A Norwegian company has announced ambitious plans to create a huge salmon farm in a remote Scottish hillside.
A delegation from Norwegian Mountain Salmon (NMS) recently visited a potential site on the island of Lewis.
The company suggested it would cost up to £600 million to build a facility with 224 fish tanks. Each one would be 22m wide and 8m deep, and connected to seawater through an extensive network of piping.
The “mountain salmon” facility would be the first of its kind in Scotland. NMS believes there is the potential to create 400 jobs and to produce up to 90,000 tonnes of salmon annually.
The facility would be a huge boost to Scotland’s total production. Scottish government data shows about 169,000 tonnes of Atlantic salmon were harvested in 2022.
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Campaigners have already raised concerns about the facility, despite the early stages of the project. As yet there has been little consultation with the local community and no formal plans have been submitted.
Early blueprints suggest much of the farm would be hidden inside the hillside with only new quaysides and associated buildings added to the coastline.
The quay space would be required initially to help bring equipment in and then eventually to ship fish to other markets.
NMS is considering the uninhabited Mealista site, part of a privately owned crofting estate, in the Uig area of the island for the development.
Bard Hjelmen, chief executive of NMS, said the company had spent almost a year assessing locations in Scotland and had narrowed it down to two, including a site in Shetland.
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Hjelmen said: “It is evident that the location in Lewis possesses many of the natural attributes we are seeking. For instance, I believe that the water quality from the sea nearby will be among the best available.
“However, there are still several aspects we need to investigate before making a decision to proceed with this location.”
It is thought about 200 jobs would be created in the construction phase and a similar number required to run the fish farm at full capacity.
The company is also looking into whether new housing might need to be built for the workers.
It is already trying to move forward with a similar style of farm inside mountains on the island of Utsira, in Norway.
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Land-based salmon farming is becoming more established in places such as Scandinavia, Japan, Canada and Chile. Companies see it as way to limit disease and mortality from predators as well as reducing environmental concerns about fish escaping and reduce the impact of weather on production cycles.
Most fish farming in Scotland is done in traditional pens in lochs or the sea. But there have long been concerns raised from campaign groups about parasites, mortality rates and escaped farmed fish getting into open water.
The industry argues it operates to extremely high animal welfare and regulatory standards.
Speaking about the Lewis plan, Don Staniford, an activist who campaigns against all salmon farming, said: “This project will be a mountain-sized disaster for animal welfare and the environment.
“Cramming tens of millions of Atlantic salmon in land-based tanks is a welfare nightmare and is doomed to failure.”
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Duncan Macinnes, the deputy leader of Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, said the project could be transformational for the island’s economy.
A presentation by NMS to officials suggested planning and environmental impact work could start next year with construction pencilled in to begin towards the end of this decade.
An initial phase of production would then begin in 2031 with the site ramping up to full output by 2035.
Farmed salmon is one of Scotland’s largest value exports with sales for 2023 increasing by 0.5 per cent to £581 million.
