There is much gnashing of teeth whenever a key British asset falls into foreign hands. While the (mostly English) national media has been worried of late about who owns our ports and our airports, very little has been said about the changing ownership of a key food industry.
Scottish aquaculture is an incredible success story. But the merger of Pan Fish with Marine Harvest and Fjord Seafood means that 65% of the Scottish farmed salmon industry is now in the hands of a Norwegian giant with a reputation for efficiency. Patriotism aside, should that matter? Well, the Scots are rightly worried about the prospect of job losses as Pan Fish drives those efficiencies in a sector that had become bloated and commoditised.
But if Scotland wants farmed salmon to continue to flourish, it must keep attracting investment that will otherwise go to producers in Chile and - yes - Norway.
And it's difficult for Scotland, where the industry is caged up by a welter of regulatory constraints and strictures from planners worried that farms spoil the view.
So the real issue is not ownership; it's ensuring the sector can thrive in a global market.
Scottish aquaculture is an incredible success story. But the merger of Pan Fish with Marine Harvest and Fjord Seafood means that 65% of the Scottish farmed salmon industry is now in the hands of a Norwegian giant with a reputation for efficiency. Patriotism aside, should that matter? Well, the Scots are rightly worried about the prospect of job losses as Pan Fish drives those efficiencies in a sector that had become bloated and commoditised.
But if Scotland wants farmed salmon to continue to flourish, it must keep attracting investment that will otherwise go to producers in Chile and - yes - Norway.
And it's difficult for Scotland, where the industry is caged up by a welter of regulatory constraints and strictures from planners worried that farms spoil the view.
So the real issue is not ownership; it's ensuring the sector can thrive in a global market.
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