Looking back, thinking ahead:
Anne Anderson

What have been the highlights for you professionally in 2025?

2025 was a challenging year for the salmon sector, particularly around planning and regulation, but a key highlight was working with a strong team at Scottish Sea Farms to respond calmly and professionally to objections in the planning process. We focused on clear, evidence-based answers to address misunderstandings about our farming practices and future plans.

A personal highlight was increasing our direct engagement with policymakers and the public. Scottish Sea Farms attended four political party conferences during the year, giving people the opportunity to speak to us face-to-face. We spoke with more than 350 delegates, discussing the realities of salmon farming, food production and the jobs our sector supports.

These conversations were overwhelmingly positive. Many people were supportive of the industry and valued Scottish salmon, and those with concerns were open to listening and learning more. It reinforced the importance of being visible, accessible and open in how we engage.

You’ve worked for a regulator - the Scottish Environment Protection Agency - and later for a salmon farmer. Which is easier?

Neither role has ever been easy, and that’s something I value. I’ve always been drawn to roles that involve challenge, because that’s where progress and opportunity come from. That approach has shaped my time working at SEPA, later at Scottish Sea Farms.

If the question is which role was more frustrating, the answer is clear: salmon farming.

Having worked on both sides, I can see how tightly controlled salmon farming is compared with many other food-production sectors. Despite strong environmental performance, the industry often struggles to have evidence properly recognised, with opinion too easily treated as fact. This has slowed regulatory reform and, in some cases, prevented changes that could help address the very challenges critics raise, while also supporting responsible growth.

That’s a missed opportunity. Salmon farming has real potential to support Scotland’s economy, create jobs, particularly in rural and coastal communities, and do so while protecting the environment. Unlocking that potential is a shared responsibility between the sector, government and regulators.

So, easier? Neither. More frustrating? Yes - salmon farming. But that’s also why I remain committed to helping drive improvement and positive change.

What will be the most significant challenges and opportunities for Scottish Sea Farms in the coming year?

Scottish Sea Farms sees strong opportunities ahead. These include continuing to improve cost efficiency, building on recent gains in fish survival to strengthen sustainability, and expanding responsibly to meet growing market demand. Our move towards fewer, larger farms in higher-energy locations is a key part of this, offering better growing conditions for fish, reduced seabed impact and stronger environmental performance.

Continued investment in infrastructure and more efficient operations is also helping to improve fish health and welfare across the business.

Slow pace of reform

The biggest challenge, however, remains the regulatory framework. Progress on reform has been slow, with duplication between environmental regulation and planning consent creating unnecessary complexity. In addition, current spatial constraints, originally intended to encourage relocation to higher-energy sites, do not always reflect the real environmental impact of modern salmon farming and can limit growth in the very locations best suited to it.

The contrast is clear. Under current rules, increasing production by 10,000 tonnes can require several smaller farms, at higher cost and with greater seabed disruption. A single, well-located farm in high-energy waters can achieve the same output with a smaller footprint and significantly lower capital investment.

Unlocking these opportunities fully will depend on delivery of Scottish Government commitments to sustainable aquaculture growth, through a more streamlined, evidence-based regulatory system that reflects how salmon farming operates today and how it will continue to innovate in the future.

What do you see as the most significant challenges for the salmonid farming industry in Scotland and globally in 2026?

In Scotland, the biggest challenges centre on fish health and welfare in increasingly variable environmental conditions, alongside ongoing regulatory constraints. Regulatory bottlenecks remain, with new assessment frameworks being introduced that do not always align with the salmon farming cycle and risk misrepresenting the sector’s actual environmental impact. At the same time, the role of salmon farming in wider ecosystem pressures, particularly around wild salmon decline, continues to be overstated, distracting from the broader range of factors affecting wild stocks.

Globally, producers are facing continued volatility in prices and input costs, with feed prices remaining unpredictable and placing pressure on margins. Regulatory and market pressures are also intensifying, driven by trade tensions, evolving ESG (environmental, social and governance) expectations and policy changes, including tariffs and tighter sustainability standards that can affect both market access and operational certainty.

These challenges converge in 2026 to form a complex landscape. Addressing these issues requires coordinated action on regulatory alignment, sustainable practices, health innovations, and economic resilience.

Tomorrow: Institute of Aquaculture acting head Professor Trevor Telfer.