Awards for Cream of Marine Aquaculture Industry

The awards reward innovation and best practice in Scottish aquaculture and recognise operators who employ the highest standards of husbandry; offer innovative training programmes; support local communities; and manage their businesses with a high level of environmental awareness.

Loch Fyne Oysters took one of the night’s top honours with the award of Marine Aquaculture Company of the Year.

John Rea from Scottish Sea Farms was named Aquaculture Ambassador of the Year while Colin Milne from Wester Ross Fisheries won the award for Farm Manager of the Year.

Scottish Sea Farms also took the prize for Best Marine Farm for their Loch Kishorn site.

Loch Duart were awarded Aquaculture Supplier of the Year.

Marks and Spencer picked up the award for best Aquaculture Processor or Retailer with Shetland’s North Atlantic Shellfish taking top prize in the Business Development category.

Gigha Halibut scooped the Stewardship Award and Lighthouse Caledonia were rewarded for their investment in their staff with the award for best Training and Education.

Alex Adrian, Offshore Operations Manager for Scotland at The Crown Estate, said: "The Crown Estate was delighted to build on the success of its awards for the salmon farming industry and extend the scheme to include the whole of Scotland's marine aquaculture sector.

"We certainly weren't disappointed with the extremely high standard of entries from across the industry which made it clear that Scotland continues to lead the way for best practice and innovation in aquaculture.

"Our judges were extremely impressed with the calibre of the businesses at the heart of the industry and the world-class products they produce."

The judges were Peter Dryburgh, until recently Director of NAFC Marine Centre; Dennis Overton, Managing Director of Aquascot; Martin Gill, Managing Director of Food Certification Scotland; Professor Phil Thomas, Chairman of the Scottish Aquaculture Code of Good Practice Management Committee; and Dr Carolyn Heeps (Chair), Head of Marine Policy, Science and Sustainable Development at The Crown Estate.