Scottish Fish Farm Production Survey 2024

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

Company and Site Data

In 2024, the number of companies authorised by the Scottish Government for freshwater production of Atlantic salmon decreased by four to 14. A total of 64 sites were actively engaged in commercial production, a decrease of three from the 2023 figure. This figure represents the entire freshwater sector operating in Scotland.

Data Source: Scottish Fish Farm Production Survey 2024, Supplementary Tables, Table 12.

Production and Staffing

Chart 10: Total number of staff employed in Atlantic salmon ova and smolt production 2015-2024.

Chart 10 shows total number of staff employed in Atlantic salmon ova and smolt production over the ten-year period from 2015 to 2024. The data are represented by a dark blue line which shows the combined total of full-time and part-time staff each year.

Chart 11: Number of full-time and part-time staff employed in Atlantic salmon ova and smolt production 2024, by gender.

Chart 11 displays the number of staff employed in Atlantic salmon ova and smolt production by gender and employment status (full-time and part-time). The data are represented using dark blue bars for each category.

Note: FT = Full-time and PT = Part-time

The number of staff employed in 2024 decreased by 25 people (8%) and productivity decreased by 6% to a figure of 159,400 smolts produced per person. Out of 280 staff, 230 were male (82%) and 50 were female (18%).

Data Source: Scottish Fish Farm Production Survey 2024, Supplementary Tables, Table 13.

Smolts by Age Group

Chart 12: Total number (in millions) of Atlantic salmon smolts produced by type during 2015-2024.

Chart 12 illustrates the total number (in millions) of Atlantic salmon smolts produced over the period 2015 to 2024. The upper dashed dark red line shows total smolt production, measured in millions. The solid dark grey line shows the total number of S½ smolts produced while the dashed blue line shows the total number of S1 smolts produced.

Smolt production in 2024 totalled 44.6 million, representing a 13% decrease from the 51.5 million produced 2023. The number of S½ smolts produced fell by 14%, to 23.0 million smolts, while the number of S1 smolts produced decreased by 13%, to 21.6 million smolts. No S1½ smolts were produced during 2024.

Data Source: Scottish Fish Farm Production Survey 2024, Supplementary Tables, Table 14.

Production Systems

Table 2 presents a comparison of the number of sites employing each type of production system for Atlantic salmon smolt production in 2023 and 2024.

Table 3 presents a comparison of the total production capacity (in thousands of cubic metres) used in salmon smolt production during 2023 and 2024, broken down by production system.

The types of facility used for the production of smolts in freshwater are pens or tanks and raceways. In 2024, the number of farms using pens remained the same and the number of farms using tanks and raceways decreased by three. In terms of volume, pen capacity increased by 3,000 m³ and tank and raceway capacity increased by 6,000 m³. This resulted in a 9,000 m³ increase in volume available for the production of smolts in Scotland during 2024.

Data Source: Scottish Fish Farm Production Survey 2024, Supplementary Tables, Table 15.

Table 4 compares the number (in millions) of Atlantic salmon smolts produced in 2023 and 2024 split by facility type.

Table 5 presents a comparison of the stocking densities (smolts per cubic metre) used in salmon smolt production during 2023 and 2024 by production system.

The average stocking densities of pens decreased from 56 to 53 smolts per m³ in 2024 compared to 2023 while densities in tanks and raceways decreased from 381 to 289 smolts per m³.

Data Source: Scottish Fish Farm Production Survey 2024, Supplementary Tables, Table 16.

Ova Production

Chart 13: Total number (in millions) of Atlantic salmon ova produced during 2015-2024.

Chart 13 shows total number, in millions, of Atlantic salmon ova produced over the ten-year period, 2015 to 2024. The data are represented by a solid dark blue line.

In 2024, close to 56 million ova were stripped, a decrease of less than 1% from the number of ova produced in 2023.

Data Source: Scottish Fish Farm Production Survey 2024, Supplementary Tables, Table 17.

Chart 14: Total number (in millions) of Atlantic salmon ova laid down to hatch during 2015-2024.

Chart 14 shows total number, in millions, of Atlantic salmon ova laid down to hatch over the ten-year period, 2015 to 2024. The data are represented by a solid dark blue line.

