Editor’s Welcome

Next year we will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of offshore fish farming in Scotland, and ahead of that the Scottish Salmon Producers’ Association has published an ambitious blueprint for a successful, sustainable industry for the coming decades.

The SSPO’s Vision document makes some bold commitments on the environment – for example, pleading to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2045 – and also on wider issues such as diversity in employment and improving fish welfare.

Another important strand in the document is transparency. It’s more important than ever that the industry is prepared to communicate openly and frankly with the public, and to get its message across to governments and lobby groups.

This has been, and continues to be a challenging year for the sector and in this issue, we look at some of these challenges, from the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic to the problems of containment and fish health. We also explore how cutting edge technology is being used to help tackle those issues.

Figures so far published by the big producers show that, in the salmon sector, production volumes are holding up well but market prices are still problematic. Apart from the pandemic, in the UK the Brexit negotiations continue. And meanwhile, the world of aquaculture is waiting to see what a Biden presidency means for producers in the United States and for those who are exporting to that country.

It’s a fascinating time for me to start out as editor of this magazine, and I look forward to building on the excellent work of my predecessors, Jenny Hjul and Dave Edler.

Best wishes, Robert Outram