Salmon job cuts not due to transport costs 19/1/13
Sir,
At no time, in his quoted remarks anyway, does Stewart McLelland, The Scottish Salmon Company’s chief executive, explicitly refer to transport costs in explaining job cuts. .
What he is quoted as saying is: “We can reassure local communities that once more sites start to produce fish, we will once again have the volumes that make full production at Marybank and Arnish viable again ... we have not been able to establish and develop new sites as originally expected within the necessary timescales ...for the moment, there is now a time lag before sufficient numbers of the next generation of fish can be harvested and processed through Marybank ... the uncharacteristically low market price for salmon in 2012 meant that our income has been reduced. When combined with insufficient fish to process, it is another reason why we cannot operate Marybank, in the short term, without cutting jobs.”
A previous article also stated that the company is now understood to have harvested
all the entire Loch Roag output on Lewis and a large amount of salmon earlier than
would be expected in an effort to reduce losses, partly caused by the loss of a large
amount of fish due to a parasite which causes Amoebic Gill Disease (AGD). Failure
to secure planning permission for additional sites, such as at Toa Tolsta, by Gress,
contributed to their difficulties, as did opposition from Harris fishermen towards
three new sea farms at important inshore fishing areas in the Bays of Harris. They
hope to re-
A multitude of reasons are presented -
Stuart Rankin,
28a Callanish,
Isle of Lewis
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