Scotland’s Chief Statistician today published the Scottish Shellfish Farm Production Survey 2010, Providing information on production and employment, it is structured to follow industry trends within the mussel, Pacific oyster, native oyster and scallop sectors. Some statistics are given for the 20-year period 1990-2010.
The main findings are:
Production tonnage of mussels increased by 14 per cent in 2010 to 7,199 tonnes. This increase shows continuing growth in the sector.
Production tonnage of Pacific oyster increased by 4 per cent to 2,900 tonnes in 2010. This follows fluctuating production over the past six years. Native oyster production decreased from 39 tonnes in 2009 to 28 tonnes.
In 2010 King and queen scallop production increased by 83 per cent and 33 per cent respectively from the 2009 total, targeting a small niche market.
Employment in the shellfish industry increased from 345 in 2009 to 399 in 2010 (a rise of 16 per cent), demonstrating continuing interest and growth of the industry.
The survey is complied from data collected directly from authorised fish farming companies.
Official statistics are produced by professionally independent staff.
