With an annual production of between 160 and 170 tonnes, Ardessie was the smallest mainland UK salmon farm. The buy-out will not add significantly to Ardvar's overall production, currently at around 3,000 tonnes from five sites in the Eddrachillis Bay area of West Sutherland. It will however enable the company to comply with new guidelines regarding the separation of year classes and longer fallowing periods. Without the acquisition of the Ardessie sites, Ardvar would be obliged to cut production by about a third in order to comply with the guidelines.

"In Ardvar we have five sites, two are all-in/all-out single year class sites, one is operated as a nursery site and the remaining two as on-growing sites, [...] and you can't carry on like that if you want to follow these guidelines," company spokeswoman Kirsty McCallum told IntraFish.

Last month Scottish Quality Salmon expelled Ardessie for breach of standards following an independent investigation by the inspection body, Food Certification Ltd. The investigation was based on previous allegations that the Scottish salmon producer violated SQS standards by using an illegal toxic chemical, Deosect, to treat salmon for sea lice (see also: SQS expels Ardessie Salmon Ltd, published on 26.07.2000).

Both Ardvar and Ardessie denied that the buy-out was related to the SQS explusion. "That certainly hasn't helped matters - it's prolonged the negotiations - but we were in negotiations prior to that," Ms McCallum said. She suggested economic factors were behind the move. "The business needed a huge amount of investment and they were not in a position to do that."

The owner of Ardessie, John Parry, said Ardessie decided not to put smolts to sea last September for the first time in years. "It's the same old story: the small farms can't survive," he told IntraFish. "We had a slightly higher offer from a foreign multinational which we turned down in favour of Ardvar, with whom we have worked for three years and have great respect for."

Ardvar Salmon is an independent company, established by the Payne family in 1981 and based at Assynt in Sutherland. According to Ms McCallum, the intention is to integrate the Ardessie sites into Ardvar's overall production. The existing three sites at Little Loch Broom will be restructured as two sites, which will be used on an alternative basis - i.e. one of them will lie fallow at any one time.

The buy-out is dependent on the granting of licences for the 650,000 smolts at Little Loch Broom, a process which is expected to take several months. "It is dependent on the increased discharge consent being granted, which Ardessie are applying for themselves," she said.

In a press statement, Ardvar said that as a result of the buy-out the company would now be able to "take full account" of the recommendations of the Government/Industry Joint Working Group Report on fish health, as well as those in the Tripartite Working Group's Framework Agreement on wild and farmed salmon. "The separation of year classes of fish will be maximised; seawater to seawater movements will be avoided; average monthly stocking density across all sites will be reduced and fallow periods will be made longer. This will not only improve the sustainability of the sites, but the risk of sea lice infestation will be significantly reduced," the statement said.

Newspaper advertisements about the SEPA licence application will appear in the press in the next two weeks (in the local paper and the Edinburgh Gazette on Friday 1st and Friday 8th Sept). Ardvar promises to employ a manager based in Ardessie and up to three permanent staff recruited locally, and hopes to stock the Little Loch Broom site next spring.

By Uinsionn Mac Dubhghaill, IntraFish journalist

Ardvar Salmon buys Ardessie Salmon