Scottish Fish Farm Production Survey 2022
This report is based on the returns of an annual survey questionnaire sent to all active authorised fish farming businesses in Scotland during 2022. Statistics on employment, production and value are presented.
Executive summary
The tables below summarise the results from the 2022 fish farms annual production survey (slight differences in these summary figures from figures in the main report are due to rounding).
Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)
| 2021 | 2022 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Total production | (tonnes) | 8,156 | 8,757 |
| Production for the table | (tonnes) | 7,655 | 8,184 |
| Production for restocking | (tonnes) | 501 | 573 |
| Number of staff employed | 146 | 138 | |
| Mean productivity | (tonnes/person) | 55.9 | 63.5 |
| Number of ova laid down to hatch | (millions) | 4.9 | 4.2 |
| Number of ova imported | (millions) | 3.6 | 2.6 |
In 2022, the production of rainbow trout increased by 601 tonnes. Employment decreased by eight staff and mean productivity increased to 63.5 tonnes per person. The number of ova laid down to hatch decreased by 0.7 million and the number of ova imported decreased by 1.0 million.
Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar)
| 2021 | 2022 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Number of ova produced | (millions) | 46.3 | 53.2 |
| Number of ova laid down to hatch | (millions) | 72.8 | 78.5 |
| Number of ova exported | (millions) | 0 | 0 |
| Number of ova imported | (millions) | 50.7 | 43.9 |
| Number of smolts produced | (millions) | 51.2 | 55.1 |
| Number of smolts put to sea | (millions) | 51.1 | 55.3 |
| Number of staff employed | 291 | 295 | |
| Mean productivity (000's smolts/person) | 175.9 | 186.6 |
The production of ova increased by 5.9 million in 2022 and the number of ova laid down to hatch increased by 5.7 million. No ova were exported in 2022 and the number of ova imported decreased by 6.8 million from the 2021 figure. The number of smolts produced increased by 3.9 million. In 2022 the number of staff employed increased by four and mean productivity increased by 10,700 smolts per person.
| 2021 | 2022 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Total production | (tonnes) | 205,393 | 169,194 |
| Production of 0-year fish | (tonnes) | 34 | 135 |
| Production of grilse | (tonnes) | 93,346 | 65,163 |
| Production of pre-salmon | (tonnes) | 51,349 | 52,738 |
| Production of year 2 salmon | (tonnes) | 60,664 | 51,158 |
| Mean fish weight 0-year | (kg) | 2.1 | 1.7 |
| Mean fish weight grilse | (kg) | 5.0 | 4.4 |
| Mean fish weight pre-salmon | (kg) | 4.6 | 4.8 |
| Mean fish weight year 2 salmon | (kg) | 5.7 | 5.2 |
| Number of staff employed | 1,495 | 1,508 | |
| Mean productivity | tonnes/person | 137.4 | 112.2 |
Production tonnage decreased by 36,199 tonnes with a decrease in the mean harvest weight of year 0, grilse, pre-salmon and year 2 salmon. Staff numbers decreased by 13 and mean productivity decreased to 112.2 tonnes per person.
| Survival (%) | Years 0+1 | Year 2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 input year class | 54.4 | 20.0 | 74.4 |
| 2020 input year class | 57.2 | 18.7 | 75.9 |
The smolt survival rate for the 2020 input year class increased to 75.9%. Mortality is included in the number of fish not harvested for human consumption, which also consists of fish which have escaped, been culled for production reasons, removed for sampling purposes, statutory culls or selected for broodstock production.
Other Species
Including brown/sea trout (Salmo trutta); halibut (Hippoglossus hippoglossus); lumpsucker(Cyclopterus lumpus)andseveral species of wrasse(Labridae).
| 2021 | 2022 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Total production | (tonnes) | 61a | 46a |
| Number of staff employed | (full-time) | 28 | 28 |
| (part-time) | 13 | 14 | |
| Number of ova laid down to hatch | (millions) | 60.0 | 3.5b |
| Number of ova imported | (millions) | 0.7 | 0.9 |
Some figures are excluded from this report as providing them would reveal production information from an individual company.
aExcluding halibut production.
bExcluding halibut ova laid down to hatch.
In 2022, the production of other species decreased by 15 tonnes from the 2021 total, although this figure does not include halibut production. Overall, employment increased by one in 2022. There was a decrease in the number of ova laid down to hatch during 2022 but any halibut ova laid down to hatch in 2022 were not included in the 2022 figure.
| 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 | 2 | 1 | 3,918 |
| Atlantic salmon (freshwater stages) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Atlantic salmon (seawater stages) | 6 | 2 | 52,463 |
Contact
Email: lorna.munro@gov.scot
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