BTA

All change

As the newly appointed chairman of the British Trout Association I am delighted to be submitting my first article for Fish Farmer. Not only does this provide the perfect forum to thank my predecessor Brian Johnston and his executive officers David Bassett and more recently Andy Smith for their invaluable contributions, it also offers an opportunity to summarise the exciting changes that are underway within the structure and management of the association.

The economic squeeze that UK trout producers are facing will be no surprise to anyone involved in British aquaculture. Rising costs of production and increasingly narrow profit margins are making trout producers rightly evaluate each individual expense.

It is therefore critical, now more than ever, that membership of the BTA is deemed to be value for money, that membership is well subscribed and that the membership base remains representative of the whole industry.

The association has long been regarded as an exceptionally professional and proactive body without whose support and protection the current climate for trout farming might look very different.

Historically, the association has always had the benefit of full-time professionals running the BTA office, managing PR and marketing campaigns and representing the industry in the UK, Brussels and further afield. While this has enabled the association to punch well above its weight, it is both expensive and has also had the unintended consequence of allowing trout producers to become removed from the daily activities of the association.

Critical work goes on behind the scenes and despite best efforts to keep members updated through emails, newsletters and AGMs, it remains a challenge to impart the real value of the association. Too often the achievements and contributions of the association are overlooked or go untold, with members none the wiser as to what might have been had there not been a timely intervention.

However, as of May 2015 this separation between producers and the BTA office has been removed following a decision by the association’s council to relinquish the role of executive officer. In so doing we are not only saving association funds, but also returning responsibility and accountability for the association’s activities back to the membership.

I for one am excited by this move. The council and wider member base is a huge repository of far ranging skills and experience, not just in trout, but also other areas. The council itself has qualifications in law, accountancy, business management and technical research and development, and the wider membership can offer even more, all of which can and should be pooled to the benefit of the overall industry.

There is a bright future in aquaculture, not only in terms of increased production capabilities, but also in the steadily rising consumption of farmed fish. Given the alarming decline of global fish stocks and a shrinking availability of land required to produce animal proteins, this growing demand looks set to continue.

My optimism for the future is reflected in my and my wife’s decision to leave behind careers in law and IT consultancy respectively to become full-time trout producers, a decision that five years on we haven’t once regretted.

So, with greater member involvement and the pooling of business skills, we have everything we need to carry things forward, and one of my first priorities will be to highlight not just the visible achievements of recent years, but also the plans and developments for exciting times ahead.

Oliver Routledge owns and manages Selcoth Fisheries, a rainbow trout fingerling unit in Dumfries & Galloway.

My own optimism is reflected in my decision to become a fulltime trout producer”