The Grower — 1

The Grower Newsletter for the Association of Scottish Shellfish Growers

June 2013

Chairman’s

Column

2,3

SAGB

Conference

4,5

China Report 6,7

ICMSS ‘13 8

MusselsAlive 10

Succession

Planning

12

Biosecurity

workshop

16

INSIDE THIS 20

PAGE ISSUE

The Grower is distributed to all members of the ASSG and is also available online at www.assg.org.uk Why don’t you consider advertising to our specialist readership?

The Grower is a quarterly newsletter edited by Janet H. Brown, The Shellfish Team, 2

Annfield Grove, Stirling, FK8 2BN jan.brown@dsl.pipex.com For membership of ASSG contact Chairman: Walter Speirs, Muckairn Mussels, Achnacloich, Connel,

Argyll, PA37 1PR walter.speirs@btconnect.com

For further information see our web site at www.assg.org.uk Disclaimer: Views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the official view of the Association

Advertising

The Crown Estate Marine Awards success for Shellfish

Workshop warmup for conference “Well kent” faces seen in the

audience at the Oyster Herpes

and Biosecurity workshop

held in Oban in April. (full

report page 16). This turned

out to be a warm up event for

workshop organiser Janet

Brown because Nicki

Holmyard who has organised

the ASSG conference for the

past 5 years has stepped down

and Janet is to take over from

her. Nicki has done an excellent job and introduced a number of innovations, such as the

competition for best shellfish producer in Scotland. That and hopefully her standard of

excellent catering will be continued. The Minister, Paul Wheelhouse pictured above

announced at the Marine Awards event above that he will be giving a keynote address.

Selling your

business

17

FSA Scotland 18

Photonews 20

Stephen Cameron, Managing

Director of the Scottish Shellfish

Marketing Group was worthy winner

in the category “Outstanding

Contribution to Industry” at The

Crown Estate Scottish Marine

Aquaculture Awards event held at

Prestonfield House. He is pictured

here being presented with the award

by the Minister for Environment and

Climate Change, Mr Paul

Wheelhouse. Stephen fought off

strong competition for this award.

Loch Ryan Oysters were the other

shellfish winners who won in the

category Stewardship award—for

Repopulating the Loch Ryan Oyster Beds for the Next Generation. See more pictures on

back page. Photo from Lewis Houghton Photography

The Grower — 2

Chairman’s Column

Walter Speirs, chairman of Association of Scottish

Shellfish Growers

Welcome to the summer edition of The Grower.

Could have fooled me, it’s pretty chilly at Achnacloich

today! Looking on the bright side, I suppose it may slow

the growth of algal toxins that are starting to appear

around the coast.

UK Aquaculture Forum

First meeting to report on this issue is the UK

Aquaculture Forum, which met in Cardiff on 22nd

March. Topics relevant to our sector were Norovirus

and Oyster Herpes Virus. On Norovirus the discussion

revolved around possible future acceptable standards for

shellfish, and the impact it could have on our industry.

Updates were given on the status of OHsV around the

UK, and the practicalities of retaining disease free status

for the UK.

Shellfish Forum

On 4th April the final meeting of the Shellfish Forum

in its current format was held in Edinburgh. As well as

the usual agenda items, the future of the group was

debated. More on that to come later.

SAGB Mollusc Committee

12th April was the SAGB Mollusc Committee

meeting. Good news at last on the Gangmasters

legislation, with DEFRA prepared to accept that

mollusc cultivation should not really be included within

the scope of the legislation. Legal processes still need to

be finalised, but I hope we are nearly there. Possible

changes to the way shellfish waters are tested for

classification purposes was discussed, and the

implications it could have debated. Norovirus was also

hotly debated, again with regard to possible future

acceptable levels of contamination. Industry view

remains that whilst methods of detection are still not

completely reliable imposing a standard could be

unnecessarily damaging. An industry led Code of

Practice is possibly a better option for all, but as with all

voluntary standards who would police it?

As you know we held our AGM at SAMS in Oban

on the 16th April, thanks to those of you who attended.

The workshop on OHsV that took place (kindly

sponsored by Seafish) will be reported on elsewhere in

this issue.

SARF News

The Scottish Aquaculture Research Forum (SARF)

have funded a project to explore alternative strategies to

mussel spat supply, and the first meeting with the

chosen contractor was held in Edinburgh on 29th April.

The intention is that this should be a fresh look at how

growers can be more certain about obtaining spat, also

looking what happens in other countries. As we heard at

our conference last year, variability in spatfall is now a

concern for all mussel growing areas in the world. You

will have received a questionnaire relating to this

project by now, and I would urge you to take a minute

to complete it.

Brussels meetings

I represent EMPA at the Strategic Coordination

Group meetings in Brussels. This group oversees the

working of the Water Framework Directive, and the

River Basin Management Plans that are part of it. The

issue of standards for the quality of Shellfish Growing

Waters is still live, as the current directive falls at the

end of this year, and there are no standards in the Water

Framework Directive to replace them. Asking the direct

question at the meeting as to how this was going to be

dealt with, the answer given was as vague as always, so

with one meeting to go before the end of the year, time

is running out. As I will come on to later, we should be

protected in Scotland before the end of the year, but it is

still clearly a problem for some other member states.

New developments

The Shellfish Forum mentioned earlier was part of

the Ministerial Group for Aquaculture, which has now

reached the end of its working life. It has been replaced

by the Ministerial Group for Sustainable Aquaculture

(MGSA), which has a new brief, and different members.

The first meeting of the MGSA took place in Edinburgh

on May 7th. Shellfish still has a part in this new

structure, and our new group is rebranded the Shellfish

Working Group. Targets and objectives for this new

group were discussed and agreed at the meeting.

Broadly, it has to try and help industry achieve growth

targets, using the report Prospects and Opportunities for

shellfish farming in Scotland prepared by Stirling

University as the starting point. More on that later.

The MusselsAlive project has now finished, with the

final meeting being held in Portugal on 21st and 22nd

May. It has been an interesting project, and final reports

will be available soon. However it has been quite a bit of

work, and a lot of travelling, so quite happy that it is

now completed (see report from Sara Barrento on page

10).

The BEADS project is also now completed,

following the final meeting which was held in Cork on

28th and 29th May. Again an interesting project, with

some further work possibly arising out of it with regard

The Grower — 3

to depuration of toxins and Norovirus. As with the

MusselsAlive project, I am relieved it is now finished.

I have previously mentioned the Shellfish Water

Quality Group that has been set up by Scottish

Government to structure the protection of Shellfish

Growing Waters once the existing Directive finishes at

the end of this year. We met on 4th June in Edinburgh

and had a very positive meeting. New areas were

proposed for designation, and also several boundary

adjustments made to bring areas into line with the

Shellfish Harvesting Waters Directive. Protection will

be through secondary legislation managed as part of the

River Basin Management Plans. A consultation on the

proposals will take place later in the summer, with the

intention being that everything will be finalised before

the end of the year.

Shellfish Working Group meeting

The following day was the first meeting of the newly

established Shellfish Working Group, also in

Edinburgh. It was an interesting meeting to Chair, as we

did not have a fixed agenda, but were trying to create

one for the next meeting. We were trying to focus on

what we collectively could practically do to assist the

shellfish industry develop and grow. A difficult

question, which led to a fair bit of debate, heated at

times! Afterwards I was wondering if we had lost the

successful formula of the Shellfish Forum in return for

the new group, but I suppose change can often be

challenging, and I hope the next meeting will be a bit

more structured, and we can find some practical issues

to get our teeth into. All suggestions very welcome!

