Triple triumph for Scottish Sea Farms at Aquaculture Awards 

Salmon farmer Scottish Sea Farms and its employees collected three trophies at the annual Aquaculture Awards, held in Inverness last night.

SFF veteran Alastair Fraser, who has overseen the company’s move to larger pens, collected the Farmer of the Year award, edging out category finalists Adam johnson from Migdale Smolt and Iain Jackson from Bakkafrost Scotland.

Fish vet Alison Brough was named Rising Star, and SSF also collected the Community Initiative trophy for its long-running Heart of the Community programme that supports initiatives in the areas where it operates.

Another long-running programme to be recognised was the cooperation between Devon-based mussel producer Offshore Shellfish and Plymouth University, which has monitored the beneficial effect of the farm on a previously barren environment. The mussel farmer and academics received the Collaboration award for the project, which began in 2013.

Scotland’s biggest salmon farmer, Mowi, was named as Producer of the Year, and Mowi Scotland’s environmental monitoring expert Dave Young was presented with the Unsung Hero award for his 25 years of diligently monitoring the environments around the company’s fish farms.

The Sustainability award was presented to Packaging Solutions Scotland for its S-BIN, a larger, eco-friendly salmon container that replaces up to 19 polystyrene boxes and is re-usable.

There was surprise and delight for Norwegian company Harbor, which won the Innovation award for its Harbor Fence, an electric fence placed around a salmon pen that limits the number of lice larvae and triggers jellyfish to activate their stings before the current pushes them into the cage. This renders them harmless during the period they are among the fish.

The Animal Health and Welfare award was presented to Swansea University’s Centre for Sustainable Aquatic Research, and the Supplier of the Year prize was awarded to Aberdeen-based remotely operated vehicle (ROV) supplier Underwater Contracting.

Esox Biologics was named Best New Start Up.

The Outstanding Contribution award, voted for by the public rather than the judging panel, went to Kames Fish Farming chairman and former MD Stuart Cannon, who edged past the category's other veteran finalists, Alastair Barge of Otter Ferry Seafish and former Scottish government minister and aquaculture champion Fergus Ewing.

It is the second time Cannon has been honoured by the public vote. In 2018 he won the People’s Choice award.

The last trophy of the evening, the Judges’ Special Recognition award, was presented to Richard Newton, of Stirling University’s Institute of Aquaculture.