Scottish Fish Farm Production Survey 2020

1. Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)

Production survey information was collected from all 21 companies actively involved in rainbow trout production, farming 50 active sites. This figure represents the entire industry operating in Scotland.

Production

Table 1a: Annual production (tonnes) of rainbow trout during 2006-2020 and projected production in 2021

Year	Tonnes	Percentage difference	Year	Tonnes	Percentage difference
2006	7,492	7	2014	5,882	5
2007	7,414	-1	2015	8,588	46
2008	7,670	3	2016	8,096	-6
2009	6,766	-12	2017	7,637	-6
2010	5,139	-24	2018	6,413	-16
2011	4,619	-10	2019	7,405	15
2012	5,670	23	2020	7,576	2
2013	5,611	-1	2021	9,303*

* Industry estimate based on stocks currently being on-grown.

Production increased in 2020 by 171 tonnes, an increase of 2%, to 7,576 tonnes.

Table 1b: Production (tonnes) for the table trade during 2011-2020 according to weight category

Year	<450 g	450-900 g	>900 g	Total
	<1 lb	1-2 lbs	>2 lbs	Tonnes
2011	1,421	1,004	1,433	3,858
2012	1,195	1,655	2,209	5,059
2013	1,908	825	2,268	5,001
2014	2,334	290	2,704	5,328
2015	2,299	258	5,476	8,033
2016	2,393	234	4,810	7,437
2017	2,000	544	4,453	6,997
2018	803	223	4,848	5,874
2019	343	228	6,335	6,906
2020	403	164	6,465	7,032

Production for the table in 2020 was 7,032 tonnes, an increase of 126 tonnes (2%) on the 2019 total. This accounted for 93% of the total rainbow trout production, the same proportion to that produced in 2019. Also, an increase in the number of fish in the large and small size ranges and a decrease in the number of fish in the medium size range were observed.

Table 1c: Production (tonnes) for the restocking trade during 2011-2020 according to weight category

Year	<450 g	450-900 g	>900 g	Total
	<1 lb	1-2 lbs	>2 lbs	Tonnes
2011	8	419	334	761
2012	22	266	323	611
2013	24	221	365	610
2014	28	256	270	554
2015	15	158	382	555
2016	35	183	441	659
2017	10	150	480	640
2018	14	143	382	539
2019	16	113	370	499
2020	46	130	368	544

In 2020, production for the restocking of angling waters increased to 544 tonnes representing an increase of 45 tonnes (9%) on the 2019 total. This accounted for 7% of total rainbow trout production in 2020. These figures represent the tonnage of fish supplied to angling waters for restocking purposes; they do not account for the catch taken by anglers. The production of large sized fish showed a small decrease while there was an increase in the production of small and medium sized fish.

Production by Site

Table 2: Number of sites grouped by tonnage produced during 2011-2020

Year	Number of sites per production tonnage				Total number of sites
	<1-25	26-100	101-200	>200
2011	9	10	6	8	33
2012	10	10	6	8	34
2013	6	11	5	8	30
2014	6	11	5	9	31
2015	4	10	5	11	30
2016	6	10	3	13	32
2017	4	8	5	11	28
2018	5	10	3	11	29
2019	5	9	4	10	28
2020	6	13	2	11	32

Production was reported from 32 of the 50 active sites. The number of producers in the 101-200 tonnes size bracket decreased while those in the <1-25, 26-100 and >200 tonnes size brackets increased. These figures do not include those sites specialising in the production of ova or young fish for on-growing.

Production by Method

Table 3: Grouping of rainbow trout sites by production tonnages, main methods of production in 2020 and comparison with production in 2019

Production method	Production grouping (tonnes) in 2020					Total tonnage and (%) by method		Number of sites
	<10	10-25	26-50	51-100	>100	2019	2020	2019	2020
FW cages	1	0	0	1	4	2,273 (30.7%)	2,279 (30.1%)	6	6
FW ponds and raceways	1	2	5	3	3	971 (13.1%)	1,022 (13.5%)	12	14
FW tanks and hatcheries	2	0	0	1	0	78 (1.1%)	86 (1.1%)	4	3
SW cages	0	0	1	2	6	4,083 (55.1%)	4,189 (55.3%)	6	9
SW tanks	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total	4	2	6	7	13	7,405	7,576	28	32

Seawater production accounted for 4,189 tonnes (55.3%) and freshwater production the remaining 3,387 tonnes (44.7%). Production from all freshwater facilities and seawater cage facilities increased during 2020.

