Jobs boost for highlands

By Greigg Adams

A new system of ‘Open Sea’ farming will see crews of up to six living on residential barges at huge fish farms off the west coast, working a shift pattern.

Aquaculture company, Marine Harvest hope to take advantage of the growing demand for farmed Scottish salmon across Europe. Consumption of fish has been rising by between six and eight percent each year.

Marine Harvest Scotland representatives were in the Western Isles today (Wednesday) to outline their plans to the council and community. The plan would bring more than 40 jobs to the islands.

Marine Harvest has permission from The Crown Estate to place monitoring equipment in 12 sites around the Minch, within the Western Isles, Highland and Argyll and Bute Council areas.

The equipment will gather data which will allow the firm to assess the best sites for expansion. It will then submit planning applications to the relevant local authority for the preferred sites.

The company hope to develop four new farms around three times the size of the average farm, producing an additional 20,000 tonnes of fish. The company is aiming to stock the new farms by September 2012.

As well as the staff working on the residential fish farms, the company hopes to establish a shore base in Barra.

Marine Harvest Scotland has a turnover of £120m and hopes to increase this to £180m with the introduction of the new farms. The total investment will be more than £40m, with the capital cost for each farm being more than £3m.

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