100 new jobs in Scottish Salmon
Published by Simon Gwynn on Sat 09 Jun 12 @ 22:12
The world's biggest producer of farmed salmon has announced plans to create up to 100 jobs in the West Coast of Scotland.
Marine Harvest, based in Norway, are pumping £80m into the sector, which thrives off the West Coast and Northern Isles.
The fish farming industry is an important employer in several of the more remote communities in western Scotland and the northern isles.
The firm wants to invest in new farms and processing facilities.
The announcement came at the end of First Minister Alex Salmond's two-day visit to Norway.
He met with Marine Harvest chairman, Ole Eirik Leroy, in Oslo on Tuesday.
The salmon farming industry is automating more production, but has been growing strongly, particularly in exports.
At their meeting Mr Salmond and Mr Leroy discussed plans to invest £80m in new farms and processing facilities to help achieve the target of boosting production by half in the seven years to 2016, reaching 60,000 tonnes of salmon a year.
Marine Harvest operates in 21 countries with Scotland coming out third when it comes to size but number one when it comes to profitability.
Figures from HM Revenue and Customs, published in April, showed exports of fresh Scottish salmon had leapt to record levels for the second consecutive year.
