Better transport links are vital for freshness.
Calls have been made for extra freight capacity to be introduced on ferry services after f resh salmon worth half a million pounds was left on the quayside late August in Lerwick, on the Shetland Islands according to the Shetlandtimes.
Representatives from the seafood sector have demanded a daily freight service be delivered between Lerwick and Aberdeen to help alleviate the pressure. Currently the seafood sector in the Shetlands accounts for 45% of all freight volumes.
Management from Cooke Aquaculture and Greig Seafood spoke out about the necessity to get out fish faster but currently Shetland’s sea routes are a bit like a “motorway”.
On a video made by industry site, Call To Sea, which promotes Shetland fisheries and aquaculture, the managing director of Greig Seafood Shetland, Grant Cumming said: “we are just producing so much seafood right now we just need to get that to market as fresh as possible.”
David Brown, regional manager from Cook Aquaculture said: “in the salmon farming industry because we are operating in the rural part of Shetland and we are dealing with a fresh product, it’s vitally important we have a robust internal transportation network which means we can connect in with the external ferries that are leaving Shetland.”
Chief executive of Seafood Shetland, Ruth Henderson said “that it’s really important that we have a ferry that can meet the need off all the different sectors here, but more importantly meet the need for the future.”
