Last week, the team at Seafood Scotland visited the wild, remote and rugged shores of Shetland as part of our annual industry engagement visit. With a busy itinerary planned, the main objective for the visit was to gain a valuable insight into how the fishing industry operates in Shetland as well as understand the challenges that the industry faces, in this unique location.
We started our first day with a visit to the UHI Shetland Scalloway campus where we had an in-depth discussion with Dr Beth Mouat and her team regarding their current initiatives. The main topics of conversation surrounded the Centre for Sustainable Seafood, which launched earlier this year, monitoring of fisheries and other projects including those relating to fish biology and fishing gear design.
From there, we were welcomed by QA Fish Limited at their processing factory, also based in Scalloway. Kindly guided by Robert Williamson, we were given a thorough tour of the factory and shown first-hand the large variety of fish species that are processed daily. It provided a great example of how pristine and productive Shetland’s waters are!
We finished our day with a visit to Blueshell Mussels Limited, the UK’s largest rope-grown mussel producer, where we had an engaging tour with Lyndsay Laurenson who provided a comprehensive overview of their company’s operations.
Our second day kicked off at Lerwick Fish Market with Shetland Seafood Auctions Limited. Met by Norma Williamson, we were given a tour of the auction and harbour facilities. For most of the team, this also included witnessing the use their electronic auction system for the first time and how it operates. This was followed by a meeting with Sheila Keith and Brian Isbister from the Shetland Fishermen’s Association and the Shetland Fish and Producers’ Organisation where we gained valuable perspectives on local fisheries management.
For our final visit in Shetland, we were treated with a spectacular cruise to the Score Holms marine farm, operated by Scottish Sea Farms. Accompanied by Regional Manager Richard Darbyshire, Area Manager Robbie Coutts and Head of Finance David Archibald, we saw first-hand how Scottish Sea Farms were investing in their Shetland based operations including a significant effort towards the companies’ focus on sustainable farming.
We had a truly wonderful experience visiting Shetland and would like to extend our gratitude to all the companies and individuals we encountered during our visit who contributed to its warm hospitality.