Scottish Sea Farms (SSF) has been granted approval for a new GB£3m salmon farm in Orkney waters with consent to grow 1,274t of salmon and jobs for six skilled workers.

Consisting of 12 x 80m pens and a 200-tonne barge, it will be based off Lober Rock close to St Margaret’s Hope in Scapa Flow and is expected to begin operating in 2019.

Richard Darbyshire, SSF regional production manager for Orkney, said: “This latest consent is hugely positive news. For the remote communities in which we live and work, the new farm will bring skilled jobs and training, additional business for local suppliers, and a boost to local economies in terms of increased disposable income.

“From a company perspective, the new farm will help us in our drive to meet demand for responsibly farmed salmon; demand that’s rising rapidly not only here in the UK but internationally as the global population continues to grow – and with it, the need for sustainable protein sources.”

No sea lice

Darbyshire added that the lack of wild salmon rivers in the Orkney’s means that sea lice isn’t an issue. “Testament to this, we haven’t administered one treatment for Lepeophtheirus salmonis in 10 years of farming in Orkney waters,” he stressed.

The new farm at Lober Rock will bring the company’s Orkney estate to eight-strong with five farms acquired from Orkney Sea Farms in 2007, followed by the addition of the 1,909t Wyre farm in 2015 and, most recently, a new 1,791t farm at Westerbister in 2016.

Combined, the expanded SSF Orkney estate will have the capacity to grow over 10,000t of salmon (live weight) annually for customers in the UK and for export.