Assume sea, suppose fish – vessels registered in Scotland landed 473,000 tonnes of fish and shellfish final yr, value some £542 million.
Species resembling mackerel, monkfish, haddock and cod proceed to be essentially the most helpful to the Scottish fleet, alongside excessive demand for langoustine.
Overlook fish and seafood – algae and seaweed is the place the motion is at, as Peter Ranscombe pulls on his waders to find.
In the meantime, exports of salmon leapt to £614m final yr.
But, away from the acquainted fish and seafood that make their methods onto our plates, there’s a quiet revolution occurring below the floor.
Entrepreneurs are turning their consideration to different bounties that may be harvested from Scotland’s seashore.
Amongst them is Fiona Houston, whose Mara Seaweed model was launched in 2013, and which is now stocked at outlets starting from Home of Bruar and Loch Leven’s Larder via to nationwide retailers resembling Tesco.
Mara harvests seaweed from the shores alongside the East Neuk in Fife and from the rising variety of seaweed farms round Oban on the west coast.
Final month, Ms Houston utilized for planning permission to open her personal seaweed farm in St Andrews Bay.
Seaweed farms observe comparable grid patterns to the extra acquainted mussel farms, with the large brown kelp seaweeds grown on ropes.
Ms Houston’s additionally becoming out her new manufacturing unit in Glenrothes in Fife, which shall be 4 occasions bigger than her unique facility in Edinburgh.
Mara already employs 10 folks and Ms Houston goals for that determine to hit 50 throughout the subsequent 5 years.
It’s not simply her personal firm that’s rising, however the wider seaweed sector.
“As an business, I believe we’re just about at a tipping level,” defined Ms Houston.
“If we scale-up the processing services and the farms to make sure a high quality provide, then we are able to begin actually going after export markets – there are thrilling occasions forward.”
