Chilean fish farmer Salmones Camanchaca believes a change in consumers’ eating habits will help it make a quick recovery after reporting an operating loss of US $8.8 million for the fourth quarter of 2020.

Sutherland and Uists salmon farmer Loch Duart made an increased profit of almost £1.335 million in its 2020 financial year ending March 31 last year after harvesting a record tonnage, it revealed in its annual report. Loch Duart, which produces around 6,000 tonnes of salmon a year, didn’t specify the exact amount.

Scottish Sea Farms made a pre-tax profit of NOK 143 million (£21.1m) last year, a drop of almost 38% on the NOK 229m made by the Norwegian-owned salmon producer in 2019.

World Heritage Salmon (WHS), which plans to produce Atlantic salmon in discontinued olivine mines in Sunnylvsfjorden, Norway, has entered into a five-year contractual agreement with Benchmark Genetics for salmon eggs adapted to land-based farming.

Former Benchmark Holdings chief executive Malcolm Pye has been appointed as a non-executive director of OTAQ, which supplies technology products for aquaculture and the offshore oil and gas industry.

AquaChile has been ranked as the best salmon farmer in the country for paying small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in the fourth quarter of last year.

German fish processing machinery giant Baader has completed its acquisition of a majority stake in Icelandic company Skaginn 3X.

The European Aquaculture Society (EAS) has released the programme grid for its AE2020 ONLINE event running from April 12-15. A more detailed programme with individual presentation titles will be published just before the event.

Aquaculture biotechnology company Benchmark is on track to commercially launch its novel lice treatment for salmon in the second quarter of this year, it said in a financial report today.

A £100,000 scheme will provide greater opportunities for women working in or interested in a career in the aquaculture and rural sectors, the Scottish Government has announced.

Tavish Scott, chief executive of the Scottish Salmon Producers’ Organisation (SSPO), has again urged the UK Government to fix post-Brexit export problems which farmers say have caused reputational damage due to unreliable delivery times.  

The six directors who comprise Faroese salmon company Bakkafrost’s board of directors have joined the board of the Scottish Salmon Company Limited. They are Bakkafrost board chair Rúni M Hansen, deputy chair Johannes Jensen, Einar Wathne, Teitur Samuelsen, Annika Frederiksberg and Oystein Sandvik.

A verdict in the case between the Norwegian state and a group of salmonid farmers challenging an order to reduce production will be delivered on or around March 17.