Scottish farmed salmon industry loses £100m as exports slump

The salmon industry lost around £100 million as a result of the reversal as sales to the USA, Canada and the Far East dropped by about one-third compared with the previous year, official export figures from HMRC showed.

The data, which is provisional and covers the first 11 months of 2015, also revealed that, up until the end of November last year, the world bought more than £353m worth of UK salmon.

The volume of salmon sold to Europe rose slightly during the period – from 33,438,830kg in 2014 to 34,158,300kg in 2015.

However, crucial markets in the USA and Canada and the Far East bought almost 30 per cent less fish and a Russian boycott led to a surfeit of salmon on world markets driving down prices.

The Scottish Salmon Producers’ Organisation (SSPO) said that the strength of the pound against the Norwegian kroner also made Scottish salmon more expensive than fish from main competitors.

Together, the factors have prompted the industry to now look for costs cutting opportunities, the SSPO said.

The news comes just as it was revealed that up to 100 Scottish fish farm jobs are to be cut following a drop in production and a profit warning from operator Marine Harvest, the world’s largest fish farmer.

But the body that represents fish farmers says the key to future success is to have many more farms – which would put it on another collision course with anglers who blame the industry for a decline in wild salmon.