The Scottish Salmon Company (SSC) is building a new harvest station at Arnish, which, at the time of publication, was due to be up and running by the end of June.
The station represents an investment of £750K by SSC, will create 10 new jobs and have the capacity to harvest over 10,000 fish a day.
According to SSC’s general manager in Stornoway, Alan Brown, it is also a testament to the success of the Marybank processing plant which was reopened with 70 new jobs in the autumn of 2010, and now produces high quality salmon fillets for export all over the world.
Benefiting from a £3m investment for refurbishment and new equipment, SSC’s Marybank facility is one of the few worldwide to produce pre-rigor pinbone out fillets which increase shelf life by up to two days.
Alan Brown said: “The facility, which will work in tandem with our existing harvest station at Lochinver, will greatly improve efficiency at Marybank by enabling us to start processing earlier.”
He said that fish will be harvested in the morning and processed the same day, ensuring optimum freshness.
In 2011, the first full year since the Marybank processing plant was reopened by the new management team at SSC, the company has injected an additional £8.5m into the local economy via wages and through its work with local suppliers. This figure is now set to increase as production levels are ramped up with the opening of the harvesting station at Arnish and this year’s harvest from the company’s award-winning Loch Roag.
One of those suppliers is Polybox, a neighbour on the Marybank Industrial Estate. Calum Campbell of Polybox said: “We are very proud of the success of Marybank and of our operations in the Western Isles. The confidence that breeds is behind the investment in Arnish and our belief that we can build a sustainable salmon farming business that supports jobs and communities for the long term and the economic impact to the local economy of £8.5m is real evidence of our commitment.”
The harvest station will include a pump ashore pontoon which will be serviced by a well-boat. Once the harvest station is operational The Scottish Salmon Company will be the only major operator who farms and processes on the island.
