Marine Scotland Science has published a survey which reveals that Scottish salmon production reached a nine year high in 2012.
The Scottish Fish Farm Production Survey 2012, details statistics on the employment, production and fish escapes from Scottish fish farms and follows industry trends within the trout, salmon and other farmed species sectors.
The main finding of the survey was in relation to Scottish salmon, which is the country’s largest food export.
It detailed that the production tonnage of Atlantic salmon increased by 2.7% in 2012 to 162,223 tonnes. This is the highest recorded production since 2003 and follows on from a 2.5% increase in 2011.
Production tonnage of rainbow trout increased by 22.8% in 2012 to 5,670 tonnes. This follows on from a 10.1% reduction in 2011.
But as always, it wasn't good news for all species, brown trout and sea trout production decreased from 61 tonnes in 2011 to 42 tonnes in 2012.
The Scottish Government has put its weight behind sustainable growth of the sector by way of the Aquaculture and Fisheries (Scotland) Act 2013 and has put in place aquaculture growth targets to be achieved by 2020.
