CALLS have been made for an increase in fish farms in Scotland to keep up with growing export demand for Scottish salmon as sales plummet by more than one fifth, losing the industry around £100 million.
Scottish Salmon Producers’ Organisation (SSPO) insisted there were not enough sites in Scotland to keep up with the year-round demand for large fish from its biggest export markets in the USA and China.
Sales to the USA, Canada and the Far East were down by about a third, compared with the previous year, according to the latest HMRC provisional figures which cover the first 11 months of 2015.
SSPO said the industry was looking to cut costs as a result of the drop in sales and, as reported in The National this week, Marine Harvest Scotland is to axe up to 100 jobs after a dip in production.
The official figures showed that up until the end of November last year the world bought more than £353m worth of UK salmon, which is effectively fish reared in Scottish waters, but that figure was down one fifth on the 2014 figure of about £457m.
However, crucial markets in the USA, China and Canada bought almost 30 per cent less fish because Scotland cannot keep up with the demand.
SSPO chief executive Scott Landsbourgh also cited other causes for the slump being the Russian boycott, which had left a glut of salmon on world markets, and the strength of the pound against the Norwegian kroner.
Landsbourgh said he called on the Scottish Government to take action five years ago when he presented a paper to ministers but he said they were only now launching a “consenting review and a major planning review” of the industry and now hopes that will make salmon a more sustainable industry.
Landsbourgh said the key factor was more salmon farm sites because Scotland is still producing the same amount now that it had produced in 2002, whereas Norway’s salmon production has grown year on year.
Landsborough said he has been urging the Government to do more to help the industry grow and sort out planning restrictions on farms for the past five years.
A Scottish Government spokesman said: “During the last two years we saw unprecedented growth of almost 40 per cent in the sales value of Scottish salmon exports to the US. The strength of the sterling has affected this growth since then, as a strong pound makes it more expensive for consumers in other countries to buy Scottish salmon.
“We are continuing to work hard with our partners to grow Scottish food exports.”
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