Let's sea for ourselves: MPs travel to Western Isles to learn about salmon farming

Members of the UK Parliament’s Scottish Affairs Committee have visited Loch Erisort salmon farm as part of a fact-finding visit to the Western Isles.

Nine MPs joined the trip to the Mowi salmon farm and met with local workers including the company’s regional manager Don MacLeod and area manager David MacMillan, who hail from the Isle of Lewis, on Wednesday, December 11.

The visit came a week after the committee held a one-off session exploring the economic benefits of the Scottish salmon sector. Mowi Scotland chief operating officer Ben Hadfield, trade body Salmon Scotland’s head of insights, James Park, and Scottish Sea Farms head of sustainability and development Anne Anderson provided oral evidence to the committee.

The committee also heard from Sean Black, senior scientific officer for aquaculture with the RSPCA, and Sarah Evans, aquaculture policy officer at the Marine Conservation Society.

The Scottish Affairs Committee is chaired by Labour MP for Glasgow West, Patricia Ferguson, and the membership includes the Liberal Democrat MP Angus MacDonald, whose Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire constituency is home to a number of salmon farms.

Farming overview

The MPs were given an overview of Mowi’s salmon farming operations, the production cycle including the supply chain, community benefit, and career opportunities within salmon farming.

Mowi employs 163 people within the Western Isles and Skye area and nationwide the sector employs 2,500 people directly, with a further 10,000 jobs in Scotland said to be dependent on the salmon sector.

The visit also provided the opportunity to tackle what Salmon Scotland said are some of the myths and misconceptions that are pushed by anti-salmon farming activists, as well as future development plans that include consolidating existing sites with fewer, larger pens and plans to continue to invest significant sums in Scotland.

Fully engaged

Salmon Scotland chief executive Tavish Scott said: “We welcome the interest in our sector from the Scottish Affairs Committee and the chance to get MPs out on to a salmon farm to see for themselves the reality of salmon farming on Scotland’s rugged west coast.

“The MPs were fully engaged and learned more about the benefits salmon farming brings to Scotland, and what role they and the committee can play in supporting the responsible growth of our sector.”

Scott said the visit was also an opportunity to welcome new MPs from Scotland’s Central Belt constituencies, given the importance of salmon supply chain businesses across Scotland.

“We look forward to working with the committee and individual MPs to ensure Scottish salmon sector is at the heart of the government’s thinking,” said Scott, who reiterated the facts that Scottish salmon is the UK’s number one food export and contributes £760 million to the Scottish economy every year.

Visit appreciated

Don MacLeod, regional manager north at Mowi Scotland, said: “Mowi was pleased to be asked to host the visit by the Scottish Affairs Committee and give them the opportunity to see first-hand our fish and to meet the team responsible for the day-to-day running of the farm.

“Our teams work hard all year round, in all weathers, and it is appreciated that the committee took time out from their busy schedule to visit. We look forward to continuing communications and hosting more visits in the future.”