Mowi has confirmed to WeAreAquaculture that, as reported in the local press, it has initiated a period of consultation with employees at its Dingwall fish processing plant with a proposal to permanently close the facility.
Previously owned and operated by Wester Ross Fisheries, the processing plant, which cleans and packs salmon, employs around 15 people. Mowi will offer all Dingwall staff similar or other employment throughout the value chain in Scotland, which includes fish processing plants, salmon hatcheries, ocean fish farms, and a feed mill.
In addition, the proposal also includes that the salmon that would have been processed at Dingwall would be diverted to the company's other processing plants in Scotland. The company thus continues its commitment to Scottish aquaculture, as demonstrated last February when it acquired the trout farms of Dawnfresh Seafoods, thereby saving 67 rural jobs.
Mowi purchased Wester Ross Fisheries in June 2022. Just at the end of September, we learned that its Managing Director and, from the time of the sale last year, also Business Development Director – Farming at Mowi Scotland, Gilpin Bradley was retiring for health reasons after a lifetime dedicated to aquaculture.
Finally, Mowi Scotland has confirmed to WeAreAquaculture that the company will not comment further until the end of the consultation period.
Wester Ross Fisheries is the oldest independently operated salmon farm in Scotland. With a unique artisan approach to salmon farming, they have been hand-rearing their fish for generations since it was founded by Robin Bradley and Alan Mann in 1977. The company operates three seawater sites at Loch Kannaird, Loch Broom, and Little Loch Broom, in addition to this processing unit and a sales and administration office in Dingwall.
Present in 20 countries, Mowi ASA is the world's largest producer of Atlantic salmon with harvest volumes of 464 000 tonnes in 2022, approximately 20% of the global market share. For its part, Mowi Scotland raises its salmon in Scottish Highland waters and employs 1,500 staff, with 48 farms that produce over 68,000 tonnes of salmon annually. It is the largest supplier of farm-raised salmon in the United Kingdom.
