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Publication - Statistics

Scottish Fish Farm Production Survey 2022

Published
4 October 2023
From
Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands
Directorate
Marine Directorate
Part of
Marine and fisheries
ISBN
9781835213377

This report is based on the returns of an annual survey questionnaire sent to all active authorised fish farming businesses in Scotland during 2022. Statistics on employment, production and value are presented.

This document is part of a collection

View supporting documents Supporting documents

2. Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar) - Ova and Smolts

Production survey information was collected from all 21 companies actively involved in the freshwater production of Atlantic salmon, farming 70 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 2013-2022
Year No. of companies No. of sites
2013 27 102
2014 26 96
2015 25 87
2016 26 87
2017 24 79
2018 24 71
2019 23 76
2020 24 78
2021 22 74
2022 21 70

In 2022, the number of companies authorised by the Scottish Government for freshwater production of Atlantic salmon decreased by one to 21. A total of 70 sites were actively engaged in commercial production, a decrease of four from the 2021 figure.

Production and Staffing

Table 13: Number (000's) of smolts produced, staff employed and smolt productivity during 2013-2022
Year Number (000's) of smolts produced Full-time Male Full-time Female Total Full-time Part-time Male Part-time Female Total Part-time Total Staff Productivity (000's) smolts per person
2013 40,457 226 11 237 29 19 48 285 142.0
2014 45,004 226 18 244 42 23 65 309 145.6
2015 44,571 208 31 239 41 14 55 294 151.6
2016 42,894 225 27 252 35 7 42 294 145.9
2017 46,152 219 31 250 33 8 41 291 158.6
2018 47,097 210 29 239 30 9 39 278 169.4
2019 51,430 215 32 247 26 8 34 281 183.0
2020 50,492 233 30 263 23 6 29 292 172.9
2021 51,198 229 33 262 18 11 29 291 175.9
2022 55,057 233 31 264 22 9 31 295 186.6

Smolt production in 2022 increased by 8% compared to 2021. The number of staff employed in 2022 increased by four and productivity increased by 6% to a figure of 186,600 smolts produced per person.

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 2013-2022
Year S½ S1 S1½ Total
2013 19,024 21,279 154 40,457
2014 22,367 22,473 164 45,004
2015 23,850 20,711 10 44,571
2016 25,072 17,822 0 42,894
2017 28,072 18,080 0 46,152
2018 24,058 23,039 0 47,097
2019 25,607 25,823 0 51,430
2020 22,872 27,620 0 50,492
2021 30,175 20,709 314 51,198
2022 26,587 28,470 0 55,057

In 2022, there was a decrease of 12% in the number of S½ smolts produced and an increase of 37% in the number of S1 smolts produced. In 2022 there was no production of S1½ smolts.

Production Systems

Table 15: Number and capacity of production systems during 2018-2022
System No. of sites with system Total capacity, 000's cubic metres
Year 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
Pens 27 27 27 26 23 346 351 379 374 364
Tanks and Raceways 44 49 51 48 47 54 68 62 65 63
Total 71 76 78 74 70 400 419 441 439 427

The types of facility used for the production of smolts in freshwater are pens or tanks and raceways. In 2022, the number of farms using pens deceased by three and the number of farms using tanks and raceways decreased by one. In terms of volume, pen capacity decreased by 10,000 m³ and tank and raceway capacity decreased by 2,000 m³. This resulted in a net decrease in volume of 12,000 m³ available for the production of smolts in Scotland during 2022.

Table 16: Number (000's) of smolts produced and stocking densities by production system during 2018-2022
  Number of smolts produced (000's) Stocking densities (smolts/m3)
Year 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
Pens 21,771 18,964 18,331 19,344 20,310 63 54 48 52 56
All others 25,326 32,466 32,161 31,854 34,747 469 477 519 490 552
Total 47,097 51,430 50,492 51,198 55,057 - - - - -

The average stocking densities of pens increased from 52 to 56 smolts per m³ in 2022 compared to 2021, while densities in tanks and raceways increased from 490 to 552 smolts per m³.

Ova Production

Table 17: Number (000's) of salmon ova produced during 2013-2022
Year 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
No. of ova 56,904 33,450 11,605 13,689 12,631 15,228 11,618 20,021 46,255 53,195

In 2022, over 53 million ova were stripped, an increase of 15% from the number of ova produced in 2021.

Table 18: Source, number (000's), previous year's estimate of ova laid down to hatch during 2013-2022 and projected production for 2023
Year In-house broodstock Out-sourced GB broodstock GB wild broodstock Imported ova Total Previous year's estimate
2013 16,996 8,263 0 41,315 66,573 49,249
2014 14,418 2,725 10 53,684 70,837 48,149
2015 6,479 223 10 61,463 68,175 65,284
2016 5,884 4 0 58,458 64,346 59,604
2017 6,228 360 0 59,158 65,746 60,673
2018 8,780 200 0 61,499 70,479 67,374
2019 5,516 1,724 75 63,931 71,246 71,571
2020 5,195 4,480 258 68,685 78,618 70,598
2021 6,383 22,581 124 43,707 72,795 68,588
2022 2,906 29,871 0 45,761 78,538 77,306
2023 73,096

The number of ova laid down to hatch was 78.5 million, an increase of 5.7 million (8%) on the 2021 figure. The majority of the ova (58%) were imported, this being an increase of 2 million (5%) on the 2021 figure. Supplies derived from GB broodstock (excluding wild origin ova) increased by 5.1 million, a 7% increase on the 2021 figure. In 2022, no ova from GB wild broodstock were laid down to hatch, ova derived from wild stocks are 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 2013-2024
  2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Actual smolts put to sea 40.9 48.1 45.5 43.0 46.1 45.5 53.0 52.5 51.1 55.3
Smolts produced 40.5 45.0 44.6 42.9 46.2 47.1 51.4 50.5 51.2 55.1
Estimated production 28.1 39.9 43.4 36.6 39.3 46.1 38.6 52.1 55.6 54.1 47.1 56.6
Ratio of ova laid down to smolts produced 1.6 1.6 1.5 1.5 1.4 1.5 1.4 1.6 1.4 1.4

The figure for the number of smolts put to sea includes smolts produced in England and smolts imported from elsewhere, whereas smolt production data relate only to those produced in Scotland. Smolt producers estimate putting 47.1 million smolts to sea in 2023. The ratio of ova laid down to hatch to smolts produced in 2022 was the same as the ratio in 2021.

