Scottish Shellfish Farm Production Survey 2019

Introduction to the Year 2019 Survey

This report is based on the returns of an annual survey questionnaire sent to all active authorised shellfish farming businesses in Scotland. These are Official Statistics published by Marine Scotland Science in accordance with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics. The cooperation of the shellfish farming industry is gratefully acknowledged. The report author acknowledges Alan Christie, Andy Mayes, Sandy Murray, Keith Mutch, Chahat Sekhon, Ronald Smith, Stuart Wallace and Andrea Warwick for their contributions to the production of this report.

Production survey questionnaires were sent to 129 businesses registered as active during 2019 (see Appendix 1). During 2019, eight business became authorised and four businesses rescinded their authorisation. Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, three businesses did not return data for 2019. In these instances, their 2018 data was used as a substitute for 2019. When these data are eventually obtained, the relevant sections will be updated in the 2020 report.

The survey showed that, of the 129 businesses authorised at the end of 2019, 68 recorded sales during that year. These 129 authorised businesses farmed 326 active sites, of which 165 (51%) placed shellfish on the market. Shellfish production by business and site is presented.

LA Munro
May 2020