Scottish Sea Farms Ltd Knock

Scottish Sea Farms operates a significant freshwater facility known as Knock Hatchery on the Isle of Mull, located near Aros (PA71 6HR). This site plays a crucial role in the early life stages of their premium Scottish salmon production. Registered since 1992, Knock Hatchery is a “flow-through” freshwater facility, meaning it continuously draws and discharges freshwater, and is equipped with numerous tanks of varying sizes for rearing young salmon.

Knock Hatchery is one of Scottish Sea Farms’ three freshwater facilities, complementing their larger recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) hatchery at Barcaldine and another in Shetland. The primary function of Knock is to grow smolts – young salmon that are ready to be transferred from freshwater to marine farms for their final growth stage. Recent investments, including a £550,000 upgrade, have focused on replacing smaller tanks with larger ones to produce more robust smolts, improving efficiency and fish welfare.

The work at Knock is vital to Scottish Sea Farms’ overall strategy, aiming to produce around 300,000 more smolts annually at a larger, healthier size, which ultimately benefits the fish’s performance in marine pens. While it’s a traditional flow-through system, the team is adapting its strategy to primarily receive small fish (fry) for on-growing, rather than eggs, optimizing the use of this valuable freshwater resource on Mull. This local operation contributes to employment and the broader aquaculture sector in the region.