If there is anything I have touched on in this report

that you would like more detail about, please do not

hesitate to get in touch.

Finally, please remember the dates for our

conference this year, 2nd and 3rd October, in Oban.

Best Wishes,

Walter

ASSG Annual Conference

Corran Halls, Oban, 2nd –3rd October 2013

The programme is still in preparation but speakers already signed up include, Minister for the Environment and

Climate Change, Paul Wheelhouse, Marco Huissen of Murre Techniek BV (Netherlands), Prof Colin Moffat, Head

of Marine Scotland Science, Sylvain Huchette of France Haliotis and David Attwood of Loch Fyne Oysters.

Bookings now being taken for trade exhibitors. Contact Janet Brown

Competition for best Shellfish Producer in Scotland, Crassostrea gigas, Mytilus edulis and Ostrea edulis

The ASSG is extremely grateful for sponsorship from The Crown Estate, SNH, and Seafish

Chairman’s Column –continued

If you think shellfish farming is tough…….

When it is cold, windy and rainy and it seems like a

tough life working on your mussels lines or grading

oysters then take a look at what the Inuit living on

Wakeham Bay on the Arctic Sea in Canada will do for a

meal of mussels. There is a short YouTube version

available at

www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=Z0qGvC3vqaA

and there is a clip from the original programme from

the BBC in their Human Planet series which puts the

clip in a fuller context at

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0113k17

And it may apply as well to those of us who merely

enjoy eating the mussels!

The Grower — 4

The 44th annual conference was held at

Fishmongers’ Hall, London, in May this year, the 110th

of the Association.

The opening address to the conference was given by

Jeremy Simmonds, SAGB President, who informed the

meeting that for the first time the conference would

feature on Twitter. He then introduced the keynote

speaker, Richard Benyon, Parliamentary

Under-Secretary for Natural Environment

and Fisheries, who developed the themes

from his presentation at the previous

year’s conference of sustainability and

‘working together’. Reference to both was

made during many of the other

presentations throughout the conference

this year. The Minister summarised some

of the initiatives being pursued by

government, including Marine Plans and

conservation areas. Here he re-iterated the

need for these to be based on scientific

evidence, but stated that progress was

limited by resources. He also expressed

his view that aquaculture must be market,

not subsidy, driven and that the cost of

water quality improvements must be

proportionate.

The Drummond Lecture – established

in honour of Maldwin Drummond, SAGB

President from 1986-2008– was given by

Clive Askew, a previous Assistant

Director of the Association. Clive gave a

retrospective of his career with shellfish,

having been involved in the early days of

hatchery cultivation of oysters in both

Spain and the UK. He documented the

growth of bureaucracy over the years and

the problems this faces for a small

industry. He then briefly explored some

current issues, including TBT, Biotoxins,

Norovirus, Conservation Zones and

shellfish as part of a healthy diet.

Mark Grey presented on Responsible

Sourcing, one of the eight workstreams of

the new Seafish Strategic Direction. This

will be delivered through various guides as

well as the responsible fishing scheme. A

major issue is determining what activities

will be allowed in conservation areas. This

is a major task for the IFCAs and one for

which fishermen are contributing

evidence. There is much more on this at

http://rfs.seafish.org/

Martin Syvret looked at the

advantages of co-location in the form of

aquaculture at offshore wind farm sites.

This is being tested by a project at the

North Hoyle wind farm, where a seed

mussel trial in 2010 gave promising

results. The Project will identify

opportunities for this kind of development

and a guide will be produced. This will be

available at

www.aquafishsolutions.com/?page_id=83

Tim Dapling spoke on the challenges

facing the IFCAs and the approach to

these through working in partnership with

other organisations, illustrating his talk

with some famous art works with a marine

theme as a background. He emphasised

the need for ecosystem management of

inshore fisheries, but with a socio-

economic perspective. A priority is a

wholesale review of bylaws and

regulations, to be completed by 2015.

Sam Evans looked back over 43 years in

the fishing industry, from fishing lobsters

as a youngster to setting up his own

company, Kildavanan Seafoods.

Tony Legg looked at the opportunities for

marketing his Jersey native oysters.

Historically, the fishery here yielded

64,000 tonnes a year, but this was not

sustainable and for many tears none have

been available at all. His approach has

been to emphasise the local provenance,

supported by a logo, and a “Genuine

Jersey” label, but also to seek Aquaculture

Stewardship Council (ASC) accreditation.

He described the process and, during

questions, asserted that the cost was

acceptable, especially as it is something

increasingly demanded by major retailers.

Clive Harward gave a background to

waste water treatment and the work of

Anglian Water, where a text alert system

for when combined sewer overflows are

activated is in operation. This initiative

has been developed in partnership with

Seafish and he hopes for future

collaboration with them and with SAGB.

SAGB Annual Conference Ian Laing reports

Ian Laing works with

Cefas where he has

been involved in

shellfish aquaculture

research and advice

for almost 40 years.

He has edited

Shellfish News since it

was first published in

May 1996 and is a

regular attendee at

the SAGB annual

conferences.

Richard Benyon

Clive Askew

Irene Bocchetta

Martin Syvret

The Grower — 5

Irene Bocchetta gave an overview of the

three categories of the EU protected food

name schemes. These are PDO (Protected

Designation of Origin), PGI (Protected

Geographical Indication), and TSG

(Traditional Speciality Guaranteed). The

first two ensure the place of production,

examples are Isle of Man queenies and

Whitstable oysters, whereas the third refers

to a recipe or method. An example of this is

bouchot mussels. She described the

assessment process, which, with

consultation, takes about one year. The many benefits of

the schemes, especially the economic advantages, were

explained.

Harriet Moonesinghe described her PhD project at

the University of Portsmouth, sponsored by the

Fishmongers’ Company, on fish and shellfish allergies.

Her work covers three areas: prevalence in different

regions of the world, which varies, as does age of onset;

characterisation of allergies, covering species and

reactions, including comparison with

symptoms from, for example, biotoxins;

development in relation to fish and

shellfish intake during pregnancy and

subsequent consumption by infants.

The first day was concluded by a

showing of the Seafish film “The Business

of Fishing”, introduced by Hazel Curtis,

Chief Economist at Seafish. The film

features four vessel owners and explores

the complexities of operating in the modern

fishing industry.

The second day began with Ewen Bell

describing the biology of Nephrops,

especially its burrowing behaviour, which

is used for stock assessment. Video from cameras on

towed sledges, an example of which was shown, is

examined to discriminate and count burrows over a

known area. The harvest rate can then be calculated by

comparison with fishing data over a wider area. Most

(22 of 34) of the EU fisheries for this species are in the

UK and are worth more than £100 million per annum.

Alan Law then spoke on the function of Natural

England, of which he is Marine Director, and the

relationship with SAGB.

Viktoria Varga Lencses, from DG MARE of the EU

Commission, described the proposed arrangements for

aquaculture within the reform of the Common Fisheries

Policy. New ‘basic’ and ‘market’ Regulations will be

drafted and a new funding scheme, the EMFF, within

which aquaculture will be a priority topic. The basic

Regulations will look towards a greater sharing of

information, including best practice. Linked to the

EMFF will be multiannual national strategic plans. It is

hoped to reduce the administrative burden and facilitate

development by various initiatives, including reducing

the time for approval of businesses. A new body, The

Aquaculture Advisory Council, will be formed. This will

be a consultation body of relevant stakeholders. There

was an assurance during questions that water quality

standards will continue to be protected when the

Shellfish Waters Directive is repealed.

