Things should only get better

By Phil Thomas, Chairman of the Scottish Salmon Producers’ Organisation (SSPO)

After the Seafood Expo in Brussels and before Aquaculture UK 2014, which is scheduled for the end of the month, it’s a good time to reflect on the future of EU aquaculture, and on Scottish salmon farming development. Firstly, and difficult to overstated, the Expo is an excellent showcase for the seafood sector, and it does a great job in encompassing the disparate sea-catch and aquaculture industries in one event. This year the main Scottish presence was under the over-arching banner of Scotland Food and Drink, the industry-led body that has been established for the generic promotion of Scottish produce; and that arrangement worked extremely well. During the event there was a very strong commitment to EU aquaculture by Maria Damanaki the Commissioner for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries. She stressed that fish farming was an excellent source of healthy food and helped to address the problems of overfishing and the protection of wild fish stocks. She also set out the stall for the Commission’s ‘Inseparable’ campaign - Eat, Buy and Sell Sustainable Fish. She especially highlighted the opportunities available to industry through the new European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) and through EU R&D funding. The EU fish supply position is in fact very stark. Although it is the World’s largest seafood market, 68% of consumption is imported and only 10% of consumption is derived from EU-farmed sources. The socio-economic arguments for increased fish farming as a basis for import substitution are glaringly obvious. But, additionally, greater production of EU-farmed fish is essential to secure future fish supplies in the face of declining catches and restricted opportunities for expansion of the sea-catch sector. In Scotland the situation is well illustrated by the figures. In 2006, when I became involved with the industry, the combined annual demersal and pelagic landings by Scottish-based vessels were approximately 320,000 tonnes valued at £228M, and production of farmed salmon was 132,000 tonnes valued at £382M. By contrast, in 2013 the provisional demersal and pelagic landings are 304,000 tonnes valued at £292M and figures for farmed salmon are 152,000 tonnes valued at £633M. So, in response to strong EU socio-economic and fish-supply drivers, salmon farming should continue to grow substantially in the EU over the coming years; and the business case in support of that expansion is very clear. Scottish annual production of farmed salmon is planned to be increased by 50,000 tonnes by 2020, but as time goes on that target looks very modest compared to the projected market demand. Alongside continued growth, salmon farming is once again going through a very significant phase of technological innovation. This is seeing increased efficiencies in the use of all-types of resources and a reduction in farm environmental footprints. Emerging as new technology options there are: improvements in fish genetic selection; targeted use of new and improved vaccines; redesigned nutrition products; bio-ecological parasite control; larger-smolts, allowing a shorter marine-growth phase; enhanced containment systems; more sophisticated well boats; locally-generated renewable energy supplies; and farms in more exposed marine locations. It can confidently be predicted that by 2020 at least four salmon will grow in the growth cycle time taken for three to grow today. Alternative methods, using land-based systems for salmon production, are also being mooted by some new entrants to the industry. However, technical issues, high production costs and shortage of suitable land-based sites in Scotland seems likely to restrict the widespread adoption of this technology in the ongrower sector. Of course, conventional salmon farming will continue to have scientific and technology challenges to be addressed. However, the direction of travel is well established and things should only get better, provided that R&D scientists and industry continue to ensure the rate of technology development is maintained. For the academic community there is a particular need to avoid falling behind the industry’s speed of change: research needs to be based on a robust forward vision rather than on a preoccupation with the fast reducing problems of the past. The Scottish Aquaculture Innovation Centre (SAIC) being established this year will have a key role in ensuring industry progress and R&D programmes are maintained ‘in sync’. For industry the challenge is to ensure sufficient investment to allow new developments to be rapidly adopted on an industry-wide scale. The industry has a strong investment record and there is no doubting the current high level of investment-commitment amongst farming companies. However, there are some up-coming uncertainties which could affect the investment environment generally. These include currency and constitutional changes which might follow September’s referendum on Scotland’s secession from the UK. Whatever the outcomes of that process, the sooner the investment uncertainties are removed the easier it will be to maintain current industry momentum.