Russian breakthrough for Scottish salmon breeding company

A consignment of 300,000 salmon smolts has just completed a seven-day, 1500 nautical mile journey from Landcatch’s Ormsary farm on the Argyll coast to Russian Salmons production base at Ambarnaya Fjord near Murmansk. The smolt was the first to be imported into Russia from anywhere in the world. “This was a massive ground-breaking operation in both commercial and physical terms”, said Landcatch chairman, Hugh Currie. “On the commercial front, for example, we are the first suppliers of smolts to Russia embryonic salmon farming industry. This is a fantastic first for Scotland and a major tribute to the quality of Landcatch stock and our breeding methods “On a physical level, transporting smolts by well-boat over such a distance was also a highly significant undertaking. A two to three-day well-boat transfer would normally be considered a lengthy journey while our stocks were on the move for more than twice that time.” The fish, worth in excess of £300,000, had survived the transfer extremely well with very few mortalities being sustained during the voyage. They are now entering production at Russian Salmons farm in Ambarnaya Fjord, a unit which is scheduled for an initial production output of 2000 tonnes of salmon a year.