Ed Pope and Frances Hopkins spoke

on ocean acidification and the work

that is being done under the UK

Consortium Programme. This four year

programme runs until next year, has 23

research partners and is worth £12

million. This work is described fully in

Issue Number 35 of Shellfish News

(www.cefas.defra.gov.uk/publications-

and-data/shellfish-news.aspx). For

shellfish, there is serious concern for

the early life stages of cultivated mollusc species,

although there is some hope for mitigation of the effects

through management and husbandry measures.

Charles Clover and David Sales rounded off the

‘working together’ theme with the story of successful

cooperation of fishermen and conservationists in the

management of Lyme Bay, the UKs largest marine

protected area. Here, with support from IFCAs, the

MMO and NE, there have been various studies towards

designing a sustainable fishery, leading

to agreements that have often been

initiated by the local fishermen.

The meeting ended with a joint

presentation from Hilary Cox and Nick

Samujlik on the annual, since 2010,

Cromer and Sheringham Crab &

Lobster Festival. This is run by

volunteers with a range of expertise.

There is a strong artistic component and

an important charitable function. The

festival also assists the local tourist

industry. For more on the festival,

including links to photos and videos,

one of which was shown at the meeting,

see: www.crabandlobsterfestival.co.uk/

Copies of the above presentations will eventually be

posted on the SAGB Slideshare website.

Shellfish Culture

Shellfish as art once again but this time in the millinery

line. The Mayor of Cromer, Hilary Cox showed how

dedicated she is to the crab and lobster festival organised

by Cromer and Sheringham by giving her presentation

modelling this superb lobster hat and crab pendant!

Victoria Varga Lencses

Tim Dapling

The Grower — 6

The ponds we visited were also vast (see facing

page). A ten kilometre square area of sea has been

enclosed with rock causeways creating the ponds, with

channels allowing seawater to enter or leave the ponds.

The ponds are filled with seawater, and micro-algae

allowed to bloom. Jellyfish are then introduced to

consume the algae, and their faeces fall to the bottom,

where sea cucumbers feed on it. In the summer when the

sea cucumbers are inactive, shrimp are introduced to

utilise the nutrients. Sea urchins graze on any seaweed

that grows. This ‘extractive’ culture is removing

thousands of tonnes of nitrogen and phosphorus from

the coastal environment, thus effectively reducing

coastal eutrophication. We were assured that the quality

of the water leaving the ponds was better than when it

came in.

Every pond has a small house at the end, where the

farmer and his family live. Whist we were there, more

ponds were being created, with an endless stream of

lorries carrying rock to the outer edge of the area.

The sea cucumber nurseries were vast, 200,000

square meters of dark, steamy buildings, filled with

Earlier this year I was delighted to be included in a

learning journey to China, organised and funded by

EATIP, the European Aquaculture Technology and

Innovation Platform, hosted by Ocean University of

China in Qingdao. The purpose of the trip was to learn

more about Integrated Multi-Trophic Aquaculture, and

explore the possibility of developing a working

relationship with Chinese Universities and industry.

We visited hatcheries and nurseries producing sea

cucumber and abalone, as well as large ponds growing a

variety of seafood, and a boat trip round a seaweed and

shellfish farm.

The first point to make is the sheer size of the

operations we visited. The open sea system visited was

in Ailian Bay near Rongcheng and covered more than

100 square kilometres, with a total of eight species being

farmed. Once out in the middle of this site, lines of

buoys stretch out as far as the eye can see on all sides

(see photos above right and on facing page). Production

from this area includes 80,000 tons (dry weight) of kelp,

2,000 tons of abalone, 120,000 tons of oysters and

10,000 tons of scallops.

Dates for your diary:

Ibis Shellfish KTWorkshop 2

Production, Processing and Marketing

September 12-13, 2013

Four Seasons Hotel, Carlingford, Ireland

Association of Scottish Shellfish Growers

Annual Conference

Corran Halls, Oban

2-3rd October 2013

World Oyster Society Meeting

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam,

December 10-13, 2013

Contact details Editor Janet H Brown, 2 Annfield Grove,

Stirling, FK8 2BN

jan.brown@dsl.pipex.com

Chairman: Walter Speirs, Muckairn Mussels,

Achnacloich, Connel, Argyll, PA37 1PR

walter.speirs@btconnect.com

Treasurer

Stephen Cameron, stephenc@scottishshellfish.co.uk

Other members of management committee;-

David Attwood david.attwood@lochfyne.com

Nick Turnbull nick.iomo@btinternet.com

Cree MacKenzie ‎ cree@scaliscro.co.uk

Tristan Hugh-Jones tristan@oysters.co.uk

China Visit Walter Speirs

The Grower — 7

tanks which contained clear corrugated plastic, all

covered with tiny cucumbers. In the abalone nursery

roof tiles in raceways provided the habitat for the tiny

abalone.

China is the largest producer of molluscs worldwide,

and seeing the industrial but holistic way they farm

makes it very unlikely that any other country will

achieve production on this scale. Production of molluscs

alone is in the order of 10.6 million tons. Grown as they

are with only sunlight and available nutrients as an

input, it is a very sustainable industry, even on such a

scale.

Whilst is unlikely that aquaculture on such a scale

could be envisaged anywhere in Europe, there are many

things we can learn from the Chinese. They have of

course been utilising aquaculture as a means of

producing food for centuries, and in more recent times,

the ability to produce food with no input cost other than

labour was seriously important.

The hospitality offered by our hosts was second to

none (see photo below), with a wide range of top quality

seafood on offer. I do hope there will be some kind of

follow on from this trip, as there is so much that we can

learn from the Chinese if we want to step up our game

when it comes to aquaculture.

China visit—continued

Scallop shells for oyster spat settlement

Lunch is served Abalone nursery

The Grower — 8

Notes from ‘Down Under’ ICMSS ’13

Doug McLeod

Despite the cutbacks in North American budgets

(the US contingent was particularly sparse this year,

with several FDA regulars denied funding to

participate), there was strong international

representation among the 210 participants at the most

recent “9th International Conference on Molluscan

Shellfish Safety” (ICMSS) held in Sydney in March

2013, with almost 30 countries represented. Although

we were able to welcome 4 representatives from Cefas,

and 4 from Ireland, there were unfortunately no

participants from Scottish industry, regulators or

research institutes.

Partly as a result of the recent Tasmanian PST event,

which made the debate extremely apposite, there was

much talk and discussion on risk assessment based

management of biotoxins, both currently regulated and

‘emerging’ toxins. One interesting and positive

regulatory note divulged by the European Commission

representative was the apparent agreement between

Member State experts to propose an easing of the

Yessotoxin Action Level from 1.0 to 3.75 mg/kg, which

should make life easier for Mediterranean producers of

mussels, and that the EU Reference Laboratory would

be considering more research on methods, reference

materials and Action Levels for ciguateratoxin,

palytoxins, pinnatoxin and cyclic imines.

Vibrios also appeared to have a higher profile than

at previous ICMSS events, reflecting the recent first

ever vibrio events on the East coast of the USA

following several years of presence on the West and

Gulf coasts. The question was raised: how long before

it appears in European waters?