Company and Site Data

Table 4: Number of companies and sites in production during 2011-2020

Year	No. of companies	No. of sites
2011	23	48
2012	25	48
2013	24	46
2014	24	46
2015	24	45
2016	24	44
2017	23	44
2018	23	53
2019	22	52
2020	21	50

In 2020, the number of companies authorised by the Scottish Government and actively engaged in rainbow trout production was 21. The number of sites registered and in production was 50.

Staffing and Productivity

Table 5: Number of staff employed and productivity per person during 2011-2020

Year	Full-time Male	Full-time Female	Total Full-time	Part-time Male	Part-time Female	Total Part-time	Total Staff	Productivity (tonnes/person)
2011	90	5	95	16	7	23	118	39.1
2012	74	5	79	23	5	28	107	53.0
2013	85	4	89	16	5	21	110	51.0
2014	86	7	93	13	7	20	113	52.1
2015	100	10	110	10	6	16	126	68.2
2016	90	10	100	15	6	21	121	66.9
2017	98	12	110	15	7	22	132	57.9
2018	103	8	111	17	8	25	136	47.2
2019	103	11	114	21	9	30	144	51.4
2020	97	13	110	20	4	24	134	56.5

The overall number of staff employed in 2020 decreased by 10 to 134. The number of full-time staff decreased by four while the number of part-time staff decreased by six. Productivity, measured as tonnes produced per person, increased by 9.9% in 2020 with no distinction between full and part-time employees being made for this calculation.

Production by Area

Table 6: Production and staffing by area in 2020

Area	No. of sites	Table production (tonnes)	Restocking production (tonnes)	Mean tonnes per site	Staffing			Productivity (tonnes/person)
					F/T	P/T	Total
North*	12	282	29	25.9	10	4	14	22.2
East	12	935	261	99.7	27	10	37	32.3
West	16	5,432	11	340.2	60	5	65	83.7
South	10	383	243	62.6	13	5	18	34.8
All	50	7,032	544	151.5	110	24	134	56.5

*From 2018, the North area also included production and staff from the Western Isles

Productivity was greatest in the West at 340.2 tonnes per site and 83.7 tonnes per person.

© Crown copyright and database rights 2020 OS (100024655)

Type of Ova Laid Down

Table 7: Number (000's) and proportions (%) of eyed ova types laid down to hatch during 2011-2020

Year	All female diploid no. (%)	Triploid no. (%)	Mixed sex diploid no. (%)	Total ova
2011	12,673 (84)	2,254 (15)	215 (1)	15,142
2012	10,967 (85)	2,005 (15)	7 (<1)	12,979
2013	7,857 (80)	1,955 (20)	77 (<1)	9,889
2014	8,321 (75)	2,710 (25)	9 (<1)	11,040
2015	10,245 (85)	1,800 (15)	76 (<1)	12,121
2016	7,986 (80)	1,943 (20)	5 (<1)	9,934
2017	2,366 (34)	4,670 (66)	5 (<1)	7,041
2018	1,460 (23)	4,843 (77)	15 (<1)	6,318
2019	1,077 (16)	5,369 (82)	105 (2)	6,551
2020	286 (5)	5,943 (95)	15 (<1)	6,244

Source of Ova Laid Down

Table 8: Number (000's) and sources of eyed ova laid down to hatch in 2011-2020

Year	Ova produced in Great Britain (GB)			Total Imported ova		Total
	Own stock	Other stock	Total	Northern hemisphere	Southern hemisphere
2011	215	189	404	14,738	0	15,142
2012	14	230	244	12,735	0	12,979
2013	77	537	614	9,275	0	9,889
2014	9	655	664	10,376	0	11,040
2015	6	888	894	11,227	0	12,121
2016	35	349	384	9,550	0	9,934
2017	20	547	567	6,474	0	7,041
2018	15	495	510	5,808	0	6,318
2019	10	22	32	6,519	0	6,551
2020	15	1,552	1,567	3,712	965	6,244

In 2020, the total number of eyed ova laid down to hatch decreased by 0.3 million (4.7%) on the 2019 figure. Imported ova came from both the Northern and Southern hemispheres during 2020. The proportion of ova from GB broodstock increased (25% of the total) and the rainbow trout industry remained reliant on imported ova. Data on the importation of ova into Scotland are also available from the health certificates and are shown in Table 9a. Any discrepancy between the figures in Tables 8 and 9a is due to data being obtained from two independent sources.

