The investment in infrastructure alone will be in excess of £2 million, with most of this being spent with Scottish based suppliers within the next 12 months.
A further four full-time jobs will be added to the existing team of eight already employed by Scottish Sea Farms at Loch Kishorn, resulting in a total of 16 jobs in the greater Kishorn area. This new site represents an ongoing working capital spend of £5 million per harvest (every two years).
The approval of this planning application means that the site will become fully operational in 2014 with the first harvest of salmon in the following year. Prior to planning being granted Scottish Sea Farms spent three years in consultation with local groups and individuals in the area to ensure that the expansion plan was well managed.
Jim Gallagher, Managing Director of Scottish Sea Farms, said: “This is a really positive development for the Loch Kishorn area and the industry as a whole. Our existing Southshore site has been in existence for almost 30 years and is one of the most sustainably successful farming locations across the west coast of Scotland. In 2008 both of our Kishorn sites won the Crown Estate Aquaculture Award for Farm of The Year. So there is a long track record of responsible aquaculture management within the area.”
The Kishorn site will produce approximately 2200T of salmon and the high quality fish is destined for premium retailers in the UK, together with growing export markets in the US, China and Europe