March 13, 2007

Scotland's salmon producer to invest GBP 6.5 million in facilities

Shetland's largest salmon producer Hialtland plans to invest GBP 6.5 million for facilities that would increase the output of value-added products such as smoked and marinated fish and boost its salmon production by a-third to 20,000 tonnes.

Michael Stark, managing director of the Norway-owned group Hjaltland, said the investment would allow it to harvest and process salmon at the same location.

Most companies send farmed salmon to other plants to be processed, which reduces the shelf-life of the product by days. This improvement alone would provide a competitive advantage for Hialtland, Stark said.

The company would also be spending GBP 3.6 million this year improving its processing plant and around GBP 3 million on existing and new salmon farm sites.

The company expects to spend GBP 3 million a year upgrading and extending facilities for the next five years.