But perhaps the most interesting area of discussion

was that on viruses, with a particular focus on

Norovirus. Apparently the favoured conclusion of a

European Commission Working Group is that there

should be virus standards applied to both production

areas and to end products, linked to stricter assessment

of Class B Growing Areas. In addition, a fascinating

dichotomy emerged during an expert ‘Round Table’

discussion on the questions: “Should a virus threshold

level for bivalves be set? And should virus testing be

integrated into risk management programmes?” Whilst

all noted they were speaking in a personal capacity

rather than as a representative of their organisations, the

Europeans (UK, France and Ireland) and an Australian

market representative all responded ‘Yes’ and ‘Yes’ to

the 2 questions; the other experts (USA, NZ and AU)

voted ‘No’ and ‘No’ (although accepting the utility of

virus testing in specific risk assessment situations).

So there are some clear signs that additional

regulatory burdens are likely to appear for the shellfish

industry in the next few years, particularly in Europe!

Watch that space, my friends!!

Happily there were some more relaxed events during

the week, with a cruise around Sydney Harbour and a

visit to the Hawkesbury River oyster growing area

(notable for having lost its Sydney Rock Oyster

production to Marteiliosis some years ago and its

Pacific oyster production to the herpes virus OsHV1 in

recent times!).

Finally, the venue for the next ICMSS was

announced – Puerto Varas in Chile, in March 2015!

Pictured left; The Expert Panel

on Viruses : L to R: David Lees

(Cefas), Chair, Anthony

Zammit (NSWFA), Paolo

Caricato (EC), Soizick Le

Guyader (Ifremer), Terence

O’Carroll (BIM), Al Campbell

(ARC consultants, NZ), Mark

Boulter (Sydney Fish Market),

Bill Burkhardt (FDA).

Doug McLeod has been contributing to The Grower under the

by line “Notes from Down Under” for almost 5 years. This is

the last! Doug & Cath McLeod have decided to return to

Europe, where they plan to offer consultancy services to the

seafood industry. Doug can be contacted via the usual e-mail

address: douglasmcleod@aol.com, while Cath can be reached

on : seafoodsafetyassessment@gmail.com "

The Grower — 9

Loch Fyne Oysters invests in Morecambe Bay Oysters

Loch Fyne Oysters Limited has acquired a

controlling interest in Seasalter (Walney) Limited

trading as Morecambe Bay Oysters as part of an

ongoing strategy to increase its shellfish production.

Shellfish growers, particularly in Scotland are very

familiar with Morecambe Bay Oysters as a well-

established oyster business located on Walney Island,

Cumbria where it operates a shellfish hatchery, and an

oyster growing site at Ulverston on Morecambe Bay.

Managing Director Kelsey Thompson, who formed

Seasalter (Walney) Limited 13 years ago as a buy out

from the famous Kent based Company Seasalter

Shellfish (Whitstable) Limited owned by pioneering

oyster producer John Bayes, is very excited with this

investment that will secure and increase employment in

the local area and allow further development of the

oyster hatchery to ensure a regular supply of quality

oyster seed for the UK and overseas markets.

The investment in Morecambe Bay Oysters will

provide Loch Fyne Oysters with the capacity to expand

its own oyster production and supply its partner oyster

growers in Scotland. The timing is right with the

increasing demand for oysters.

Oyster Hatchery Manager Tony Smith is delighted

about the investment which will improve oyster seed

production with the upgrading of the algal culture

systems and the introduction of a brood-stock breeding

programme.

Loch Fyne Oysters Limited is keen to increase its

sales of oysters, David Attwood Aquaculture Director

for Loch Fyne Oysters Limited said “We are delighted

to be working with Morecambe Bay Oysters; they have

a highly skilled and motivated team with a proven track

record. It was always an aspiration of Johnny Noble and

Andy Lane (co-founders of Loch Fyne Oysters) to

operate an oyster hatchery and it is great to see that this

has been realised.”

Below; Kelsey Thompson, Tony Smith and David

Attwood at the World Oyster Congress December 2012

In the last issue

of The Grower we

reported on the

shock news that the

President of the

Comité Nationale

de la

Conchyliculture

(CNC) M.

Goulvain Brest,

had resigned after 15 years in the post and not at the end

of his appointed term. The elections have been held just

in time for us to present the results in this issue as they

were announced on the CNC website on 19th June 2013.

The role of President has gone to M. Gérald Viaud

(pictured above) who is currently President of the

Regional Committee of the Shellfish (CRC) of Poitou-

Charentes and who is also current President of the CNC

Sector I (Oysters). We wish him every success in his

new role.

An election was also held to appoint his successor as

President of the CNC Sector 1 (Oysters) and as Vice-

Chair of the AcSB. And it may be no surprise to any of

the attendees at the World Oyster Congress that the

victor in this election was M. Olivier Laban (CRC

President Arcachon Aquitaine).

The CNC is the representative body for all shellfish

sector operators (production-market) and it is created by

a French law. All shellfish growers in France are

obliged to be members of CNC.

New President of CNC announced

Progress in Marine Conservation 2012

In June 2012 in Stralsund, Germany, the 3rd

international conference on “Progress in Marine

Conservation in Europe 2012” provided a forum for in

-depth discussions on important and emerging marine

nature conservation issues. The conference presentations

focused on marine protected areas, anthropogenic

impacts on marine biodiversity, sustainable fisheries, the

implementation of marine nature conservation strategies

and the protection of marine endangered species.

The respective conference proceedings are now

available as PDF version and can be downloaded at

www.habitatmare.de.

The Grower — 10

MusselsAlive project achievements

Sara Barrento

MusselsAlive project is coming to an end. The last

meeting was held on the 21st and 22nd of May. During

the meeting several documents were presented and the

major outcomes of the project were discussed. European

projects are not always easy to accomplish, especially

when we are dealing with a live product in this case

mussels from different countries (Scotland, Ireland and

Norway). Each country has its specific regulations,

trading problems, and different ways to process mussels.

Within each country, different companies face different

challenges. In Scotland the hot topic is depuration, but

in Norway the major concern is grading and holding

mussels for an extended period of time.

The main aim of MusselsAlive was to identify

difficulties and come up with solution to grading,

conditioning, holding and transport. To achieve this

Swansea University developed several questionnaires

and interviewed mussel farmers, from Scotland, Ireland

and Norway. The knowledge obtained with the

interviews was essential to design experiments to

address weight loss during transport and ways to prevent

it. Other experiments that were designed include the

minimum possible flow during depuration to prevent

unnecessary pumping costs, or the design of a holding

system to keep mussels alive for an extended period of

time (Figure 1). It sounds odd to develop a holding

system that can keep mussels alive for extended periods

of time without feeding, when the main aim is to sell

mussels as quickly as possible. However, several

companies harvesting in remote places where logistic

complications can arise due to unforeseen transportation

or weather conditions have shown interest in having a

system that can keep mussels alive for a couple of

weeks without feeding. Also during the project it was

shown that spawning mussels can be held for up to

two weeks in a holding system at 5˚C with low

mortality (9%); after these 15 days in the holding

system, mussels were transported during 24h from

Wales to Portugal, and mortality after transport was only

1.3 %. So, a holding system that can keep mussels

Figure 1. Diagram showing the general components of the system. The numbers represent specific components of the system

where water samples were taken for water chemistry analyses. The basic water flow of the system is as follows: water flowing

from the livestock tanks (1, 2,3 and 4) flows out through the base of the tank via the external stand pipe through the filter bags (box

labelled with the letter A) into the return sump (5). From the return sump the water is pumped into the protein skimmer (B) then

flows into the delivery sump (6). The water that is pumped to livestock tanks is pumped through the UV array (C) and the heat

pump/chiller (D). The prototype bin (E) was placed in tank 2.

