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Fish farmers doing well home and away

Ken Jones

5 August 2003 - Press and Journal Scotland - One of Scotland's leading aquaculture companies has extended a helping hand to colleagues from the other side of the globe - and to fishermen nearer home.

Marine Harvest yesterday showed a group of fish-farm representatives from Australia's Northern Territories around its Lochaber salmon operations.

And it explained how it's expertise is helping replenish sea-trout stocks in Highland rivers and lochs.

So far this year 200,000 sea-trout fry have been reared in Marine Harvest facilities and released into the wild in Lochaber.

The sea-trout restocking programme is one of a number of ways that the company is working in partnership with wild fishing interests.

"There has been a long-term decline in sea trout over many years," said Steve Bracken, the company's production services manager.

"We have the facilities, the equipment and the expertise so we are delighted to be able to help."

The fry are being reared at the company's hatchery at Morar, which has been working with sea trout since 1998, producing over 1million fish to be released back into the wild.

So far this year, 20,000 fry have been released into the River Moidart, 40,000 into Loch Morar and 150,000 into Loch Eilt. Marine Harvest is also holding mature fish from Loch Shiel to grow fry at other small hatcheries the company has helped set up locally.

Mr Bracken said more time was needed to gauge the re-stocking programme's impact but there were already signs it was helping boost wild sea-trout numbers.

"We get enormous satisfaction from doing this, not just because it's a bit different from working with salmon and halibut, but also because many of our staff are enthusiastic anglers," he added.

But yesterday the emphasis was on salmon production as company officials gave a guided tour to visitors from Down Under, who are on a three-day fact-finding trip to Lochaber. They come from a fish-farm operation established by Marine Harvest with the Tiwi people, part of the Aboriginal nation, on Tiwi Islands, also known as Bathurst Island, 120km north of Darwin in Australia's Northern Territories.

The farm is the product of a late-90s vision to establish a large finfish sea-farm industry commencing with barramundi, but expanding to include other proven, aquaculture species that are economically viable.

The aim was to produce 1,000 tonnes of barramundi a year but this will be exceeded by 2004. By the end of last month, there were 700,000 fish on the site with 5 tonnes being harvested every week at an average of 4kg each.

Yesterday, the party, which is hear to further their knowledge and expertise, was given a tour of the Loch Leven sea-farm unit near Ballachulish by manager, Ronnie Hawkins.

They later saw the processing facilities at the company's Blar Mor Industrial Estate factory on the outskirts of Fort William before going on to the Lochailort smolt unit and Inverailort hatchery.

The visitors also joined hundreds of tourists and locals basking in sunshine at Mallaig and Morar annual Highland Games. The party moves to Edinburgh today to visit Marine Harvest's headquarters before travelling to Amsterdam to see the base of Nutreco, its parent company.

Source: Press and Journal (Scotland)

related links:

• National Public Radio: Australia and Its Aboriginals
  (RealMedia) Part Two: Life and Death for the Tiwi
  Josh Levs reports on the surprising lack of protests during the Olympics on one of the most controversial issues in Australia --relations with the aborigines.

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