News & Views Hatchery Operations
Scottish Sea Farms acquires hatchery, doubles processing capacity

Since Scottish Sea Farms purchased Grieg Seafood Shetland along with 16 active farms and a freshwater hatchery in December 2021, it has completed its £2.5 million (US$3.15 million) refit at Lerwick, doubling its processing capacity in Shetland from 25,000 tonnes annually to 50,000 tonnes.

After the acquisition, all fish processing activity in the region was switched to Scottish Sea Farms’ Scalloway base to streamline processing into one centre, maximizing efficiencies, said Donald Buchanan, head of processing operations, at Scottish Sea Farms.

‘‘We were looking to create a ‘facility of the future’ capable of receiving all fish from our expanded Northern Isles estate. With a larger footprint and proximity to the ferry network, Lerwick made the obvious choice.”

The facility can handle 200 tonnes a day, compared to 100 tonnes before. Forty per cent of the available floor space is still available for further growth.

‘That’s the real beauty of Lerwick,” said Buchanan. “Not only have we doubled capacity in the here and now but there’s scope to increase that further to process up to 70,000 tonnes annually, over years to come, should we wish to.”

The company’s Scalloway base will remain a key facility providing a secondary harvesting hub during periods of peak volumes and supporting its other farming activities.