Marine Harvest pursues net gains in Scotland

Marine Harvest operates 38 fish farms in Scotland supporting around 460 jobs Its Scottish business unit was highlighted as the company’s best-performing in 2011, with high production, good price achievement and good operational performance.

Ole-Eirik Leroy, Chairman of the Marine Harvest Board, last week revealed that the company has plans for an £80 million capital investment in Scotland between 2012 to 2016.

Following the meeting, the First Minister said: “The Scottish Government is determined to support a vibrant, sustainable salmon farming industry, which already employs more than 2,100 people in Scotland directly, with many more indirect jobs supported, particularly in rural communities in the West Highlands, Western and Northern Isles.

“I was pleased to hear first hand about Marine Harvest’s plans for their operations in Scotland and delighted by their latest investment commitment that will benefit local communities. Clearly they are set to play a key role in our ambitions for growth in the industry, including our aim of increasing production by 50 per cent on 2009 levels to 210,000 tonnes by 2020.”

Mr Leroy added:

“We are committed to farming in Scotland, where the results show that top quality salmon is in demand increasingly around the world. With people eating more salmon and the need to sustainably increase our production, we believe that further investment in Scotland is good for our business and the Scottish economy, the communities where we operate and our consumers. Because of this we are looking at investment plans for Scotland in the region of £80 million between 2012 and 2016 that could create around 100 jobs.