Scottish Shellfish Farm Production Survey 2025

Businesses and sites

The numbers of authorised and active shellfish farming businesses in 2025 was 90. This number has steadily declined in the last ten years from a value of 138 in 2016, dropping 35% over the decade. There were many sites that held stock not yet ready for market, others were fallow, and some were located in remote areas where cost-effective production and marketing of shellfish proved difficult. In 2025,163 sites produced shellfish for sale, a decrease of 8% from 2024 (178), with 60% of these sites located in Shetland.

Data Source: Scottish Shellfish Farm Production Survey 2025, Supplementary Tables, Table 3.

Number of active and producing sites.

The blue bars show the number of active farm sites and the green bars show the number of producing farm sites by region.

Note: A business may produce more than one species and in more than one region. Active = Farm sites in a production growing cycle which may contain stock or be fallow. Producing = Farm sites placing shellfish on the market for the table and/or on-growing.

Data Source: Scottish Shellfish Farm Production Survey 2025, Supplementary Tables, Table 4.

The map shows the geographical distribution of active shellfish farm sites in each region. Due to symbol overlap in areas of high site density, individual sites cannot be reliably counted from the map; therefore, regional totals are provided, with the number of producing sites given in brackets. A single business located within the Dumfries and Galloway region continues to be included within the Strathclyde regional statistics to protect individual business confidentiality.

There were four Several Orders in place for scallop fisheries in 2025 (see figure 1) all of which were located in the Highland region.

Pie charts show the proportion of businesses producing common mussel, king scallop, native oyster, and Pacific oyster in 2025 across Shetland, Strathclyde, Orkney, Highland, and Western Isles, illustrating regional differences in species production.

Chart 6 shows number of businesses by region and by species with table production, chart 7 with on-growing production and chart 8 with no production. Many businesses cultivate more than one species on site, a practice made possible by similar cultivation techniques. For example, Pacific oyster can be grown with native oyster, and mussel with Pacific oyster. The highest proportion of Pacific oyster businesses are located in Strathclyde while the highest proportion of mussel businesses are in Shetland.

Number of businesses.

The chart shows the number of businesses producing shellfish for table use by species and region. Regions surveyed are Highland, Orkney, Shetland, Strathclyde and the Western Isles, and species shown are common mussel, king scallop, native oyster and Pacific oyster. Production figures represent the number of businesses operating in each category.

Number of businesses.

The chart shows the number of businesses supplying shellfish for on‑growing to other producers by species and region. Regions surveyed are Highland, Orkney, Shetland, Strathclyde and the Western Isles, and species shown are common mussel, king scallop, native oyster and Pacific oyster. There was no production for on‑growing in Orkney. Figures represent the number of businesses operating in each category.

Number of businesses.

The chart shows the number of shellfish businesses with no production by species and region. Regions surveyed are Highland, Orkney, Shetland, Strathclyde and the Western Isles, and species shown are common mussel, king scallop, native oyster and Pacific oyster. Figures represent the number of businesses operating in each category.

Number of businesses.

The chart shows the number of businesses producing common mussel, grouped by annual production level. Production categories range from >0–10 tonnes to over 300 tonnes. Figures represent the number of businesses within each production category.

Number of businesses.

The chart shows the number of businesses producing Pacific oyster, grouped by annual production level. Businesses are categorised by production volumes ranging from >0–10,000 shells to over 300,000 shells. Figures represent the number of businesses within each production category.

There were 12 businesses producing more than 200 tonnes of common mussel, this was one more than in 2024. These 12 businesses produced 90% (11,098 tonnes) of the total common mussel production in Scotland. There were two businesses that produced more than 300,000 Pacific oysters. The production from these businesses accounted for 44% (1,110,000 shells) of the Scottish Pacific oyster total.

For king scallop, one business produced >0-10,000 shells and one produced 10,000-20,000 shells. For native oyster, five businesses produced >0-10,000 shells and one produced 100,000-200,000 shells.