 24 46
2014 24 46
2015 24 45
2016 24 44
2017 23 44
2018 23 53
2019 22 52

In 2019, the number of companies authorised by the Scottish Government and actively engaged in rainbow trout production was 22. The number of sites registered and in production was 52.

Staffing and Productivity

Table 5: Number of staff employed and productivity per person during 2010-2019
Year Full-time Male Full-time Female Total>
Full-time
Part-time Male Part-time Female Total
Part-time
Total
Staff
Productivity
(tonnes/person)
2010 95 3 98 24 7 31 129 39.8
2011 90 5 95 16 7 23 118 39.1
2012 74 5 79 23 5 28 107 53.0
2013 85 4 89 16 5 21 110 51.0
2014 86 7 93 13 7 20 113 52.1
2015 100 10 110 10 6 16 126 68.2
2016 90 10 100 15 6 21 121 66.9
2017 98 12 110 15 7 22 132 57.9
2018 103 8 111 17 8 25 136 47.2
2019 103 11 114 21 9 30 144 51.4

The overall number of staff employed in 2019 increased by eight to 144. The number of full-time staff increased by three while the number of part-time staff increased by five. Productivity, measured as tonnes produced per person, increased by 8.9% in 2019 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 2019
Area No. of sites Table production (tonnes) Restocking production (tonnes) Mean tonnes per site Staffing Productivity (tonnes/person)
F/T P/T Total
North* 13 122 29 11.6 5 7 12 12.6
East 13 1,030 232 97.1 33 10 43 29.3
West 16 5,312 18 333.1 62 4 66 80.8
South 10 442 220 66.2 14 9 23 28.8
All 52 6,906 499 142.4 114 30 144 51.4

*From 2018, the North area also included production and staff from the Western Isles

Productivity was greatest in the West at 333.1 tonnes per site and 80.8 tonnes per person.

Figure 1: The regional distribution of active rainbow trout sites in 2019
The map is split into 4 areas: North, East, West and South and has black dots showing where each site is on the map.

© Crown copyright and database rights 2020 OS (100024655)

Type of Ova Laid Down

Table 7: Number (000’s) and proportions (%) of eyed ova types laid down to hatch during 2010-2019
Year All female
diploid no. (%)
Triploid no. (%) Mixed sex
diploid no. (%)
Total ova
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
2017 2,366 (34) 4,670 (66) 5 (<1) 7,041
2018 1,460 (23) 4,843 (77) 15 (<1) 6,318
2019 1,077 (16) 5,369 (82) 105 (2) 6,551

Source of Ova Laid Down

Table 8: Number (000’s) and sources of eyed ova laid down to hatch in 2010-2019
Year Ova produced in
Great Britain (GB)
Total Imported ova Total
Own stock Other stock Total Northern hemisphere
2010 415 50 465 14,614 15,079
2011 215 189 404 14,738 15,142
2012 14 230 244 12,735 12,979
2013 77 537 614 9,275 9,889
2014 9 655 664 10,376 11,040
2015 6 888 894 11,227 12,121
2016 35 349 384 9,550 9,934
2017 20 547 567 6,474 7,041
2018 15 495 510 5,808 6,318
2019 10 22 32 6,519 6,551

In 2019, the total number of eyed ova laid down to hatch increased by 0.2 million (4%) on the 2018 figure. All ova were imported from the Northern hemisphere. The proportion of ova from GB broodstock decreased (0.5% 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 2010-2019
Source 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
Denmark 1,715 5,250 1,950 1,315 2,500 2,330 5,535 3,518 3,728 5,567
Isle of Man 1,400 520 300 800 1,000 175 20 300 0 0
N. Ireland 9,247 7,320 8,332 5,125 4,780 6,535 3,040 1,240 1,085 380
Norway 200 130 300 175 710 670 500 774 0 0
Spain 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 60
USA 2,340 1,580 1,800 2,350 1,700 1,675 750 0 855 430
Totals 14,902 14,800 12,682 9,765 10,690 11,385 9,845 5,832 5,668 6,437
Table 9b: Seasonal variation in numbers (000’s) and sources of ova imported into Scotland from outwith GB during 2019
Month Denmark N. Ireland Spain USA
January 805 0 0 0
February 558 0 0 0
March 1,099 30 0 0
April 595 0 0 150
May 870 0 0 0
June 0 0 0 150
July 0 50 0 0
August 0 300 0 0
September 0 0 0 130
October 980 0 0 0
November 660 0 60 0
December 0 0 0 0
Totals 5,567 380 60 430
Table 9c: Number (000’s) and sources of fish imported into Scotland from outwith GB during 2010-2019
Source 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
N. Ireland <1 72 155 537 674 746 592 486 391 935
Republic of Ireland 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Suppliers within the European Union (EU) accounted for 93.3% of ova imported into Scotland during 2019 with the USA accounting for the remaining 6.7%. 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 2010-2019
Year Fry and fingerlings bought Total number bought Total number sold
All female diploid no. (%) Triploid no. (%) Mixed sex diploid no. (%)
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) 1,125 (15) 0 7,577 6,779
2017 3,989 (73) 1,446 (27) 0 5,435 4,145
2018 979 (42) 1,361 (58) 0 2,340 2,383
2019 861 (25) 2,532 (75) 0 3,393 2,832

The established trade between hatcheries and on-growing farms continued in 2019. Some companies specialised in fry and fingerling production. The total number of fry and fingerlings bought increased by 45.0% while the number sold increased by 18.8%. 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 2010-2019
Year 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
No. of sites 27 26 24 19 21 17 18 18 17 21
No. of fish 20.0 20.3 20.4 9.9 10.0 8.3 7.3 5.4 3.4 3.4

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 3.4 million fish were vaccinated on 21 sites.

Organic Production

Of the 52 sites recorded as being active in rainbow trout production in 2019, none were certified as organic.

Escapes

There were three incidents involving the loss of 37,372 fish from rainbow trout sites in 2019.

Contact

Email: lorna.munro@gov.scot

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