Five-year vision for salmon farming revealed in Scottish Quality Salmon manifesto Scottish Quality Salmon forecasts £500m industry Scottish Quality Salmon has revealed its five-year goals. Given the right political and regulatory environment, it is seeking to increase sales value from £300m to £500m with a doubling of exports to £300m by 2007. In a manifesto A Vision For Salmon Farming, Scottish Quality Salmon forecasts that 2,500 new jobs could be created in the Scottish industry, reaching a total of 9,000, and that the premium value earned by Scottish salmon will rise from £16m to £40m. It also predicts that five new business start-ups will be achieved every year in rural Scotland as a direct result of salmon farming. And SQS urges for the health benefits of oily fish to be promoted by working with schools and local authorities to make salmon available on children's menus. Though much of this growth will come from adding value to salmon in the form of salmon products, some production increases are forecast. SQS is urging politicians to comprehensively support an industry constantly under attack from environmentalists. The document acknowledges "the impact of a small number of vociferous, but unqualified individuals who have committed themselves to undermining the industry regardless of the facts. Our biggest single challenge is to keep facts at the forefront." The manifesto states: "The entire Scottish Quality Salmon membership believes that it is vital any concerns about our impact on the natural environment continue to be addressed, that they are addressed openly and expertly, and that we seek to disentangle the myths from the facts." Citing Scotland's position as a global leader in aquaculture, the manifesto concludes that "the salmon farming industry needs to see the political will to make sure that Scotland is not allowed to fall behind, or future opportunities to create hundreds of new rural jobs will be missed". It calls for the adoption of the Norwegian concept of a government Committee on Marine Wealth Creation through which all relevant public sector interests can be strategically co-ordinated to deliver national potential and benefits. Scottish Quality Salmon represents around 65% of the tonnage of farmed salmon produced in Scotland. {{MEAT }}

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