Construction of Mowi Scotland’s permanent broodstock facility at Ardessie is progressing on schedule, with the site set to become fully operational in 2025.
Once complete, the state-of-the-art facility will produce 50 million eyed eggs annually, sufficient to meet the needs of Mowi’s Scottish farms while generating surplus for potential commercial sales.
The facility will incorporate advanced Recirculating Aquaculture Systems (RAS) technology to regulate photoperiod and water temperature, enabling precise control over fish spawning. The system’s design will include three egg incubation units, each maintained at different temperatures, ensuring year-round egg availability for stocking production hatcheries, according to the latest edition of Mowi newsletter The Scoop.
The Ardessie operation represents a significant shift for Mowi Scotland, which currently sources the majority of its eggs from Mowi Ireland. These are only available during the standard spawning season. The new facility will exclusively produce Mowi’s proprietary genetic strain, eliminating reliance on third-party suppliers and ensuring a consistent supply tailored to the company’s needs.
Ahead of Ardessie’s completion, Mowi Scotland has established a new hatchery at Inverpolly. The interim facility has already produced over 1.7 million eggs this year and is expected to yield 21 million by the end of the spawning season.
The broodstock operation will employ nine staff, including a Broodstock Manager, and integrate personnel from Mowi’s adjacent seawater site in Wester Ross, which stocks broodstock prior to their transfer to the new facility.
The purpose-built Ardessie site will include three buildings: the main broodstock building, the egg incubation building, and an intake water treatment/shorebase facility.
Construction milestones include the completion of groundworks, foundations, and floor slabs for all three buildings. Steel frames for the intake water and egg incubation buildings are in place, and cladding is underway. External roads and service yards are nearing completion.
