Youngsters tour Scotland’s largest salmon feed barge
‘It’s very excitng to be able to take the farm from strength to strength’
Primary pupils and staff were given a fish’s eye view of a huge salmon farm feeding vessel. Marine Harvest staff organised the VIP tour, last week for Carradale primary school before the largest feed barge of its type was towed to its new home in the Kilbrannan Sound. Area manager Duane Coetzer, Carradale site managers Warren Harvey and Stuart Witts, the managing director’s PA and communications assistant Jayne MacKay, and human resources advisor Sarah Ralston welcomed the pupils onto the vessel. The 18 youngsters, their teachers and classroom assistants were fitted with life-jackets and given a guided tour round the outside during which one child exclaimed: ‘This is so exciting!’ The barge, which is about 35 metres long and 12 metres wide, can hold 650 tonnes of feed, and will replace the site’s current one, which has a capacity of 400 tonnes. Stuart said: ‘The Carradale farm is the biggest in Scotland and has a limit of 5,000 tonnes of fish. ‘The current feed barge became a limiting factor as it didn’t allow us to reach peak capacity.’ The new barge, named Eilean Grianaian, after a small island near the Carradale site, cost more than £2 million and has 12 feed silos and eight feed lines, with a capacity for 10. After seeing the silos and feed selectors from outside, the pupils went inside, to the bridge, to watch a presentation on how the company operates in Scotland. They learned that it takes three to four years until salmon are fully grown, they spend one year in fresh water before moving into salt water, and that the variety of salmon Marine Harvest farms is Atlantic. When Jayne asked the youngsters why they thought the company grew salmon, one replied: ‘To make sushi.’ ‘Yes,’ Jayne replied. ‘It’s delicious and very good for you, full of healthy omega three – and Scotland is surrounded by water so we have lots of places we can grow our fish.’ She explained that the fish are kept in cages so they can’t swim away, and told them there is 98 per cent water and two per cent fish in each cage so the fish have lots of space to grow. The children were told that Marine Harvest expects to grow 40,000 tonnes of fish this year, which weighs the same as about 6,250 elephants. The children kept Jayne on her toes, asking interesting and insightful questions. Afterwards, they were split into groups to learn about the camera system that is used to feed the fish and keep an eye on the site, and for tours of the barge’s downstairs areas. When asked what their favourite thing was, pupils’ answers ranged from the control room to the view from the bridge, as well as spotting two seals playing in Campbeltown Loch. Warren said: ‘It’s very exciting to be able to take the farm from strength to strength. The new barge will make a huge difference for feeding because we will be able to hold much more food.’ Duane and Warren visited the barge while it was being built in Tallinn, Estonia’s capital, before it was tugged a distance of 1,450 miles in 11 days by Danish-based Hanstholm Towing Company, arriving in Campbeltown on May 29. This week, it was towed the remaining 12 miles to its new home just off Carradale.