A lack of working
capital in the aquaculture industry is stifling the development of the farming
of marine whitefish species such as cod, halibut and haddock, according to Alastair
Barge, chairman of the British Marine Finfish Association (BMFA).
Speaking at
the BMFA's annual general meeting and workshop in Inveraray, Mr Barge said the
current poor market price for salmon meant that many aquaculture companies currently
don't have the financial resources to fund their own diversification into marine
finfish farming.
Mr Barge, who
is also the managing director of Otter Ferry Seafish near Tighnabruaich, said:
"The difficult market conditions mean the salmon companies on which we are
dependent for the development of marine finfish farming are being forced to concentrate
their limited resources on their core business just at a time when their businesses
are crying out for diversification.
"It is
therefore important that Government and stakeholders in the industry do everything
in their power to create the financial climate to realise the full potential of
marine finfish farming and in doing so will not only create economic activity
in the Highlands and Islands but will also alleviate the pressure on wild stocks."
Jim Mather
MSP for the Highlands & Islands and the SNP spokesman on Enterprise and the
Economy, attended the workshop. He said: "I came away greatly impressed by
the BMFA members, their international network and the huge potential they could
deliver for Scotland.
"They
are however, still working under major constraints. The most pressing being a
lack of investment capital. I will therefore be writing to the relevant minister,
Ross Finnie, to suggest that he and his department could go the extra mile by
spelling out the significance of their Strategic Framework for Aquaculture to
the banking community and examine the possibility of providing loan guarantees
to make sure the potential of this still fledgling industry is realised and not
stalled for want of a tangible signal from Government."
While production
of halibut for 2003 will be in the region of 230 tonnes, this will rise to 400
to 500 tonnes by 2006. Current UK cod production will be about 90 tonnes this
year, but the BMFA believes that in 10 years time total UK farmed whitefish production
(mainly cod, haddock and halibut) will be worth £100m to the Scottish economy,
employing 600 people in fulltime, high quality jobs.
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