Scottish Fish Farm Production Survey 2013

2. ATLANTIC SALMON ( Salmo salar) - OVA AND SMOLTS

Production survey information was collected from all 27 companies actively involved in the freshwater production of Atlantic salmon, farming 102 active sites. This figure represents the entire freshwater industry operating in Scotland.

Company and Site Data

Table 12: Number of companies and sites in production during 2004-2013

Year	No. of companies	No. of sites
2004	48	172
2005	41	148
2006	39	135
2007	37	135
2008	38	130
2009	30	105
2010	31	104
2011	28	98
2012	28	100
2013	27	102

In 2013, 27 companies authorised by the Scottish Government were actively engaged in the commercial freshwater production of Atlantic salmon farming a total of 102 sites.

Production and Staffing

Table 13: Number (000's) of smolts produced, staff employed and smolt productivity during 2003-2013

Year		2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013
Number (000's) of smolts produced		44,414	39,999	36,326	40,827	38,125	36,450	36,868	36,872	43,626	44,324	40,457
Staffing	Full-time	291	259	200	209	217	209	216	233	225	235	237
	Part-time	82	60	74	62	62	54	54	56	68	93	48
	Total	373	319	274	271	279	263	270	289	293	328	285
Productivity, 000's of smolts per person		119.1	125.4	132.6	150.6	136.6	138.6	136.5	127.6	148.9	135.1	142.0

Smolt production in 2013 decreased by 8.7% compared to 2012. Data for staffing and productivity in 2013 are shown, however, there are uncertainties with these data due to consolidation within the industry.

Smolts by Age Group

Table 14: Number of smolts (000's) produced by type during 2001-2013

Year	S½	S1	S1½	S2	Total
2001	14,684	32,732	110	20	47,546
2002	15,791	30,527	843	0	47,161
2003	14,907	28,836	671	0	44,414
2004	14,428	24,862	709	0	39,999
2005	12,639	22,197	1,489	1	36,326
2006	16,953	23,172	698	4	40,827
2007	15,431	22,694	0	0	38,125
2008	12,431	24,019	0	0	36,450
2009	13,837	23,031	0	0	36,868
2010	14,116	22,756	0	0	36,872
2011	17,233	26,393	0	0	43,626
2012	18,795	25,239	290	0	44,324
2013	19,024	21,279	154	0	40,457

There was an increase in the number of S½s and a decrease in the number of S1 smolts produced respectively. A small amount of S1½ were produced and there was no production of S2 smolts.

Production Systems

Table 15: Number and capacity of production systems during 2009-2013

System	No. of sites with system					Total capacity, 000's cubic metres
Year	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013
Cages	47	45	44	43	44	388	401	325	349	372
Tanks and Raceways	58	59	54	57	58	37	38	49	51	64
Total	105	104	98	100	102	425	439	374	400	436

The principal types of facility used for the production of smolts in fresh water are cages or tanks and raceways. In 2013, the number of farms using cages increased by one and the number of farms using tanks and raceways also increased by one. In terms of volume, cage capacity increased by 23,000 m³ and tank and raceway capacity increased by 13,000 m³. This resulted in a net increase in volume of 36,000 m³ available for the production of smolts in Scotland during 2013.

Table 16: Number (000's) of smolts produced and stocking densities by production system during 2009-2013

	Number of smolts produced (000's)					Stocking densities (smolts/m 3)
Year	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013
Cages	17,041	20,333	23,135	26,882	20,910	44	51	71	77	56
All others	19,827	16,539	20,491	17,442	19,547	536	435	418	342	305
Total	36,868	36,872	43,626	44,324	40,457	-	-	-	-	-

The average stocking densities of cages decreased from 77 to 56 fish per m³ in 2013 compared to 2012 while densities in tanks and raceways decreased from 342 to 305 fish per m³.

Ova Production

Table 17: Number (000's) of salmon ova produced during 2006-2013

Year	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013
No. of ova	60,941	83,822	135,230	91,964	91,655	78,208	57,489	56,904

In 2013, nearly 57 million ova were stripped, a similar number to 2012.