Imports from Official Import Health Certificates

Table 9a: Number (000's) and sources of ova imported into Scotland from outwith GB during 2011-2020

Source	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020
Denmark	5,250	1,950	1,315	2,500	2,330	5,535	3,518	3,728	5,567	3,703
Isle of Man	520	300	800	1,000	175	20	300	0	0	0
N. Ireland	7,320	8,332	5,125	4,780	6,535	3,040	1,240	1,085	380	150
Norway	130	300	175	710	670	500	774	0	0	0
South Africa	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1,225
Spain	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	60	180
USA	1,580	1,800	2,350	1,700	1,675	750	0	855	430	0
Totals	14,800	12,682	9,765	10,690	11,385	9,845	5,832	5,668	6,437	5,258

Table 9b: Seasonal variation in numbers (000's) and sources of ova imported into Scotland from outwith GB during 2020

Month	Denmark	N. Ireland	South Africa	Spain
January	1,030	0	0	0
February	125	0	0	0
March	227	150	0	0
April	681	0	0	0
May	200	0	125	0
June	100	0	130	0
July	0	0	0	0
August	0	0	250	0
September	0	0	720	0
October	420	0	0	0
November	920	0	0	180
December	0	0	0	0
Totals	3,703	150	1,225	180

Table 9c: Number (000's) and sources of fish imported into Scotland from outwith GB during 2011-2020

Source	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020
N. Ireland	72	155	537	674	746	592	486	391	935	787

Suppliers within the European Union (EU) accounted for 76.7% of ova imported into Scotland during 2020 with South Africa accounting for the remaining 23.3%. In recent years there has been a trend for producers to import part grown rainbow trout into Scotland from Northern Ireland.

Trade in Fry and Fingerlings

Table 10: Number (000's) of fry and fingerlings traded during 2011-2020

Year	Fry and fingerlings bought			Total number bought	Total number sold
	All female diploid no. (%)	Triploid no. (%)	Mixed sex diploid no. (%)
2011	16,288 (88.5)	1,970 (10.7)	138 (0.8)	18,396	16,612
2012	12,543 (91)	1,226 (9)	0	13,769	12,088
2013	6,734 (84)	1,239 (16)	0	7,973	6,749
2014	5,911 (81)	1,423 (19)	0	7,334	6,719
2015	6,104 (87)	598 (9)	290 (4)	6,992	6,971
2016	6,452 (85)	1,125 (15)	0	7,577	6,779
2017	3,989 (73)	1,446 (27)	0	5,435	4,145
2018	979 (42)	1,361 (58)	0	2,340	2,383
2019	861 (25)	2,532 (75)	0	3,393	2,832
2020	937 (33)	1,916 (67)	0	2,853	2,544

The established trade between hatcheries and on-growing farms continued in 2020. Some companies specialised in fry and fingerling production. The total number of fry and fingerlings bought decreased by 15.9% while the number sold decreased by 10.2%. The disparity between supply and demand is due to trade with England and Wales.

Use of Vaccines

Table 11: Number of sites rearing fish vaccinated against enteric redmouth disease ( ERM) and number of fish vaccinated (millions) during 2011-2020

Year	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020
No. of sites	26	24	19	21	17	18	18	17	21	18
No. of fish	20.3	20.4	9.9	10.0	8.3	7.3	5.4	3.4	3.4	2.8

Vaccines continued to be used as a preventative treatment against enteric redmouth disease (ERM), a potentially serious bacterial infection, caused by Yersinia ruckeri. Vaccination is generally carried out as a bath treatment at the fingerling stage, although some vaccines are administered by intra-peritoneal injection. A total of 2.8 million fish were vaccinated on 18 sites.

Organic Production

Of the 52 sites recorded as being active in rainbow trout production in 2020, none were certified as organic.

Escapes

There was one incident involving the loss of 1,601 fish from a rainbow trout site in 2020. There was one additional incident reported where the company confirmed there was no loss of fish.