Freshwater future
smoltification, with John Taylor from Stirling’s Institute of Aquaculture identifying areas of potential future work. Ross Beedie of EuroPharma gave an update on the benefits of the SuperSmolt programme, now simplified to a specialty feeding process. And Kristoffer Røyset from Patogen described the advantages of the newly available SmolTimer, a predictive tool to provide a better understanding of the optimal time to transfer smolts, and to be able to predict when that may occur. Patogen, being Norwegian based, rolls out most of its products in Norway, but the company is keen to expand in Scotland and there was interest in SmoltTimer, described by those who have seen it as ‘elegant’. Beyond the main workshop, the feed companies Cargilll/Ewos, Skretting and BioMar all had stands at the hotel so their representatives could engage in a more specific dialogue with the farmers, academics and health experts present. This freshwater workshop was the latest in a series of events organised by the SSPO designed to encourage information and best
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Above: Pharmaq’s Chris Mitchell with Gemma Murray of Migdale Smolts; the SSPO’s Jamie Smith, Iain Berrill, John Webster and Scott Landsburgh. Right: Kate Smith of Marine Scotland with Matt Zietz of Wester Ross Salmon. Left: (Clockwise from top left) Chris Read, Jimmy Turnbull, Angela Ashby, Iain Berrill. Opposite: (Far left) Jamie Smith; (left) Rob Murray of Howietoun Fishery with John Webster.
is an area we need to keep “inThis our minds as we consider the development of the wider industry ”
practice sharing across companies. Others have included topics such as gill health and cleaner fish, and the SSPO is planning two further workshops in 2017 on subjects identified by its members, said Berrill. One of these will cover new approaches to lice control, such as lice skirts and thermolicers, as well as covering medicinal best practice too. November’s meeting was typical in being an excellent networking opportunity as well as providing plenty of food for thought. The main message perhaps was that any growth in the marine sector will need equivalent development in freshwater to match the fish needed. ‘The tenor of the day was very much around that – freshwater production will need to grow to underpin planned growth in marine production,’ said Berrill. ‘Access to sites is going to be key but ensuring that the ones we’ve got are still managed and farmed optimally is key as well. This is an area we need to make sure we keep in our minds as we consider the development of the wider industry.’ FF
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