Table 18: Source, number (000's) and previous year's estimate of ova laid down to hatch during 2002-2014

Year	In-house broodstock	Out-sourced GB broodstock	GB wild broodstock	Foreign ova	Total	Previous year's estimate
2002	40,732	30,664	120	15,184	86,700	80,679
2003	38,766	21,138	0	20,822	80,726	73,193
2004	31,390	20,024	27	19,138	70,579	74,464
2005	43,261	22,465	71	9,896	75,693	65,741
2006	19,063	17,768	63	27,157	64,051	58,385
2007	18,837	14,366	78	42,022	75,303	68,032
2008	19,831	14,261	171	26,409	60,672	75,302
2009	17,148	20,158	65	30,200	67,571	64,693
2010	13,744	26,220	0	29,657	69,621	61,011
2011	15,664	14,630	0	34,322	64,616	54,526
2012	18,556	9,981	0	34,700	63,237	55,723
2013	16,995	8,263	0	41,315	66,573	49,249
2014						48,149

The number of ova laid down to hatch was 66.6 million, an increase of over three million (5.3%) on the 2012 figure. The majority of the ova (62.1%) were derived from foreign sources, this being an increase of 6.6 million (19.1%) on the 2012 figure. Supplies derived from GB broodstock decreased by 3.3 million this being an 11.5% decrease on the 2012 figure. No ova from GB wild broodstock were laid down in 2013, however, in previous years the ova derived from wild stocks were generally held and hatched for wild stock enhancement by the aquaculture industry in cooperation with wild fisheries managers.

Smolts Produced and Put to Sea

Table 19: Actual and projected smolt production and smolts put to sea (millions) during 2004-2015

	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015
Actual smolts put to sea	39.1	37.2	41.1	37.8	36.6	38.5	38.5	42.7	41.1	40.9
Smolts produced	40.0	36.3	40.8	38.1	36.4	36.9	36.9	43.6	44.3	40.5
Estimated production	40.0	36.2	33.2	41.2	34.9	32.6	28.7	35.9	31.3	28.1	39.9	41.8
Ratio of ova laid down to smolts produced	1.8	2.1	1.6	2.0	1.7	1.8	1.9	1.5	1.4	1.6

The figure for the number of smolts put to sea includes smolts produced in England and fish imported from elsewhere, whereas smolt production data relate only to those produced in Scotland. Farmers estimate putting 39.9 million smolts to sea in 2014. The ratio of ova laid down to hatch to smolts produced in 2013 was greater than in 2012.

Scale of Production

Table 20: Smolt-producing sites grouped by numbers (000's) of smolts produced during 2000‑2013

Year	Scale of production								No. of sites in production	Total smolts produced
	1-10	11-25	26-50	51-100	101-250	251-500	501-1,000	>1,000
2000	1	2	10	17	36	24	24	9	123	45,583
2001	0	1	7	19	30	26	13	14	110	47,546
2002	1	1	11	17	29	34	17	10	120	47,161
2003	2	0	7	20	32	31	12	10	114	44,414
2004	3	3	9	14	31	22	18	7	107	39,999
2005	2	1	4	15	25	22	21	4	94	36,326
2006	1	4	2	9	19	21	18	10	84	40,827
2007	2	2	4	7	21	21	14	11	82	38,125
2008	2	1	5	8	21	20	15	9	81	36,450
2009	0	0	3	7	14	18	10	12	64	36,868
2010	1	0	4	4	16	15	10	14	64	36,872
2011	1	0	4	5	11	14	9	17	61	43,626
2012	0	0	1	3	19	14	11	13	61	44,324
2013	1	0	1	7	14	14	7	14	58	40,457

Note: These data refer only to sites producing smolts. The sites holding only ova, fry or parr are excluded.

The number of sites producing smolts in 2013 was 58. The number of sites producing less than 101,000 smolts has increased by five while there has been an decrease of nine in the number of sites producing between 101,000 and one million smolts. The number of sites producing in excess of one million smolts per year has increased by one.

