Marine Harvest, the world’s largest fish-farmer, has identified a quarry on the Isle of Skye in Scotland, to build its new GBP 80 million (USD 115 million) fish feed plant.

The site at Kyleakin near the Skye Bridge has been earmarked for the development following an extensive survey of different sites on the west coast of Scotland. It is expected to create 55 full time, permanent jobs.

Ben Hadfield, managing director of Marine Harvest Scotland, said: “We are delighted to have found a site which sits at the heart of our operations – one that is already an industrial site but which has not been fully utilised for some time. We would like to have the chance to bring it back to life and provide well paid jobs, as well as taking the opportunity to produce our feed in the most sustainable way.

“This is a large investment in Scotland and the development of a feed plant here is part of our overall drive to become a more efficient and sustainable business.

“We hope this will be a major boost for the local economy and we are keen to start discussions with the local community and hear their views about our proposals.”

The new plant will produce feed for use on Marine Harvest’s Scottish farms, as well as for Ireland, Norway and the Faroes. The company hopes to replicate the success of a similar plant in Norway which has provided a welcome boost to the local economy by providing jobs directly, as well as generating employment for local contractors and suppliers.

Construction of the plant will take between a year and eighteen months and Marine Harvest believes it could be up and running as early as 2018, depending on the planning process.

Around four acres of the site will be used to accommodate the buildings, including the processing plant, raw material storage silos, product storage and packaging, a loading area and car parking.