Exports worth £500m and 2,000 direct jobs make salmon a healthy part of the Scottish economy.
The fish have become Scotland’s number one food export worth £500 million to the country’s economy. Salmon has now regained its position as the UK’s top export as well. The fish is packed into ice-filled crates and shipped to countries around the world.
Scottish salmon is exported to more than 60 countries worldwide, but some nations have developed more of a taste for the premium product than others. “The main export markets are the US and the EU,” explains Scott Landsburgh, chief executive of the Scottish Salmon Producers’ Organisation (SSPO), which represents the industry in Scotland and overseas. “France, in particular, dominates the European exports market with two-thirds of the volume. After that there is China which is a growing market.”