Sara is a highly

motivated professional in

marine science and

seafood, with 7 years

experience. in data

reporting concerning

European Projects in

collaboration with

Companies, Associations

and Research Institutions

from the European

Union. Sara has a solid

background in science

communication to researchers and wide public audiences.

Knowledge transfer experience in the seafood industry is

another area that she has embraced in the last three years. At

present Sara is developing the MusselsAlive training material

and starting a new research/knowledge transfer venture in

integrated multitrophic aquaculture (IMTA).

The Grower — 11

alive for extended periods of time, that can at the

same time depurate mussels, and keep quality of

spawning mussels, seems to be better than a

conventional holding/depuration system.

Having all these issues in mind, the MusselsAlive

team built and tested a new prototype holding system

(Figure 1) and a transport bin (Figure 2) that can be

folded for transport and can be used for holding

mussels, as it perfectly fits the standard holding bins.

The bin is therefore constructed to be a combined

transport and holding unit, which means it can be used

for harvesting, dry transport to holding and/or packing

Figure 2. The prototype transport bin.

facility and for wet holding during a short or long

periods. The system was tested fully loaded with 830 kg of

mussels for 33 days, the water flow was 3080 L/h in

each bin (220 kg of mussels). The oxygen was always

above 9 mg/L or 85%, seawater temperature was kept at

5˚C, and mussels were not fed. After this period

mussels were transported to Portugal in modified

atmosphere packaging, where mussels quality was

analysed. It was concluded that after more than 1 month

(33 days) without feeding, and with accumulated

ammonia in the water mantle cavity mussels still have

an excellent or good quality score after 1 or up to 3 days

transport in MAP. The system also complied with EU

regulations regarding depuration.

This was the last experiment tested by the

MusselsAlive team.

After assessing the industry needs, after all the

experiments and tests done in Scotland, Wales, Norway

and Sweden, we are developing training material which

include fact sheets, videos, best practice codes, and

manuals. All this will be available to ASSG members,

and we invite you to check the MusselsAlive web site at

http://www.musselsaliveproject.com/

For further information contact Sara Barrento

s.i.barrento@swansea.ac.uk

OYSTERS

gigas

halfware seed for sale

We will have large numbers of

gigas halfware seed

available from our Argyll farm

from November this year (2013)

Size between 5 and 10 gms

For details please email or

phone

roger@shianfish.co.uk

01631720216

Shian Fisheries,

South Shian, Oban, Argyll

PA37 1SB

The Grower — 12

Succession planning

Janet H Brown

Courtney Hough, speaking at the ASSG annual

conference 2012, highlighted “succession planning” as a

matter of concern in aquaculture. Many farms were set

up in the 70s and 80s by “baby boomers” of the post war

– as they approach retirement and beyond what happens

to their farms? And what can we do to ensure shellfish

production continues in Scotland, or even doubles

production as has been mooted?

One way of highlighting a problem is to use a case

study of a solution – that is what I intend to do here.

Telling readers about what seems like successful

solutions found in both a mussel and an oyster farm in

order to highlight the issue, maybe to throw up a few

ideas but hopefully to tell a tale that will be on interest

to readers of The Grower in any case.

It was a chance remark of Gordon Turnbull of Isle of

Mull Oysters that was the impetus for this article – he

said to me the first time we met that had he not met his

partner, Laura, in Mull when he did, he might well not

have stayed on the island. That would have been one

leg of my succession article missing.

Mull as a location maybe gives another dimension,

but since most aquaculture enterprises in Scotland are

off the beaten track it is perhaps not untypical; my case

study if that is not too grand a name for it, is of

Inverlussa Shellfish and Isle of Mull Oysters.

There is a common theme to these stories. Neither

Douglas Wilson nor Nick Turnbull are native to Mull.

Douglas came from Ayrshire as a teenage boy in the late

70s while Nick arrived from Edinburgh in 1970 - but

both had an initial interest in fishing.

Douglas settled on Loch Spelve in the south west of

Mull. The mussel farm came along as an adjunct to his

fishing activities 25years ago. It started as just a few

lines put out of an evening. Initially the setbacks were

numerous, such as destruction of the lines in a gale,

advent of eider ducks, nothing out of the ordinary for a

mussel farmer. As Douglas describes it, “it took 3-4

years to get so much as a boiling of mussels!” He learnt

the hard way but clearly one gathers as he speaks that

establishing the mussel farm has been his life’s work.

All the family, Helen his wife, Mull born and bred, and

4 children have all worked on the farm, one way or

another but while his 3 daughters no longer have this

hands-on involvement his son Ben is fully involved with

the business as is Helen.

They have now however, also diversified into boat

contracting which Ben runs. Unfortunately I didn’t get

to interview Ben as part of this story. But with recent

problems with poor mussel spat settlement, had it not

been for the boat contracting business now running four

boats mainly contracted out to salmon farms they might

well not have been still be in business now.

It was at the time of the launch of their first boat, the

Margaret Sinclair, that they found their right hand man

in the mussel enterprise. Ben Wilson called up his old

school friend and rugby training mate, Cameron

Maclean, to come into the business as a trainee manager

and he has now worked with them 8 years. Cameron is

Mull born and bred and has recently bought a house in

nearby Salen with his partner who teaches Gaelic in

Mull although she is originally from Skye. Cameron

had worked in the salmon industry for 2 years until ISA

brought a stop to his employment and he moved to

work with Celtic Sea gaining a lot of experience with

mussel farming. He went back to the salmon industry

after nearly 2 years and it was after 3-4 years that he got

the call to come to Inverlussa. His responsibilities have

grown there such that when Inverlussa Mussels won the

prize for the best farmed mussels in Scotland at the

2011 ASSG conference it was Cameron who went up to

receive the prize!

While the farm started out as the odd experimental

line it has grown steadily over the years and at times

has been the largest producing farm in Scotland. But

the same approach to innovation and experimentation

has prevailed. Ben Wilson was sent from an early age

and in school holidays to work with Michael Molloy in

Ireland to be introduced to the concept of what a mussel

farm might be. Douglas has been quick to trial new

methods and was an early adopter of the New Zealand

shaggy rope system which he picked up initially on a

visit to Holland. Shortly after they got their first

container of equipment from NZ and as Cameron

describes it “they struggled to learn how to use it –

mainly by trial and error”. Cameron availed himself of

the learning opportunities in NZ spending 3 weeks there

in the winter of 2008 visiting with Joe Franklin Jnr in

North Island and out of Havelock with Brent Pickering

in South Island and working on a mussel boat 3 nights.

He said “I saw things I had just not even thought of”.

Douglas also visited NZ for the ICMSS conference in

2007 and also took the opportunity to spend time with

their mussel industry (as featured in the March 2007

Grower!)

Douglas seems to be a great source of quotes -

Figure 1 Douglas Wilson at the landing stage -

"“buildings don't make money" so the quay is built of

recycled material.

The Grower — 13

“buildings don’t make money” is one such I recall as I

was taken down to their quay, constructed out of second

hand salmon cage anchor blocks. (RBS and NatWest

maybe should have learnt that lesson from him!) When I

arrived in the first rain for some months Douglas was

taking water samples to give to retired research chemist

John Stockwell who examines them to identify and

quantify algae and other plankton such as barnacle

larvae so they always know what is in the water and

how it may affect them. Generally samples are taken 2-

3 times per week so that have an early indication of

whether there is likely to be toxic algae around. If there

are none then end product testing is really not necessary.

Both Douglas and Cameron mentioned the debris of

discarded methods that have built up as they have

trialled different systems. While Douglas seemed to be

saying that the traditional pegged ropes still have a use

alongside the NZ continuous rope system Cameron was

in no doubt that for general user friendliness he would

go for the NZ continuous rope system every time. He is

now the one working out in all weathers these days,

even missing the recent ASSG biosecurity workshop as

he rescued a work raft blown to the shore in the gales

that day. And that was when dressed for the workshop

rather than sea rescue.

That is not to say that Douglas is showing any signs

of slowing down but he is still involved with the mussels

he also has fishing and the boat contracting, as well as

now being vice chair of the Scottish Shellfish Marketing

Group (SSMG). Ben runs the boat contracting and

Cameron runs the mussel farm while Helen does much

of the organising for all of them. And with daughters

legally trained there is access to professional advice on

contracts – clearly a family enterprise but both providing

long term local employment for around 30 people as

well as work experience for visitors.

The origins of the Turnbulls as oyster farmers started

quite differently when Nick and his erstwhile “business

partner” came looking for a base to fish from on the

West Coast. Nick found a beautiful spot and purchased

it for £50 from a landowner “wanting to see smoke in

the chimneys once again” in this far North Westerly part

of Mull looking out over the Isles of Coll and Muck.

Here he worked very hard as a fisherman using the small

slipway down the hill from the “shack” now used by

younger son Kenny who carries on the fishing activity.

Nick lived out of the shack while fishing lobsters around

the Treshnish Islands. Whether seeking out such an

idyllic place initially related to happy childhood

holidays on the west coast we can’t say for sure but no

doubt settling in for the long term became easier with

the arrival of newly graduated teacher Eileen to teach in

the local school who was to become Mrs Turnbull. She

settled in Mull in 1975 and Gordon was born in 1977!

It was not however until the early 1990s when with

the boom in the velvet crab fishery Mull Oysters found

they had capital to invest in setting up the oyster farm

properly. This is sited on the beach just a pleasant walk

away from their house – or so it was the day I was there!

I could imagine there are weathers when it is much less

pleasant to access.

There they now have a capacious shed, extremely

well equipped with sorting and packing equipment to

make the unending task of grading and packing oysters

as easy and efficient as possible. But there is no escape

Figure 2 Back from a long day setting collection

ropes for spat, from left to right, Lachie Taylor,

Lorne MacIver, Cameron Maclean and new arrival

from New Zealand, Matt Johnson

Figure 3 Cameron Maclean in front of the most recent

equipment arrived from New Zealand

Figure 4 Succession in progress; on left younger son

Kenny who concentrates on fishing, Nick in centre

who initially started with fishing and on right elder

son Gordon with current oyster products for sale.

The Grower — 14

from bag turning but since his elder son Gordon has

come into the business they have looked into different

systems, such as the Australian suspended bags or

adapting the inexpensive poches for improved growth

using their own modifications to allow better room for

growth.

Gordon has actually been involved in the oyster

business in some way from the very start, being enrolled

to help make the bags when they started but he later

developed his own business processing crab. It was the

lucky coincidence of his having to make the next step

up in this very labour intensive business and the need

for a change in the ownership of the Isle of Mull oysters

at that precise time that suggested a solution in Gordon

stepping into the oyster business full time.

While Nick arrived interested in fishing and able to

develop the oysters as a side-line until they became the

main business, Gordon comes in from quite a different

and complementary route. He did his first degree at

Robert Gordon University in Technology and Business.

This sounds like it was a most interesting course as he

described it, originally designed to encourage women

into engineering so a very wide ranging course but with

a lot of work experience included. After an interlude

back fishing in Mull he went on to do a Master’s degree

in Marine Resource Management at Heriot Watt’s

Orkney campus. This he clearly enjoyed with small

classes and dealing with things like EIAs and studying

the economics of island living, renewables etc. This

degree led to a Fishery Development Officer post down

in South Wales but clearly he wanted to get back to

island life and came back in 2003 to fish and to develop

his crab business.

Once settled into the oyster business he clearly feels

there are things he can improve. He took the

opportunity to go a stay with YAD Marine early on in

their farm in Normandy to see what he could learn from

the French oyster industry. He is already trialling Tony

Legg’s Ortak cages for native oysters and clearly

Gordon is relishing focussing on building the business

for oysters particularly with the current increased

demand. Both Inverlussa and Isle of Mull felt strongly

the value of the ASSG, both having been long term

members, Nick even one of the directors. Gordon made

the point forcefully that dedicated interest groups were

often very strong lobbyists and insisted how much the

farmers need the lobbying power of ASSG to balance

out any conflicts of interest which can arise in the

marine area.

Both are also stalwarts of the SSMG and Nick also

has done his stint as vice chair. Nick pointed out how

much other marine industries could gain from this

cooperative set up and how important it is to have the

Co-op, both in good times but probably more important,

in less favourable times. The value can be particularly

exemplified by the fact that the SSMG holds

certification from both Friends of the Sea and Marine

Stewardship Council for the mussel farming of their

members.

But it was in speaking of the future that Gordon

showed how much he was thinking about things and

became quite heated and the conclusions follow from a

lot of what he said.

Conclusions

So what does our look at two successful cases of

succession planning tell us? Succession planning is

vital because it is just so difficult to start a shellfish

farm from scratch. Initial investment is very large with

considerable delays in getting returns and even

shortening this lead in time by bringing in part grown

stock incurs greater needs of investment. Courtney

Hough identified this problem as “being hard to get

hold of working capital”….but one thing was very clear

that these farms were set up with part finance from

other sources and more importantly, the backstopping

of other income sources.

Maybe there are solutions; if suppliers want a

secure source of shellfish they maybe need to look into

sponsorship schemes to help shellfish farmers get

established. Maybe a system like a shared equity

scheme whereby the new farmer can start off with a

small investment and end up owning. Initially perhaps

guaranteeing all your produce to your sponsor with a

slight loosening as the individual owner’s equity builds

up.

But asked to name the biggest problem Gordon was

adamant – access was the keyword. If people want

farmed shellfish, the farmer has to be able to access the

growing site in a practical fashion. Nick took this

further and suggested there are wider issues of land

ownership and access to the foreshore as well as to the

land site. He also suggested there is a need for a

government or industry backed adviser who can guide

those interested through all the hurdles that stop many

people getting started. Nick commented, “it is hard

Succession planning—continued

Figure 6 Laura, Gordon's partner who came to Mull as

marine biologist working on a whale project pictured with

Nick and the trestles in the background

The Grower — 15

Succession planning—continued

enough for those of us who have been growing shellfish

for a long time but increasing bureaucracy and

legislation both to protect the marine environment and

the consumers leaves little room to nurture the even

rarer species of younger individuals prepared to invest

their lives into growing shellfish in Scotland.”

That is the farmers’ concern. But for those of us on

the outside the concern has to be whether there will be

enough shellfish farms in Scotland in the future,

providing the product that we know is the ultimate

farmed food, nutritionally, ecologically and

environmentally triple A.

A much shorter version of this story has also

featured in Fish Farmer magazine Vol 36 no.3 May/

June 2013

Figure 7: Gordon and Nick Turnbull in their well

equipped work shed. All photos J.H.Brown

Scottish support network now operational for new Ortac oyster cultivation system

Fusion Marine has now put in place a comprehensive

support network in Scotland for the new Ortac oyster

farming system.

Developed by Jersey based shellfish farmer Tony

Legg, (pictured below) Ortac dramatically reduces la-

bour costs in comparison with conventional oyster bags

and trestles, and features a sophisticated through-flow

system that improves growth rates without compromis-

ing shell quality. It has already been used with great

success in the Channel Islands and now Fusion Marine

is bringing the system to Scotland after being appointed

as a supplier and support company.

