The Scottish Marine Aquaculture Awards were announced at a ceremony and dinner in Edinburgh last week, with winners including The Scottish Salmon Co. and Scottish Sea Farms.
Hosted by the Crown Estate, The Scottish Salmon Co. won Best Marine Aquaculture Company for all-round excellence, its sustainable practices, business performance, investment, staff management practices and local community involvement.
The company also had finalists in the race for Farm Manager of the Year, the Innovation Award and the Best Finfish Farm Award.
“We are delighted and extremely proud to have won this prestigious award,” said Bill Hazeldean, CEO of The Scottish Salmon Co. “As a young company, it is a fantastic endorsement of the hard work and dedication shown over the past two years and reward for sticking to our core values of pride, passion and provenance. We have made great progress in a short space of time and we hope to use this award as a springboard for greater success in the future.”
Scottish Sea Farms won the award for the Best Finfish Farm for its farm at Lismore North, Argyll. The company’s David Duffy also won for Farm Manager of the Year.
“The professionalism of management and competence of the staff at Lismore is second to none,” said Jim Gallagher, Scottish Sea Farms’ managing director. “The award recognizes the focus we have on environmental excellence and then longstanding farming sustainability that is demonstrated. We were also thrilled with our other awards on the night and to be shortlisted on almost every category.
Fusion Marine, the Argyll-based supplier that works with Scottish Sea Farms, won the award for Aquaculture Supplier of the Year.
Grieg Seafood Hjaltland UK Ltd.’s WildWaters Scottish Salmon range was also recognized. Shetland’s largest salmon producer captured the Business Development Award for its WildWaters brand. The company was also a finalist in the Best Finfish Farm Award and Best Finfish Farm Award for its West of Burwick farm.
“Our uniquely created smoked and marinated Scottish salmon products — all varieties developed in-house — quickly proved to be a big hit with customers when first launched in the marketplace,” said Michael Stark, managing director of Grieg Seafood Hjaltland. “Our team worked hard to establish its initial success and continue to put a great deal of effort into building our customer base (now in 13 countries across Europe, the Far East, the US and Canada), retaining high standards and ultimately helping our business to grow.”