Production of Ova and Smolt by Production Area

Table 21: Staffing in 2013, ova laid down to hatch in 2012-2013, smolt production in 2012-2013 and estimated production in 2014-2015 by region

Region	Number of staff employed in 2013		Ova laid down to hatch (000's)		Smolt production (000's)		Estimated smolt production (000's)
	F/T	P/T	2012	2013	2012	2013	2014	2015
North West	125	17	29,998	34,090	27,271	24,451	23,544	23,053
Orkney	1	1	0	55	130	142	140	140
Shetland	19	12	1,250	3,683	1,681	1,468	1,263	2,400
West	38	12	8,375	16,906	6,582	7,628	9,230	11,392
Western Isles	38	5	10,053	6,200	5,034	5,866	4,326	3,470
East and South	16	1	13,561	5,640	3,626	902	1,359	1,300
All Scotland	237	48	63,237	66,574	44,324	40,457	39,862	41,755

In 2013, the North West and the West were the main areas where ova were laid down to hatch. The North West, the West and the Western Isles were the main smolt producing areas. The greatest number of staff were employed in the North West region.

International Trade in Ova

Since the introduction of the EU single market on 1 ^st January 1993 and the associated Fish Health Regulations common to all EU member states, a trade in live salmon and ova has been established. In addition, the European Economic Area ( EEA) agreement allows trade between the EU and the member states of the European Free Trade Association ( EFTA). Trade is based on the same rules as are established within the EU regarding compartments and zones declared free from listed diseases.

Trade with Third Countries has also been established, but only from sites that have met the same health standards as are established within the EU regarding the approval of farms and zones for listed diseases. Exports to countries outside the EU are subject to the health conditions placed by the importing country. Marine Scotland Science advises potential exporters to ascertain with the importing country any specific health testing requirements that may be a condition of import.

Figure 2: The distribution of active Atlantic salmon smolt sites in 2013

Imports and Exports

Table 22a: Source and number (000's) of ova, parr and smolts imported during 2001-2013 derived from health certificates

Import Year	Ova						Parr and Smolts
	EU Member States	EFTA		Third Countries		Total	EU Member States
		Iceland	Norway	Australia	USA
2001	8,173	10,833	-	1,620	-	20,626	2,475
2002	8,650	11,623	-	1,800	500	22,573	2,879
2003	7,820	9,518	2,900	550	400	21,188	2,570
2004	4,450	3,475	6,750	1,860	450	16,985	824
2005	2,610	570	13,210	-	450	16,840	150
2006	11,575	300	15,940	2,400	-	30,215	375
2007	10,511	0	33,555	0	0	44,066	420
2008	5,600	0	22,703	0	0	28,303	519
2009	5,460	0	29,938	0	0	35,398	328
2010	2,150	0	26,533	0	0	28,683	452
2011	3,400	0	35,851	0	0	39,251	800
2012	10,134	0	23,849	0	0	33,983	0
2013	10,700	2,719	35,044	0	0	48,463	55

The numbers of ova imported increased by 42.6%. A small number of parr and smolts were imported in 2013.

Table 22b: Destination and number (000's) of salmon ova, parr and smolts exported during 2002-2013 derived from health certificates

Export year	Farmed origin				Total	Parr and Smolts
	Chile	EU	Norway	Others
2002	1,600	6,627	0	0	8,227	0
2003	0	2,171	0	0	2,171	941
2004	2,215	3,699	0	0	5,914	1,488
2005	8,560	3,130	0	1,566	13,256	1,362
2006	26,930	4,312	0	0	31,242	998
2007	32,150	164	0	0	32,314	2,169
2008	62,185	130	0	15	62,330	551
2009	7,181	317	0	0	7,498	89
2010	0	189	600	0	789	130
2011	0	0	0	820	820	183
2012	0	0	0	0	0	55
2013	0	650	0	0	650	404

In 2013, 650,000 ova were exported. Parr and smolt exports increased by 635% on the 2012 figure.

Vaccines

Table 23: Number of sites using vaccines and number (millions) of fish vaccinated during 2005-2013

Year	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013
No. of sites	84	79	73	80	68	70	67	63	63
No. of fish (millions) vaccinated	33.8	43.5	41.0	36.7	39.6	42.6	49.2	48.1	47.5

Vaccines were used to provide protection against furunculosis, infectious pancreatic necrosis ( IPN), enteric redmouth disease ( ERM), vibriosis and salmonid alphavirus ( SAV). The majority of fish were vaccinated against furunculosis and IPN, with smaller numbers of fish being vaccinated against ERM, vibriosis and SAV. A total of 47.5 million fish were vaccinated across 63 sites.

Escapes

There were two incidents involving the loss of 16,646 freshwater farmed Atlantic salmon in 2013.