Recently, Fusion Marine Managing Director Stephen

Divers and Development Engineer Rhuaraidh Edwards

made a site visit to Jersey to see the system in operation

at first hand and to finalise arrangements for setting up

the supply and support network for Scotland. Tony Legg

has been farming different types of oysters with the

Ortac System since it was first developed in 1998 and he

is still using the same Ortac units to this day! Original

production focused on the Pacific Oyster (Crassostrea

gigas) with an annual harvest of about 30 tonnes per

year, but Tony changed over to native oysters (Ostrea

edulis) about three years ago in a trial to see if they

could be farmed inter-tidally – which has since proved a

great success.

Currently about five tonnes of native oysters are

spread across 700 Ortacs with a further million juveniles

in a 300 unit Ortac nursery system. Further Ortacs are

planned to be added to this system over the coming year

as nursery output increases to handle an anticipated an-

nual production of approximately 75 tonnes over the

next few years.

Following Fusion Marine’s involvement, several

Scottish shellfish farmers are now trialling the Ortac

system and it is anticipated that it has the potential to

revolutionise the way in which oysters are cultivated in

Scotland. In particular, Fusion Marine believes there are

excellent opportunities in utilising Ortac within integrat-

ed multi-trophic aquaculture (IMTA) projects.

Oyster farmers keen to learn more about Ortac or

who are interested in becoming involved in trials should

contact Rhuaraidh Edwards at Fusion Marine, details at

www.fusionmarine.com/

The Grower — 16

Oyster Herpes and Other Biosecurity Issues Workshop

On a very wild and windy day in April the

workshop, courtesy of funding from Seafish was held at

SAMS Oban. There were a number of absences due to

the weather, with either ferries not running or

emergency rescues of gear being necessary but there

was still a good turn out for what was judged to be a

very useful event.

There were 4 speakers, Michael Gubbins of CEFAS

Weymouth spoke on the current oyster herpes situation

in England and Wales, Mar Marcos-Lopez of Marine

Science Scotland talked of the wider issues of risks

posed to Scottish shellfish aquaculture from other

diseases and Fabrice Richez gave us the inside story on

the oyster herpes virus as experienced in France. The

talks concluded with Martin Flanigan of Aquaculture

Initiative talking about what they are doing about the

oyster herpes virus in N. Ireland which was immensely

practical. The discussion which followed, chaired by

workshop organiser Janet Brown resulted in a few

action points being agreed for the Scottish industry.

Craig Burton as rapporteur of the meeting has already

produced the draft report of the workshop which is

currently with the speakers for final comment. When it

is finished it will be distributed to participants and also

be made available on

the ASSG website

(www.assg.org.uk) The

presentations from the

speakers are already

available on the website

for those unable to

attend on the day. The

action points will be

discussed by the ASSG

management committee

at their next meeting.

Above; Craig Burton, rapporteur for the workshop, discusses

with Fabrice Richez and Martin Flanigan. Below; the

participants and bottom from left, Martin Flanigan, Fabrice

Richez, Michael Gubbins, Janet Brown and Mar Marcos-

Lopez

The Grower — 17

Selling your business - preparation for sale Alan R MacKenzie

When do I begin the process?

Begin now. This is the biggest financial decision a shellfish

farmer, indeed any business owner, is likely to make.

The reason to start the process immediately is to maximise

the selling price of the business. Every part of the review to be

carried out will be aimed at increasing the value in your

company by ensuring there are no difficulties that will present

themselves when it comes to finalising the sale but also

identifying worth in areas of the firm where none exists at the

moment.

Some actions on which a seller will embark may, in some

instances, take months or even years to complete.

How do I begin the process?

A large part of the pre-selling route can be initiated by the

individual or team concerned without the need for external

advice.

However, it must be remembered that a fresh eye can

identify additional promise in a business whereas the incumbent

may be too close and not see the ‘wood for the trees’. Further

consider whether it will distract the seller’s attention from the

day-to-day running of operations and actually cost money rather

than increase value.

Irrespective of the seller deciding to go it alone or using

professional advice the first thing to do is sit down and draw up

a list of all assets of the firm. Then draw up a list of all

liabilities. Do not only include liabilities as they now stand but

identify those which may occur due to something the business

may do (or not do) at a later date. These are known as

contingent liabilities.

Due Diligence

Following the primary overview the time is ready to conduct

due diligence. It is highly recommended to involve professional

legal advice at this stage.

Legal due diligence refers to the investigation of contracts

the business has entered into or has omitted to do so and to

identify the possible effect on a firm - and its value - due to

potential obligations to the business.

Most due diligence is contractual in nature and therefore it is

proper that legal checks are made on the background and future

commitments of the contracts. A related legal compliance area

is that of intellectual property rights that a business may have

but has not yet been publicly recorded.

There are many aspects to due diligence but a great deal of

review will concern the fixed assets of the company.

Most business concerns will have premises of some sort.

Prominent amongst those is property whether utilised to

depurate or process shellfish or to store and repair equipment.

Buildings will be either leased or owned - outright or

mortgaged.

Leases can add to the sales price in that a legal review can

identify the length of the lease, when and how rent will be

reviewed, potential liabilities for the business, and escape

clauses.

As the majority of aquaculture farms will have a lease with

The Crown Estate the terms should be reviewed with an eye to a

prospective purchaser’s requirements.

A long-term lease can be used as collateral by a purchaser in

negotiations with financial providers such as banks. That could

mean a purchaser can borrow at a lower rate of interest than

would otherwise be the case by agreeing to note the interest of

the lender and granting security over the agreement in case of

default by the borrowing tenant.

Rent reviews contained in private contracts need to be

assessed to ensure that the business does not find itself

committed to an increase in rental payments that puts it at a

disadvantage to its competitors. If rent can be agreed for a

clearly defined period ahead then it gives greater confidence to

the financial projections.

Potential liabilities within leases can be a minefield. For

instance, where facilities are shared with others in the same

building the tenant could suddenly find themselves with an

enormous bill to pay for common or shared costs. The lease

must be scrutinised to determine what the liabilities are or could

be. Examples are the re-roofing of a building, drainage

problems, water ingression or flooding, a broken lift, or new

stairwells and disability accesses.

Even where the building is not shared with other tenants it

may be that the business will have a liability to maintain access

roads or common gardens, displays or recreational areas. Are

all planning, operating consents and licences valid?

It is worthwhile considering, in terms of the business plan,

how operations will fare in the coming years. Will the

company outgrow the current premises? Or will downsizing

become an issue?

Either way it is always wise to build-in an escape clause to

a lease whenever possible. Break clauses allow the business to

terminate the agreement at defined intervals such as every 5

years. To escape may incur financial penalties or an obligation

to restore premises to their original condition as of when the

lease was entered into.

Although fixed assets will form a large part of many

business operations that is far from the full story.

Legal scrutiny should cover equipment rental agreements;

software and hardware contracts; data storage, cloud computing

(or other remote systems); IT including landlines, mobiles, tills,

stock and ordering systems; and security, safety and health

requirements. Is there a current bio-security measures plan?

Are there long-term agreements with hatcheries to buy

stock, or guarantees to customers on market prices and

volumes?

Labour relations will form an integral part of the

purchaser’s due diligence and all potential issues need to be

recorded and resolved prior to putting the business up for sale.

Incident and complaint records should be reviewed and

updated.

