This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Haseeb delpihero (talk | contribs) at 11:08, 5 August 2016. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
Revision as of 11:08, 5 August 2016 by Haseeb delpihero (talk | contribs)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff){{
|Type= Private Limited Company |Industry= Salmon farming |Headquarters= Scourie
Sutherland
Scotland |Key People= Alban Denton (CEO)
Andy Bing (Sales Director) |Product= Premium farmed salmon |Revenue= ± £25 million p.a. |Website= www.lochduart.com }}
Loch Duart Ltd
Loch Duart Limited (the ‘Company’) is a small, independent salmon farm, established in 1999 by three founders, Nick Joy, Alan Balfour and Andy Bing. The company took over some of Scotland’s oldest sea sites in Badcall Bay and nearby, formerly operated by J. Johnston & Sons, with an initial production capacity of 1,800 tonnes p.a.
Background
Loch Duart is headquartered in Scourie, Sutherland in north-west Scotland and has just over 100 employees. Having achieved organic growth and successful acquisitions, the company owns and operates eight sea sites and two hatcheries in Sutherland and the Outer Hebrides. Sales, marketing and finance departments are located in Montrose and a French sales and marketing office in Lorient, Brittany. The company harvests approximately 5,000 tonnes of sustainably-raised fresh salmon annually, generating sales of over £25 million p.a.
The founders’ shared vision was to develop Loch Duart as “The Sustainable Salmon Company”, to farm some of the most northerly sites in Scotland, build a brand and attempt to break the traditional “boom and bust” salmon farming cycle. Loch Duart is recognised as a leading ethical salmon farmer and a producer of premium quality branded salmon based on a clearly-defined farming ethos which has evolved without fundamental changes to the original principles.
Fish farming in its traditional form of small-scale systems, usually in freshwater, has been practised for many centuries. A ‘blue revolution’ in the second half of the twentieth century saw the birth of modern aquaculture which involves farming fish on a much larger scale and, most commonly, high-value carnivorous fish farmed at sea. This is a young industry. The first salmon farm in Scotland was established in 1971 when 14 tonnes were produced. Scottish production in 2016 is forecasted by the Scottish Salmon Producers Association to be 175,000 tonnes and this is still a growing industry with evolving science and methods – just as land farming has developed over centuries.
The world’s future need for food can be expressed simply in terms of population growth. Seven billion people today, 9.7 billion by 2050, 11 billion by 2100. By 2050 the world will need 70% more protein which land farming and animal land farming in particular will be increasingly unable to supply. Two thirds of the world is ocean and future populations will increasingly depend on aquaculture for essential protein supply. The world’s oceans are a major source of animal protein. Close to three billion people depend on this source daily. Overexploitation of wild fisheries is a major issue and total global marine life has been reduced by half since 1950. Attempts to introduce sustainability to the modern wild fishing industry will not be sufficient to protect stocks or even maintain the current levels of wild catch and a crisis is looming. Aquaculture is going a long way towards redressing the balance and has already grown to account for over 50% of world fish supply.
Farming System
The farming policies of Loch Duart are based on four guiding principles: (i) respect for the environment, (ii) respect for the fish, (iii) use of natural methods and (iv) respect for the company's people. Loch Duart is recognised for its welfare and environmental policies, achieving a key landmark when it worked with the RSPCA to develop a Freedom Food farmed salmon approval scheme, becoming the first farm to be approved.
From these principles, Loch Duart has developed a proprietary salmon farming system that aims to rear salmon in conditions that mimic the natural cycle as closely as possible within commercial constraints. The system is driven by research and development continuously applied since foundation and has helped to establish new international standards of welfare and environmental stewardship in salmon farming, specifically:-
- Husbandry: through significantly lower than standard stocking density for salmon at sea. Peak density is 1.5% fish and 98.5% water*. In addition, the handling of fish (known to cause stress) is minimised, especially at harvest when humane methods are used.
- Feed: Proprietary feed formulation with high fish and fish oil content (salmon are carnivores) from the Icelandic capelin fishery and other sustainable sources, GM free and rigorously tested for contaminants. This detailed analysis and selection of marine ingredients is crucial to the taste of the salmon.
- Antibiotics: Total avoidance of antibiotics and minimal use of other medicines.
- Fallowing: Each site is left fallow for a period of 5 to 12 months after each cycle. The pens are removed, as are all traces of farming, allowing natural regeneration of the seabed. This results in production levels roughly half the capacity possible under more intensive regimes but creates a near pristine environment for the smolt when they are brought to sea.