Scale of Production

Table 20: Smolt-producing sites grouped by numbers (000's) of smolts produced during 2013‑2022
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
2013 1 0 1 7 14 14 7 14 58 40,457
2014 0 0 2 1 11 9 14 13 50 45,004
2015 1 1 2 4 9 11 16 11 55 44,571
2016 1 1 0 3 7 11 13 12 48 42,894
2017 1 0 0 2 6 11 10 15 45 46,152
2018 0 1 0 0 6 9 14 12 42 47,097
2019 1 0 0 2 8 8 10 16 45 51,430
2020 1 1 0 4 4 5 10 16 41 50,492
2021 1 0 0 2 6 5 9 16 39 51,198
2022 0 0 0 0 5 9 9 15 38 55,057

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 2022 was 38. There were no sites producing less than 101,000 smolts during 2022 while the number of sites producing between 101,000 and one million smolts per year increased by three. The number of sites producing in excess of one million smolts per year decreased by one to 15 sites.

Production of Ova and Smolt by Production Area

Table 21: Staffing in 2022, ova laid down to hatch in 2021-2022, smolt production in 2021-2022 and estimated production in 2023-2024 by region
Region Number of staff employed in 2022 Ova laid down to hatch (000's) Smolt production (000's) Estimated smolt production (000's)
F/T P/T 2021 2022 2021 2022 2023 2024
North West 156 19 39,077 47,168 28,369 30,336 27,773 32,784
Orkney 2 2 175 175 111 109 0 0
Shetland 22 2 4,239 3,459 2,905 3,962 1,760 3,240
West 59 4 24,766 25,421 16,063 17,489 14,114 17,770
Western Isles 20 2 4,493 2,315 2,695 2,173 2,475 1,770
East and South 5 2 45 0 1,055 988 946 1,000
All Scotland 264 31 72,795 78,538 51,198 55,057 47,068 56,564

In 2022, the North West and the West were the main areas where ova were laid down to hatch. The North West and the West were the main smolt producing areas. The greatest number of staff were employed in the North West region.

Figure 2: The regional distribution of active Atlantic salmon smolt sites in 2022

© Crown copyright and database rights 2020 OS (100024655)

International Trade

Scotland has a high health status with regard to the listed diseases. Imports of Atlantic salmon must originate from a source that is of equal or higher health status and consignments must be accompanied by a health certificate issued by the competent authority confirming that all requirements have been met.

Exports are subject to the health conditions placed by the importing country. Potential exporters should ascertain from the competent authority in the importing country any specific health testing requirements that may be a condition of import and obtain a copy of the required health certificate. The Fish Health Inspectorate will provide advice on whether the source site can fulfil the export requirements.

Imports and Exports

Table 22a: Source and number (000's) of salmon ova, fry, parr and smolts imported during 2013-2022 derived from health certificates
Import Year Ova Fry, Parr and Smolts
Iceland Norway Republic of Ireland Total Norway Republic of Ireland Total
2013 2,719 35,044 10,700 48,463 0 55 55
2014 3,813 49,831 5,218 58,862 1,748 1,602 3,350
2015 8,978 45,926 4,815 59,719 365 2,118 2,483
2016 5,324 38,602 5,444 49,370 0 1,956 1,956
2017 13,883 37,025 7,000 57,908 0 2,012 2,012
2018 10,116 48,430 7,250 65,796 0 1,700 1,700
2019 26,352 23,673 10,184 60,209 0 297 297
2020 41,756 220 15,296 57,272 0 1,130 1,130
2021 31,276 160 19,260 50,696 0 300 300
2022 23,370 175 20,367 43,912 0 0 0

The numbers of ova imported decreased by 13% in 2022. During 2022 no fry, parr or smolts were imported.

Table 22b: Number (000's) of salmon ova, fry, parr and smolts exported during 2013-2022 derived from health certificates
Export year Farmed origin ova Fry, Parr and Smolts
2013 650 404
2014 0 259
2015 95 8
2016 358 173
2017 339 206
2018 23 71
2019 0 263
2020 0 389
2021 0 371
2022 0 0

In 2022, no ova, fry, parr or smolts were exported.

Vaccines

Table 23: Number of sites using vaccines and number (millions) of fish vaccinated during 2013-2022
Year 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
No. of sites 63 56 55 47 46 43 46 43 43 40
No. of fish (millions) vaccinated 47.5 44.7 48.0 42.6 58.4 51.0 52.4 59.2 54.9 56.2

Vaccines were used to provide protection against furunculosis, infectious pancreatic necrosis (IPN), ERM, vibriosis and salmonid alphavirus (SAV). The majority of fish were vaccinated against furunculosis, IPN and SAV, with smaller numbers of fish being vaccinated against ERM and vibriosis. A total of 56.2 million fish were vaccinated across 40 sites.

Escapes

In 2022, there were no reported escapes from sites rearing freshwater Atlantic salmon.

Contact

Email: lorna.munro@gov.scot

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