The construction of Mowi Scotland’s permanent salmon broodstock operation at Ardessie is underway and should be fully operational in 2025.

With a production capacity of 50 million eyed eggs, it will supply all Mowi farms in Scotland, as well as some excess could be sold commercially. This state-of-the-art facility is designed to allow photoperiod and water temperature control using Recirculating Aquaculture Systems (RAS) technology to advance or delay the spawning of the fish. It will feature three different egg incubation RAS units with each one held at a different temperature to extend the period of egg supply. This will ensure eggs can be stocked throughout the year in the production hatcheries.

The Ardessie broodstock facility is a significant milestone for Mowi Scotland which currently sources most of its eggs from Mowi Ireland where they are only available within the standard spawning season. Going forward, Ardessie will produce exclusive Mowi genetic strain eggs for Scotland with no requirement to purchase eggs from third-party suppliers.

Until Ardessie is complete, Mowi Scotland has also invested in a new hatchery at an existing site at Inverpolly. This facility is being used to spawn the mature fish this year with over 1.7 million eggs stripped so far. It is anticipated that around 21 million eggs will be produced at Inverpolly once all the fish have spawned.

The new broodstock operation will employ nine people and will retain staff from the Wester Ross seawater site which is adjacent to the facility. This seawater site is used to stock the broodstock prior to transfer into the new facility and the team there will continue to operate the sea site and look after the broodstock there. The purpose-built facility at Ardessie will consist of three buildings: the main broodstock building, the egg incubation building, and the intake water treatment/shorebase building.