UK’s first ASC certified farm

Managing Director, Alan Sutherland, said: “We are delighted to gain the first ASC approval in the UK for our Loch Leven farm. We care passionately about the environment in which we live and work and are determined to ensure our top quality salmon continues to be grown in a sustainable way. This is a real pat on the back for the team at Loch Leven and we are all immensely proud of their achievement.

“ASC accreditation is an exceptionally tough standard to meet and we always knew it would take time to achieve. We’ve always taken our responsibilities to the environment very seriously and this accreditation is recognition of this. This is just the beginning and we look forward to gaining similar recognition for our other salmon farms in a phased programme in the coming years.”

The site is run by a team of eight staff who grow salmon weighing up to 2,655 tonnes in a twenty month period.

Loch Leven farm manager, Scott Cameron, said: “We’re really pleased to be the first farm in the UK to be approved. Credit should go to the team on the farm who have been amazing, but also the team of people across Marine Harvest who have worked together to make this possible.”

In 2013 Marine Harvest signed up to meet ASC in all its operations across the world. It is committed to achieving this by 2020.

The ASC standard sets out strict guidelines covering a range of issues including environmental impact, sea lice management and community engagement. The many compliance points are inspected by at least two auditors before any approval is granted which allows the producer to label their products as ASC accredited.