- Anti-foulants: No use of chemical anti-foulants on pens and nets by using a swim-through system. This allows a fouled net to be pulled up while the fish swim through to the next net and allowed to dry so that marine organisms (seaweed, mussels etc.) dry out and fall back into the water. This reduces production capacity by 5 – 8% according to site configuration.
- Sea lice control: a proprietary drum filtering system removes lice and eggs during grading and harvesting. A variety of methods to control sea lice have been researched and implemented including the breeding and deployment of cleaner fish (wrasse and lumpfish) which feed on sea lice.
Farming Issues
Salmon farming at sea is a new industry – less than 50 years old and, compared with land farming which has evolved over centuries, still in its infancy.
Like every sea farm, Loch Duart has had its lessons to learn. There were several escapes during the early years, the result of storm damage and seal attacks, which have led to improvements to moorings and net materials and construction.
Vulnerability to human activities and nature is unavoidable. This was underlined in 2009 when a massive oil spill in Loch Carnan resulted in the loss of close to one million fish and in 2015 when a giant shoal of jellyfish -killed close to 400,000 young salmon.
Seal predation caused significant losses for a number of years, especially as the seal population grew, but, where sea currents and pen shape allow, a box-style anti-predator net is being deployed. This has had the unexpected secondary effect of creating a safe haven for sea life - especially small mackerel, saithe and herring, which can now be seen in the predator-free areas created by the double-netting system.
Fin nipping by young fish, the result of boredom and bullying in hatchery tanks, has threatened the quality of life of the salmon population and is being solved by the development of artificial reefs and playthings. Farmers both at sea and on land refer to this as ‘environment enrichment’ and it is regarded as the ‘cutting edge’ of livestock welfare.
Loch Duart has faced commercial challenges as well. In 2009, and in response to customer demand. The company entered the smoked salmon market by acquiring the Salar Smokehouse on South Uist in the Outer Hebrides. Sales of the speciality product, Flaky Smoked Salmon, developed well but other lines failed to meet expectations and production problems led to Loch Duart’s withdrawal in 2014 – with the smokehouse being returned to local ownership. Nor has the traditional ‘boom and bust’ of the aquaculture industry been completely eliminated as weather-affected harvesting and colder water temperatures affecting fish growth remain uncertainties that cannot be controlled completely.
No-one in salmon farming should expect a challenge-free future.
Markets
Loch Duart has achieved the unusual feat of establishing a primary (and unprocessed) food product - whole fresh salmon - as a premium international brand*. Celebrity and Michelin-starred chefs, such as Gordon Ramsay, Raymond Blanc and Rick Stein, have featured the Loch Duart brand on their menus. Loch Duart salmon was served at the dinner at Buckingham Palace following the Royal Wedding in 2011 and at the Queens’ Jubilee Luncheon in the City of London.
The company exports over 60% of its production to France, USA, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Holland, Belgium, Austria, Spain, South Africa, Dubai and the Far East.
Reference List
References
- History of Aquaculture - http://www.fao.org/docrep/field/009/ag158e/ag158e02.htm
- Scottish Salmon Producers Organisation - http://scottishsalmon.co.uk
- UN forecasts - http://www.un.org/en/development/desa/news/population/2015-report.htm
- Source: WWF - http://assets.wwf.org.uk/downloads/living_blue_planet_report_2015.pdf
- FAO - http://www.fao.org/docrep/019/i3640e/i3640e.pdf
- RSPCA - http://view.pagetiger.com/RSPCAWelfareStandardsforFarmedAtlanticSalmon
- http://www.lochduart.com/loch-duart-makes-a-royal-move-in-feed-supply
- http://www.intrafish.com/aquaculture/768082/antibiotics-in-salmon-what-chile-can-learn-from-its-peers
- Risks of using Antifouling Biocides in Aquaculture - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3291976
- Loch Duart develops sea lice filter - http://www.seafoodsource.com/news/aquaculture/loch-duart-develops-sea-lice-filter
- Energy company fined for south Uists oil spill - http://hebridestoday.com/2009/11/energy-company-fined-for-south-uists-oil-spill
- http://www.undercurrentnews.com/2016/01/11/jellyfish-disaster-haunts-loch-duart-as-losses-mount
- http://www.lochduart.com/loch-duart-salmon-welfare-breakthroughs
- Salar brand reborn - http://www.heraldscotland.com/business/13416182.The_Salar_brand_reborn_in_its_island_home
- http://www.intrafish.com/news/488985/queen-dines-on-loch-duart-salmon
- Wild? Farmed? What Fish Should We Eat? - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-mark-hyman/wild-fish-farmed-fish_b_812308.html
 | This article has not been added to any content categories. Please help out by adding categories to it so that it can be listed with similar articles. (August 2016) |