Rise in Scottish salmon production

The total production of Atlantic salmon during 2009 was according to the survey 144,247 tonnes, an increase of 15,641 tonnes (12 per cent) on the 2008 production.

The number of companies registered and actively producing salmon in 2009 was 25, a decrease of one on the 2008 figure. Six companies remained active and registered, although not producing salmon for harvest in 2009.

This continued the trend of salmon production being concentrated within fewer companies. These 31 companies have 254 registered active sites, although not all active sites may have produced fish for harvest in 2009.

The trend towards concentrating production in larger sites was maintained, with 77.5 per cent of production being concentrated in the sites producing over 1,000 tonnes per annum.

Overall production was dominated by 9 companies in 2009, which between them accounted for over 95 per cent of the salmon production in Scotland.

Smolt production increased by 1.1 per cent to 36.9 million, with over half (62.5 per cent) being S1, and the remainder being S½ smolts (37.5 per cent).

The number of ova laid down to hatch has increased by 11.4 per cent. The ratio of ova laid down to smolts produced has increased to 1.8 in 2009. Projected estimates for 2010 suggest an increased number of ova were laid down to hatch, and that fewer smolts will be produced in 2010, followed by an increase in 2011.