Scotland’s booming salmon farming sector needs urgent reform to unlock stagnating production growth.
Prosper, the trading name of the Scottish Council for Development & Industry, delivered the warning in its new study, ‘Net gains: supporting Scotland’s salmon farming sector’, and called on the Scottish and UK governments to cut planning ‘red tape’ and streamline the salmon sector’s regulatory burden.
The organisation, whose members include Salmon Scotland, Mowi Scotland, Bakkafrost Scotland, Aquascot and Scottish Sea Farms, said the sector would not be able to meet demand and could fall behind international competition without reform.
Published this month, the report comes after Salmon Scotland revealed salmon production had increased by just 1.8% per year over the past decade in May, despite export sales having surged to £6bn over the period.
“The key issue is complexity, not scrutiny. Scottish salmon is highly regulated, but the process can be slow and fragmented,” Prosper director of policy and membership Magnus Llewellin told The Grocer. “At present, farm consenting involves five separate consents from four different bodies, which contributes to delays and inefficiencies.”
He continued: “We believe that clearer timelines, better co-ordination between regulators and reduced duplication would help to shorten decision-making without weakening environmental checks.
“Earlier engagement between applicants and regulators would also allow potential issues to be identified and resolved before formal applications are submitted.”
“The aim should be to create a system that is robust and predictable, and which is capable of supporting responsible investment,” Llewellin added.
The report also called on the Scottish government to deliver a ‘national policy statement’ recognising salmon farming as a “strategic food and export sector”; making its growth an “explicit objective” along with environmental protection.
However, it follows a damning letter sent by the Scottish Parliament’s Rural Affairs & Islands Committee to former cabinet secretary for Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands Mairi Gougeon in March, calling for tighter regulation.
Llewellin said the sector recognised the important of continued improvement but argued it had “already made significant changes in farming practice, fish health management, welfare, monitoring, and environmental performance”.
“A clearer and more co-ordinated regulatory system would support further investment and innovation, while also delivering better outcomes for the environment and coastal communities,” he added.
Professor Mike Danson, a Scottish and regional economist, criticised the report as “poorly researched and argued”; overstating the salmon farming sector’s economic benefits while ignoring concerns over environmental harm, animal welfare, weak evidence and the multinational ownership.
He also questioned its value to food security, saying, “this premium product is expensive and those subject to poor food security and poor public health are least able to afford premium products, by definition”.
“[It] does not meet minimal standards of scientific analysis and referencing, accepts uncritically the arguments and demands of a sector overwhelmingly owned and controlled by multinational enterprises which are subject to much stricter regulation and scepticism in their home economies,” Danson added.
His concerns were shared by Abigail Penny, executive director of Animal Equality UK, said Prosper’s call for “deregulation and accelerated expansion” was “disgraceful”.
“If the Scottish government is serious about sustainable growth, it must recognise that salmon farming is not the answer,” she said. “The industry’s ongoing welfare failures, mounting reputational risks, and deteriorating social licence make that abundantly clear.”
Penny added: “Scotland gains remarkably little from subsidising multinational corporations that extract wealth from our natural environment while exporting profits overseas.
“Meanwhile, local communities, workers, the environment, and farmed fish bear the consequences.”
Government response
A Scottish government spokesperson said salmon farming was a “highly valued and valuable sector” and that “an efficient and effective consenting regime is essential to its future.” Last Parliament, it clarified marine licence exemptions for fish farms and confirmed consenting requirements for farms between three and 12 nautical miles.
“The Scottish government supports the sustainable development of salmon farming through an efficient regulatory framework that minimises environmental impacts and promotes high standards of fish health and welfare,” the spokesperson continued.
“We are streamlining the consenting process while maintaining those standards, and supporting businesses to improve environmental and fish health performance in response to a changing climate,” they added. ”This includes continued investment in innovative projects through the Sustainable Aquaculture Innovation Cluster and the Marine Fund Scotland.”
A Defra spokesperson said the UK government was investing £1.5m annually to boost UK seafood exports, working with partners to build capability and secure advantages in new and existing markets.
They added that aquaculture policy would remain devolved to Scotland, while the new UK–EU food and drink deal will cut delays and red tape, saving Scottish salmon an estimated £3bn per year.
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