Salmon farmer contributed almost £170m to Scottish economy last year

Salmon producer Scottish Sea Farms (SSF) made an economic contribution of £167.8 million throughout Scotland last year, it has calculated.

The figure is £500,000 higher than in 2024, and includes £86.7m spent on wages and the supply chain in the rural areas where SSF produces salmon - Shetland, Orkney, the Highlands, and Argyll.

SSF employed 642 people Scotland-wide last year with salary costs of around £33.8m, the company reports in its staff newsletter, The Source. 

£15m-plus wages in Shetland

The highest wages bill was in Shetland, with more than £15m paid to nearly 300 staff. The company is Shetland’s largest private employer, providing rural jobs including around 160 in marine roles across 20 active marine farms. Shetland also saw a total of £27.1m spent in the supply chain, benefiting 124 island firms and contractors.

In Argyll, SSF’s local investment amounted to £13.5m, supporting 77 suppliers, and the company’s salary costs were £8.2m with 193 direct jobs.

Spending in the Highlands supply chain totalled more than £10.9m among 82 local suppliers, while SSF’s salary costs were £3.3m for the 55-strong workforce.

In Orkney, more than £1.4m was spent on 65 suppliers, and the company’s salary costs were £3.8m, with 73 direct jobs across nine marine farms.

An economic lifeline

“Salmon farming is embedded in some of Scotland’s most remote areas, bringing valuable employment opportunities and an economic lifeline to rural communities,” SSF managing director Jim Gallagher told The Source.

“Our farming operations depend on many other businesses and, as these figures show, Scottish Sea Farms invests in an extensive supply chain, from Shetland and Orkney to the west coast of Scotland.

“As we continue to grow our output, with Shetland’s £7.5m new Billy Baa site coming on line this spring and development plans approved for Fish Holm (also in Shetland), we will help retain and create more skilled jobs and contribute even further to the Scottish economy in the years ahead.”

61 apprentices taken on

Billy Baa has biomass consent of 4,091 tonnes, and the Fish Holm development has biomass consent of 6,000 tonnes, which will make it Scotland's biggest salmon farm.

Last year SSF employed 61 Modern Apprentices, and more than 200 local causes benefited from the fish farmer’s Heart of the Community fund, which donated £147,353 during 2025.

On the farms, salmon survival rate was 89.1%, and compliance with environmental quality standards (for seabed at pen edge, 2020-2024) was 96%.