Table 6 shows the annual breakdown of the number (in thousands) of ova laid down to hatch during 2015-2024, catergorised by source: In-house broodstock, Out-sourced GB broodstock, GB wild broodstock and imported ova. The projected total for 2025 is also presented.

The number of ova laid down to hatch was 89.5 million, an increase of 14.8 million (20%) on the 2023 figure. Imported ova accounted for 59% of ova laid down to hatch, this was an increase of 14.4 million (38%) on the 2023 figure. Supplies derived from GB broodstock (excluding wild origin ova) increased by 0.4 million, an 1% increase on the 2023 figure. In 2024, 17,000 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 sector in cooperation with wild fisheries managers.

Data Source: Scottish Fish Farm Production Survey 2024, Supplementary Tables, Table 18.

Smolts Produced and Put to Sea

Chart 15: Total number (in millions) of smolts produced and actual number (in millions) of smolts put to sea during 2015-2024.

Chart 15 illustrates the total number of smolts produced and total number of smolts put to sea annually from 2015 to 2024, measured in millions. The solid dark grey line shows the total number of smolts produced while the dashed blue line shows the number of smolts put to sea.

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. In 2024, 45.8 million smolts were put to sea and 44.6 million smolts were produced. Smolt producers estimate putting 56.2 million smolts to sea in 2025. The ratio of ova laid down to hatch to smolts produced in 2024 was greater than the ratio in 2023. Detailed figures of estimates and ratios can be found in the Scottish Fish Farm Production Survey 2024, Supplementary Tables, Table 19.

Scale of Production

Chart 16: Atlantic salmon smolt producing sites grouped by number of smolts produced during 2015-2024.

Bar chart 16 shows the number of sites that fall into each smolt production category. The eight categories were 1,000-10,000 smolts, 11,000-25,000 smolts, 26,000 to 50,000 smolts, 51,000-100,000 smolts, 101,000-250,000 smolts, 251,000-500,000 smolts, 501,000-1 million smolts and greater than 1 million smolts.

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 2024 was 31. There was only one site producing less than 101,000 smolts during 2024 while the number of sites producing between 101,000 and one million smolts per year decreased by four. The number of sites producing in excess of one million smolts per year remained at 15 sites.

Data Source: Scottish Fish Farm Production Survey 2024, Supplementary Tables, Table 20

Staff and production of Ova and Smolt by production area

Chart 17: Total number of staff employed in Atlantic salmon ova and smolt production by area.

Chart 17 shows number of staff employed in Atlantic salmon ova and smolt production across different production areas in Scotland during 2024. The data are represented using dark blue bars for each area, Westen Isles, East & South, West, North West, Orkney, Shetland and All Scotland.

The greatest number of staff were employed in the North West area.

Data Source: Scottish Fish Farm Production Survey 2024, Supplementary Tables, Table 21.

Table 7 presents regional data on ova laid down to hatch and smolt production (in thousands) in 2023 and 2024, and estimated smolt production in 2025 and 2026 (in thousands). Data are reported by individual production area, North West, Orkney, Shetland, West, Western Isles and East and South, with an overall total summarised for All Scotland.

In 2024, 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.

Data Source: Scottish Fish Farm Production Survey 2024, Supplementary Tables, Table 21.

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 8 shows annual imports of salmon ova, fry, parr and smolts from 2020-2024 based on health certificate records. The table details the source countries, Iceland, Norway and the Republic of Ireland, and the number of imported ova and juvenile fish (in thousands), with yearly totals provided for each category.

The numbers of ova imported increased by 35% in 2024. The number fry, parr or smolts imported increased, with 1,030,000 fish being imported from the Republic of Ireland during 2024.

In 2024, no ova were exported. Fry, parr and smolts exports decreased with 147,000 fish being exported during 2024.

Data Source: Scottish Fish Farm Production Survey 2024, Supplementary Tables, Table 22a and Table 22b.

Vaccines

Table 9 details the number of aquaculture sites administering vaccines and the total number of fish vaccinated (in millions) from 2015 to 2024.

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 65.4 million fish were vaccinated across 33 sites.

Data Source: Scottish Fish Farm Production Survey 2024, Supplementary Tables, Table 23.

Escapes

In 2024, there was one escape incident involving the loss of 300 freshwater farmed Atlantic salmon.

Escapes data from previous annual survey reports are available: Scottish Fish Farm Production Survey 2024, Supplementary Tables, Table 46.