Aquaculture equipment manufacturer Fusion Marine has won orders worth £2.4m to supply salmon pens and associated equipment from three Scottish fish farming companies.
The orders will help secure jobs at Fusion Marine’s Argyll base and signals the general move by Scottish fish farming companies to source their aquaculture equipment from Scotland whenever possible.
The first order is for Lighthouse Caledonia and comprises 16 Oceanflex 90m salmon pens for its Vuia Beag site in West Loch Roag, Lewis. A further 34 pens with a circumference of between 80 and 100m have been ordered for the Lighthouse site at Ardcastle in lower Loch Fyne.
Brian Floyd, production manager at Lighthouse Caledonia, said: “We have worked with Fusion Marine for many years and are delighted with the quality and service it provides. It is important for us, as a Scottish company, to support Scottish suppliers.”
The second order is for Lakeland Marine and involves 14 Triton salmon pens, split over two deliveries in the spring and late summer of 2010. The extra-strong 100m circumference pens are destined for Lakeland’s new exposed fish farming site in the Kilbrannan Sound near Carradale in Kintyre. As well as the pens, the order includes bird net supports and sinker tubes for the nets.
According to Colin Blair of Lakeland Marine, the company selected Fusion Marine Triton pens based on their positive experience using the company’s Oceanflex pens over many years.
"These pens from Fusion Marine have provided a safe working platform for our staff whilst providing high standards of stock security, the all plastic construction has ensured low repair and maintenance costs over many years with minimal deterioration in pen quality,” he said.
Meanwhile, Scottish Sea Farms has given the go-ahead for Fusion Marine to refurbish 30 of its pens at a site near Scalloway, Shetland. The steel upright pens will be fully fitted out to the all-plastic Oceanflex standard.
