Farmed salmon down 18%

Harvests of farmed salmon in Scotland dropped by almost 18 per cent in the past year, the latest official figures show.

A report from government agency Marine Scotland reveals production fell to 156,025 tonnes in 2018 from a record 189,707 tonnes in 2017.

However, forecasts are predicting the 2019 harvest will be the biggest ever – topping 190,000 tonnes.

Quantities of rainbow trout and sea trout have also dropped, by 16 per cent and 37 per cent respectively.

Numbers of cleaner fish raised to perform biological control of parasites on farmed fish also went down in 2018.

Despite the decrease in output, the number of people employed in the sector rose.

Most fish were produced in open seawater cages, with only 35 tonnes farmed in tanks.

Nearly 50,000 salmon were reported to have escaped from cages into the sea last year.