Outstanding legal disputes with suppliers or customers must

also be brought to a conclusion and where debts cannot be

recovered then they should be written off in the management

and financial accounts.

Contingent liabilities must be identified and quantified.

There are numerous examples but a simple one is where vehicle

hire imposes an annual travel limit. Should that be surpassed

then punitive charges come into force. The business needs to

plan ahead for these eventualities and make adequate

provisions.

Some insurance requirements are laid down in law whilst

others are contractual and some are discretionary. Examples in

these categories are employers’ liability, insurance for leased

premises, and business interruption or gap cover.

Copyrights, design, patent and trademarks are vital in

adding value to a business and help form barriers to entry.

These are covered in a separate document in this series of

articles.

At this stage update the business plan.

Only now is the seller in a position to put a price on the

business for sale. A variation of this article originally appeared on the Calum I

Duncan Corporate Lawyers Ltd website at www.duncancorp.com/

© Alan R MacKenzie 2013

The Grower — 18

Shellfish biotoxin, Phytoplankton and E.coli monitoring annual reports published

The Food Standards Agency in Scotland (FSAS) has

published the 2012 biotoxin, phytoplankton and

microbiological monitoring programme annual reports

for shellfish harvesting areas across Scotland.

These reports, which have been produced for FSAS

by the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and

Aquaculture Science (Cefas) describe the results of

shellfish and water sampling undertaken as part of the

official control monitoring programme in Scotland.

The programme delivers testing required by EU law.

The FSA would like to thank harvesters, sampling

officers, local authorities and laboratories for their work

and co-operation in delivering the programme across

Scotland. Without that co-operation the programme

could not be delivered and the input from ASSG

members as well as the wider Scottish harvesting

community is very much appreciated.

News from FSAS HACCP and Biotoxins

Data from the Shellfish Toxin and Phytoplankton

monitoring programmes are currently indicating both

the presence of PSP toxins and Alexandrium

phytoplankton in Scottish waters. The highest PSP

result in at least 5 years was found in a sample collected

in the north of Scotland on 18th June (4776µg STX eq/

kg).

It is important to highlight that the FSA’s official

control monitoring programme is intended to monitor

the status of the shellfish harvesting waters. Although

it can, where appropriate, inform a business’ risk

assessment, it is not designed to verify the health status

of shellfish placed on the market. It is the responsibility

of the FBO to demonstrate the safety of products they

place on the market.

The FBO’s HACCP should identify the testing

necessary for each of the toxin groups and the

frequency of testing needed to ensure that risks are

reduced to an acceptable level. A number of factors

including time of year, historical data, phytoplankton

results, monitoring results (for both the harvesting area

and other areas), previous own test results and industry

results from neighbouring areas may influence the

frequency of testing and the toxins being tested for. For

example in situations where previous testing or the

results of official control monitoring have indicated the

presence of PSP toxins, or rising levels of DSP toxins,

it would be necessary for the FBO to increase the

monitoring of specific batches. During the peak toxin

season, when high toxin levels are routinely detected, it

may be necessary to monitor every batch. Toxin levels

can fluctuate rapidly and is not acceptable for FBOs to

rely solely on the results of the official control

monitoring programme to assess product safety.

The most common marine bio-toxins in Scottish

waters are PSP, ASP and DSP (Okadaic Acid), for

which there are commercial tests and test kits readily

available.

Please see attached link to the FSA guidance on End

Product Testing.

http://food.gov.uk/scotland/safetyhygienescot/

shellmonitorscot/endproducttestingshellfishtoxins/

FSAS has asked local authorities to confirm that the

HACCP in place in approved premises is sufficient to

protect against the risks associated with algal toxins.

Enforcement action will be taken to ensure that

establishments with an inadequate HACCP, or who are

not complying with their HACCP, implement an

appropriate HACCP to adequately control the risks from

marine bio-toxins.

In view of the potential for toxin groups such as PSP

and ASP to cause very serious illness, the FSA expects

that food business operators will contact all customer

businesses and that there is appropriate consumer

publicity to ensure that anyone with symptoms seeks

medical attention.

It is the FSA’s position that in the absence of

specific test results for batches placed on the market,

any official control result over the regulatory limit

which closes an area from which product has been

harvested is considered as sufficient information for an

FBO to undertake a withdrawal or recall, with the

associated publicity. Whilst this is specifically directed

at approved premises, ASSG member harvesters may

wish to consider what levels of EPT could support their

customers. This position re-iterates that which was

advised by FSA in December 2012 following the audit

of shellfish official controls in the UK by the EU

Commission. This is not a request to test every batch,

rather for approved premises to have an appropriate

HACCP which suitably addresses the risks associated

with biotoxins which will vary considerably across

Scotland.

Please contact Andy Morrison for further details: 01224

285196

Andrew.morrison@foodstandards.gsi.gov.uk

The Grower — 19

An executive summary can be downloaded from the

Scottish Government website at

www.food.gov.uk/multimedia/pdfs/shellfish-scot-

2012.pdf Links to the latest reports are available in the

table below. Full hyperlink address also given for those

reading the hard copy!

2012 Programme Location of full reports

Biotoxins & phytoplankton algal toxin surveillance pages of the Cefas website

www.cefas.defra.gov.uk/our-science/animal-health-and-food-

safety/food-safety/algal-toxins-surveillance/biotoxin-monitoring-

programmes.asp

E.coli Scotland classification and monitoring page of the Cefas website www.cefas.defra.gov.uk/our-science/animal-health-and-food-safety/food

-safety/classification-and-microbiological-monitoring/scotland-

classification-and-monitoring.aspx

Chemical contaminants Official control monitoring results page of the FSAS website

www.food.gov.uk/enforcement/monitoring/shellfish/algaltoxin/

#.UcVkAoNwbIU

Sanitary surveys/reviews Scotland sanitary survey page of the Cefas website

www.cefas.defra.gov.uk/our-science/animal-health-and-food-safety/food

-safety/sanitary-surveys/scotland.aspx

For any queries regarding the Shellfish Monitoring

Programme please contact

Jennifer Howie on 01224 285 157

jennifer.howie@foodstandards.gsi.gov.uk

News from FSAS cont

The Grower — 20

Sydney hosts International Conference on Molluscan Shellfish Safety 2013

The International Conference on Molluscan Shellfish

Safety (ICMSS) was held in Sydney Australia recently.

Pictured above left , Bill Burkhardt (US FDA)

summarising the virus discussions at the Conference and

right, Robbie Moxon, a 4th generation oyster grower in

The Hawkesbury, explaining their trials and tribulations

to a cross-section of the Conference participants during

the field trip. A full report from the conference can be

read on page 8 which also marks the last appearance in

this newsletter of “Notes from Down Under” unless the

Editor can find a suitable candidate to fill the shoes

Doug McLeod has been wearing for the past 5 years.

Offers welcomed.

All photos from ICMSS courtesy Doug McLeod

Celebrations at the Marine Aquaculture awards

repopulating the native oyster beds of Loch Ryan for

future generations. Pictured below Enjoying the drinks

and delicious canapés before the dinner from left

Lawrence Eagling and Dr Liz Ashton of QUB Belfast,

Tristan Hugh –Jones, Dr Janet Brown and David Scott. Photos by Lewis Houghton Photography and below Gordon Terris

Pictured below Tristan Hugh Jones receives the award

to Loch Ryan Oysters from Iain Dixon, Principal

Environmental consultant for Xodus Group Ltd who

sponsored the Stewardship prize. Bottom picture: all

the winners including second right Rob Lamont, skipper

of the Vital Spark, an integral part of the team that is