CUMBRAE Oysters is doubling the size of its current three-acre site at Hunterston in Ayrshire.
Alan Forbes, owner and director of the seafood specialist, highlighted the value of the “very cold, deep Clyde estuarine water” to oyster production for customers in the Far East as the new 15-year lease agreement with Peel Ports was announced.
He noted the expansion would enable Cumbrae Oysters to double production and create a further two jobs at the site, with “additional seasonal opportunities".
READ MORE: Ian McConnell:Brexit could have taken many forms. Cheshire Cat Boris Johnson chose this one
Peel Ports late last year launched its vision to develop the 320-acre Hunterston site as a hub for the “blue economy” in the west of Scotland, while also targeting other industries. The blue economy is a term covering sustainable use of marine resources for output growth.
Jim McSporran, Peel Ports’ Clydeport director, said: “Hunterston PARC (Port and Resource Centre) has great potential to be at the heart of the fast-growing Scottish aquaculture industry.”
READ MORE: Ian McConnell: We need to talk about Brexit, Mr Ross
He added: “Hunterston provides the natural development choice for [businesses] in the aquaculture sector to invest. The key attributes, which include the combination of marine infrastructure, energy and access to cold and very deep salt water in which the best shellfish flourish, provide an attractive opportunity to support the growth of the industry.
“This announcement is only the beginning and we welcome enquiries from businesses within the sector looking to explore opportunities.”
Mr Forbes said: “I am very pleased to have this deal in place. Our oysters are in great demand in places like China, Singapore, Hong Kong and Macau, as well as here in the UK and in Europe, and the South Annan Sands at Hunterston have all the conditions to produce the kind of seafood most wanted in the Far East especially.
“The very cold, deep Clyde estuarine water enables the slow growth for optimum production, in addition to the presence of plankton that is the best oyster food.”
As well as year-round oyster production, Cumbrae also offers razor and other species of clams, king scallops, brown crabs, lobsters, and blue mussels on a seasonal basis.
Heather Jones, chief executive of the Sustainable Aquaculture Innovation Centre, said: “Scotland’s burgeoning aquaculture sector has an important role to play in building a sustainable blue economy...It is great to see opportunities emerging alongside Hunterston PARC’s wider transformation project.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel