Mowi Scotland opens centralised feeding centre in Fort William

A remote operations centre that will eventually control feeding at all of salmon farmer Mowi Scotland’s mainland seawater farms is up and running at the company’s office in Fort William.

The centre will allow seawater farm sites to be fed from one centralised location to ensure that feeding strategies are optimised, reports Mowi Scotland’s company newsletter, The Scoop. It will keep feeding regimes consistent, ensuring that fish can be fed and monitored at all times, including during poor weather when conditions would be too dangerous for feeding by staff on site.

Currently, there are three farms being monitored and fed from the centre – Leven, which is 18km away; Linnhe, which is 15km away; and Gorsten, which is 7km away – with the aim of adding all four Croabh Haven sites (75km away) and Kingairloch (35km away) by the end of August.

12 staff

There will be a team of 12 operators, with six people working on each shift on a week on/week off rotation.

David Horne, the first employee to work at the centre, told The Scoop: “I have been working in the centre for a month now and have been impressed with the technology. There are six of us working on each shift and each operator will feed three to four farms, with the aid of pellet recognition technology, when we’re fully operational.

“We work closely with the staff on the farms to ensure everything is working as it should and if any issues arise at sea with the cameras. Constant communication between us helps keep everyone on the farms safe and our fish well looked after and healthy.”

Week on/week off

Horne said every effort had been made to make the centre comfortable for the operators.

“We’re currently working 12-hour shifts, but this will taper off to eight-hour shifts as the days get shorter. Working on a week on/week off rota means that we have a great work-life balance, and I look forward to getting more people trained up and working in the team soon.”

Kris Wright, team leader for the centre, told The Scoop that it will provide huge benefits to Mowi’s feeding strategies, fish health and wellbeing, and for the health and safety of farming staff.

“I worked on farms myself for eight years so it’s great to be able to work with them through the ROC (remote operations centre) and the exciting technology we have here. I’m also really enjoying the great work-life balance the role gives me. For anyone who is interested in getting started in the aquaculture industry but isn’t sure whether it is for them, working in the ROC is a great opportunity.”