Scottish economy champion Prosper gives strong backing to salmon sector

A cross-sector organisation devoted to improving Scotland’s economy has called for sustainable growth in salmon farming to be made a national economic priority.

Prosper, the trading name of the Scottish Council for Development and Industry (SCDI), lists more than 400 members on its website ranging from private and listed businesses to universities and colleges, government agencies and quangos, the Scottish Trades Union Congress, councils, and charities. Members include salmon farmers Bakkafrost Scotland, Mowi Scotland, and Scottish Sea Farms.

The organisation has published a new policy document – Net gains: supporting Scotland’s salmon farming sector – calling for more efficient and predictable planning, consenting, and regulatory processes to support investment, innovation, and rural jobs.

Strengthen trade

“Since our formation in 1931, Prosper has been committed to both improving the prosperity of the Highlands and Islands and strengthening Scotland’s international trade. Our Highlands and Islands Committee was established in 1965, the same year that the first marine fish farm in Scotland opened, and Prosper has taken a close interest in the growth of the sector ever since,” Prosper's policy team writes in the document.

“As a cross-sector alliance, Prosper’s position on salmon farming is based on our view that Scotland must realise the full potential of its industries, people and places to achieve improvements in prosperity. Scotland should back its sectors that are internationally competitive, invest for the long term, create quality jobs and safeguard the environment.”

Prosper, which says it is Scotland's most influential membership organisation, argues that growth in salmon farming can help tackle key economic challenges for Scotland by retaining and attracting private sector investment, increasing growth in rural areas, boosting employment, supporting the population and improving Scottish export performance.

“While the sector is most important for the rural economy, its national economic footprint means that all of Scotland would benefit,” say the document’s authors. “Scotland should capitalise on this opportunity for sustainable growth in salmon farming.”

Key recommendations

They ask the Scottish Government to:

• Produce a clear National Policy Statement which makes sustainable growth in salmon farming an explicit objective along with environmental protection;

• Implement the recommendations of the independent review of the regulatory framework for Scottish aquaculture that the Scottish Government commissioned from Professor Russell Griggs, published in early 2022;

• Take action to support growth in salmon farming and its impact on enabling rural and island communities to flourish in the proposed Rural Renewal Bill.

Prosper also wants the Scottish Government to deliver a more efficient, predictable planning and consenting process, and reform regulations to improve coherence and accountability.

A stronger narrative

Furthermore, the organisation asks both the Scottish and UK governments to:

• continue to invest in support for innovation and skills for the sector;

• communicate a stronger narrative on the benefits of food security, nutrition, and traceability;

• continue to support the sector’s ambitions international trade ambitions via trade missions and trade promotion;

• reduce and remove tariffs and other barriers to trade in negotiations with other countries.

Finally, Prosper wants both governments to actively support the reputation of the sector, both domestically and internationally, by recognising the economic contribution made by salmon production in terms of jobs, investment and exports, and by working in partnership with producers and the supply chain to support the sector’s wider growth ambitions.

An important voice

Tavish Scott, chief executive of sector trade body Salmon Scotland, said: “Prosper has added an important voice to the growing consensus that Scotland should back the responsible growth of salmon farming.

“This is a sector that supports jobs, investment, and economic activity in some of Scotland's most fragile communities, while producing one of Scotland's greatest export success stories.

“As the paper highlights, Scotland has an opportunity to build on that success. If we want to attract investment, support innovation, and deliver sustainable growth, we need a regulatory system that is efficient, predictable, and fit for purpose. That would benefit communities, businesses, and the wider Scottish economy.”