Scottish Salmon Company to axe jobs in Western Isles

It blames a failure to secure planning permission for additional fish farms in a timescale they had originally envisaged, in addition to a biological challenges in 2012 – particularly Amoeic Gill Disease - which has impeded the growth of salmon and impacted on the volumes available in 2013.

The company confirmed that a consultation process had begun with staff to explore options to redeploy staff where possible or offer assistance to find alternative employment, the Scotsman wrote

SSC has not been able to secure planning permission for additional sites, such as at Toa Tolsta and Plocrapol, in the timescales it thought possible when investing the £3million in its new factory.

A spokesman said that, without consistent year-on-year volumes from a balanced farming operation, the processing facility cannot be operated efficiently.

However, SSC expects to have more volume towards the end of 2013 and into 2014 when fish from a new site in the Highlands are ready to be harvested.

The company is also pursuing new planning consents at other locations in the Western Isles and the mainland, which would secure the levels of production needed for its Marybank and Arnish facilities to work at full capacity in the longer term.

Chief executive Stewart McLelland said: “We deeply regret this situation, but hope that we can reassure local communities that once more sites start to produce fish, we will once again have the volumes that make full production at Marybank and Arnish viable again.

“Despite our best efforts to correct the imbalance of production cycles across the company’s operation, we have not been able to establish and develop new sites as originally expected within the necessary timescales.

“This process of expansion continues but, for the moment, there is now a time lag before sufficient numbers of next generation of fish can be harvested and processed through Marybank.”

He added: “Coupled with this is the fact that our fish were affected by Amoebic Gill Disease. This naturally occurring amoeba which impacts fish health is exacerbated by warm weather and a lack of rain and, like many in the industry we were affected at a critical time last summer.

“Finally, the uncharacteristically low market price for salmon in 2012 meant that our income has been reduced.

“When combined with insufficient fish to process, it is another reason why we cannot operate Marybank, in the short term, without cutting jobs.”