Loch Carnan 2022 – Setting the record straight.
Please view this video below:
In the summer of 2022, unusually warm waters on Scotland’s west coast, driven by climate change, led to a bloom of microscopic jellyfish, resulting in high fish mortality across the Scottish salmon industry. Loch Duart was significantly affected at our Loch Carnan site on South Uist, where young fish, particularly vulnerable to such conditions, were located. Despite these challenges, all other Loch Duart sites were maintained to an excellent standard.
The loss of salmon during an unprecedented climate-related event like this is devastating for a small company like ours. Each year, we choose to raise fewer fish than we could, prioritising quality over quantity, so losing fish has a significant financial impact.
More importantly, what is rarely reported in the media, is the effect on our farmers during such rare events. Our farmers work tirelessly to provide their stocks with the best life possible on our farms. When an event like this occurs, affecting the salmon they have cared for, it is both upsetting and distressing.
As a small-scale farm, we only stock a tenth of what larger producers do. Because farmed salmon survival rates are published as percentages, despite higher cumulative losses among big producers, the percentage reporting made Loch Duart’s site mortality seem disproportionately higher, leading to unfair criticism during this event.
Critics of Loch Duart point to this rare event and claim that Loch Duart is one of the worst-performing salmon farms in terms of welfare. The truth is that this was a rare event caused by climate forces beyond our control, and it is otherwise only a small blip in what has been a very successful 25 years of our company, always prioritising the welfare of our fish ahead of profits.
In a conversation with Adam Gray early in 2023, Operations Director Hazel Wade set the record straight on what actually happened.