Processing

Another important area in which efficiencies were required was in processing, which for most of the decade was still being done at Lochailort. In 1985 the first gutting machine was introduced, the Trio, which came from Norway – which improved efficiency but required regular calibration and could not cope with either very large or very small fish. The following year a chickweigh system for individually weighing and grading fish was installed. However, by then it was clear that Lochailort had reached its capacity and the decision was made to build a new processing plant at Blar Mhor, Fort William, which opened in 1987. Lochailort remained in operation until 1989, when it was decommissioned.

The factory at Blar Mhor was based on a de-

sign from chicken processing, with a capacity for processing around 5,000 tonnes a year, mainly whole gutted salmon. A section of the factory had also been designed for value-added processing, which continued for most of the decade. It also had a chickweigh system, which remained in operation until it was replaced in the early 2000s, and its gutting machines evolved over the years but still required the presence of a fulltime engineer well into the ‘90s.