Marine Harvest to invest in Scottish salmon farming

Norwegian producer of farmed salmon Marine Harvest plans to invest £80m in the expansion of its Scottish operations over the next five years.

The investment will be used to set up new farms and processing facilities and is part of the company’s larger strategy to boost its production outcome by 50% in the next seven years to 60,000t of salmon annually.

Marine Harvest chairman Ole-Eirik Leroy said with people consuming more salmon and the need to sustainably increase production, further investment in Scotland is good for the company business, the Scottish economy, consumers and the communities where Marine Harvest operates.

This announcement came at the end of First Minister of Scotland Alex Salmond’s two-day visit to Norway, where he met with Ole Eirik Leroy in Oslo and discussed the company’s five-year investment plan.

Alex Salmond said that Marine Harvest’s latest investment commitment in Scotland will benefit local communities.

"Clearly they are set to play a key role in our ambitions for growth in the industry, including our aim of increasing production by 50% on 2009 levels to 210,000t by 2020," Salmond added.

Marine Harvest owns 38 fish farms in Scotland and is the world’s largest producer of farmed salmon with presence in 21 countries.

Currently, Scotland is the largest producer of farmed Atlantic salmon in the European Union (EU) and the third largest in the world.

According to official figures, exports of Scottish salmon rose to record levels for the second consecutive year with exports soaring 22% to 95,638t in 2011, up from 78,611t the previous year.

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Image: Marine Harvest’s £80m investment is expected to boost its production by 50% in the next seven years. Photo: Takashi Okuzumi/Norwegian Seafood Export Council