News / Mussels show their economic muscle
SHETLAND continues to be the main Scottish production area for mussels, a new national survey has confirmed.
The Scottish Shellfish Farm Production Survey 2016 document, which was published by Marine Scotland on Wednesday, highlights an overall Scottish production increase of six per cent to 7,732 tonnes of farmed mussels with an estimated value of £11.7 million.
Shetland remains the most significant mussel producing area, representing 74 per cent of the overall total, at a value of around £7.4 million.
Seafood Shetland chief executive Ruth Henderson said mussel farming was a significant contributor to the rural economy.
“These figures demonstrate that Shetland remains the prime location for mussel production. Not only do we have the right environment and growing conditions, we have an experienced and knowledgeable workforce to sustain and grow the industry,” Henderson said.
“Full MSC accreditation underpins Shetland’s shellfish growers’ commitment to sustainability and gives customers confidence in the product.
“Looking to the future, there is a move towards consolidating operations and sharing distribution which reduces costs and risk for individual operators.”
The industry is currently working with NAFC Marine Centre UHI to establish a commercial hatchery to avoid its reliance on the natural availability of mussel spat.
Become a member of Shetland News
Shetland News is asking its many readers to consider paying for membership to get additional features and services: -
- Remove non-local ads;
- Bookmark posts to read later;
- Exclusive curated weekly newsletter;
- Hide membership messages;
- Comments open for discussion.
If you appreciate what we do and feel strongly about impartial local journalism, then please become a member of Shetland News by either making a single payment, or setting up a monthly, quarterly or yearly subscription.
Already a member? Sign in to hide this message.
