Welcome to Scotland's Aquaculture website
Aquaculture is an industry of growing importance in Scotland providing valuable jobs and income for the economy. The Scottish aquaculture industry is regulated with a view to promoting food safety, compliance with legislation and sustainability.
Information can be found by looking at the map or by searching the data. We hope that you find this a useful source of information. If you have a question or feedback about this website you can contact us.
Experimental tool to present data on female adult sea lice occurence in fish farms
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Scotland's Aquaculture
Aquaculture is a growing industry that provides valuable jobs and income for the Scottish economy.
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Fish Farming in the Sea
Our marine fish farms are mainly on the West and North mainland coasts and in the Western, Orkney and Shetland islands.
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Freshwater Fish Farming
When they have reached a certain size, young salmon are transferred to cage sites in freshwater lochs.
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Shellfish Farming
The irregular coastline of Scotland offers many ideal sites for shellfish production such as long line mussel farms.
This website has been developed in partnership by the following organisations to provide access to a range of information about aquaculture in Scotland:
Marine Scotland
Marine Scotland promotes the sustainable development of the aquaculture sector. It is the licensing authority for marine farm equipment through the Licensing Operations Team (MS-LOT) and have responsibility for farmed fish and shellfish health via the Fish Health Inspectorate and the Aquatic Animal Health (Scotland) Regulations 2009. Marine Scotland have a range of reporting contributions to the Aquaculture website including: Fish escapes; Sea Lice information; Fin fish species farmed and shellfish aquaculture sites authorised with as Aquaculture Production Businesses; and Marine Scotland Management Areas.
SEPA
SEPA is responsible for protecting Scotland’s water environment and do so by regulating discharges from finfish farms through permits issued under the Water Environment (Controlled Activities) (Scotland) Regulations 2011 (CAR). SEPA’s data reporting contributions to Scotland’s Aquaculture Website include but are not limited to: the license locations of finfish farms; finfish biomass and treatment reports; Environmental Monitoring Surveys; and Sealice In-Feed treatment residues.
Crown Estate Scotland
The Crown Estate Scotland provide leases for aquaculture developers that allow them to use areas of the seabed to farm finfish, shellfish and seaweed. They provide information on shellfish and finfish lease areas to the Aquaculture Website.
Food Standards Scotland
Food Standards Scotland (FSS) is the competent authority which is responsible for undertaking an extensive programme of Official Controls to determine the safety of marine waters used for the harvesting of live bivalve molluscs (LBMs) in Scotland. LBMs include shellfish such as mussels, oysters, clams and cockles. On Scotland’s aquaculture website, Food Standards Scotland provide information on classified shellfish harvesting areas; biotoxin, microhygiene and phytoplankton monitoring samples; as well as Temporary Closure Notices that are enforced by local authorities. Shellfish safety and sanitation | Food Standards Scotland
NatureScot
NatureScot is Scotland’s nature agency, providing statutory and non-statutory advice to regulators, such as local authorities, SEPA and Marine Scotland - Licensing Operations Team (MS-LOT) and working closely with government and industry to advise on matters related to Scotland’s nature and landscapes. They provide the spatial information on protected areas which is available through the Aquaculture Website.