Salmon sector spells out progress since parliamentary inquiry
Scotland’s salmon farming sector has delivered on requests for reform, investment and results, MSPs have been informed.
In a letter to the Scottish parliament’s Rural Affairs and Islands Committee (RAIC), Salmon Scotland chief executive Tavish Scott set out the significant progress made across key areas.
It follows the RAIC report published earlier this year in the wake of the parliamentary inquiry into salmon farming in 2024. Salmon Scotland said the committee report included out-of-date data in reaching its conclusions.
Record survival rates
Scott highlighted new data showing record survival rates, record low medicine use, and booming exports – all backed by more than £1 billion of investment in fish health and welfare since 2018, when an earlier parliamentary inquiry concluded that the status quo was “not acceptable”.
He also pointed to the new Code of Good Practice for Scottish finfish aquaculture, due to be updated next month, as evidence of continuous reform.
And the letter reported that salmon survival in the first eight months of 2025 reached a record 92.3 per cent, and that antibiotic use in 2024 fell by nearly 80 per cent to the lowest level since reporting began.
Free trade agreement
Exports are on track to exceed £1 billion in 2025 for the first time, with producers preparing to tap into the lucrative Indian market with a new free trade agreement brokered by the UK Government.
“This is testament to the hard work of the sector’s farmers, veterinarians and fish health professionals, as well as the £1 billion invested in fish health and welfare since 2018,” Scott wrote in his letter to committee convener Finlay Carson.
“The government’s 2003 Strategic Framework for Scottish Aquaculture said ‘a robust, audited code of practice does obviate (in part) the need for detailed, costly and inflexible regulation’. We concur.
“We hope the committee wish to see our sector develop in serving existing and new markets such as India.”
Hard work
He added: “The achievements discussed herein have only been possible through the considerable hard work and investment of salmon farmers that farm across Scotland’s west coast and Northern and Western Isles.”
The sector supports 12,500 jobs in Scotland and generates £760 million for the local economy. Farmers invested more than £10 million in audits and inspections in 2024, with more than 1,600 independent checks carried out against standards such as RSPCA Assured, ASC and Global GAP.
Looking ahead, Scott underlined the importance of innovation, highlighting the development of semi-closed containment systems, with SeaQureFarming beginning commercial trials and Loch Long Salmon granted planning permission in Argyll after a lengthy process.
He also confirmed that the sector has commissioned independent analysis of research and innovation and is urging the Scottish Government to put in place a replacement for Sustainable Aquaculture Innovation Centre (SAIC) funding.
