Aquaculture is an increasingly important industry for Scotland, helping to sustain economic growth in the rural and coastal communities of the north and west. Involving the farming or culturing of fish, molluscs, crustaceans and seaweed, aquaculture produces our most valuable food export. The Scottish aquaculture industry is led by Atlantic salmon farming, but also produces significant quantities of Rainbow trout and mussels.
The Scottish Government supports Scotland’s aquaculture industry to achieve its sustainable growth targets, with due regard to the marine environment, by 2020. The targets are to increase:
- Marine finfish production (whole wet Salmon, Rainbow trout, Halibut, Brown/Sea trout) from 179,755 tonnes (2015 figure) to 210,000 tonnes.
- Farmed shellfish production from 7,506 (2015 figure) to 13,000 tonnes.