Economic Success

The Scottish salmon farming industry is the single most important economic development in the Highlands and Islands for the past 30 years.

• It injects over £100,000,000 a year into local pay packets, which is approximately £2,000,000 a week

• It supports employment for some 8,500 people of whom around 4,500 live and work in the remote rural communities of the Scottish Highlands and Islands (Source: Scottish Executive, 2006)

• Ex-farm production is valued at £300million per annum, which is more than the Highland beef and lamb industries combined

• Added value output is estimated to be worth £300-£400million per annum

• The retail value is estimated to be worth almost £700million per annum

• Salmon farming is a life support system for hundreds of communities and thousands of livelihoods across the country

• Consumer consumption in the UK has more than trebled in the last ten years

• Salmon is in growth across all meal occasions

• 30% of all retail sales of fresh fish are sales of salmon

Economic Report: Review of Current Trends in the Scottish Salmon Farming Industry
Highlands & Islands Enterprise
>> link
December 2005

Scottish Salmon Farming: Economic Report
Scottish Executive
>> link
March 2004

A Strategic Framework for Scottish Aquaculture
Published by Scottish Executive
>> link
March 2003