The new hatchery at located at Inchmore will help put 14M Scottish salmon into the food chain each year.
Marine Harvest Scotland’s freshwater manager John Richmond said: “Our industry is expanding rapidly and farmed salmon is now the largest food export from Scotland.
“To keep ahead we need state of the art technology, which is what will be built at Inchmore.
“In this process we are very keen to minimise our environmental footprint so with this new hatchery design it’s definitely going to be a key achievement for us.”
Third largest salmon exporter
Scotland is already the world’s third largest salmon producer and exports fresh salmon to more than 60 countries worldwide.
The hatchery will consist of a steel frame building housing the fish farm, water processing equipment, offices, labs and welfare facilities for staff, along with a viewing gallery for visitors.
Demolition of the former facility has now taken place, ahead of work starting in the near future.
Marine Harvest Scotland is part of the Norwegian based Marine Harvest – one of the largest seafood companies in the world, and the world’s largest producer of Atlantic salmon. The company employs 11 700 people, and is represented in 24 countries.
420,000t of salmon
Last year the company posted a turnover of NOK 28bn, after havesting 420,000t of salmon. Marine Harvest Scotland produced more than 50,000t of salmon last year.
Meanwhile, last month Marine Harvest Scotland announced plans to axe up to 100 jobs in a bid to make the business “more efficient and sustainable”.
The firm’s md Ben Hadfield said at the time: “We will be sorry to see staff leaving, as we have a highly skilled and talented team here at Marine Harvest Scotland.
“However, the industry is moving at a fast pace and fish farming is in a very different place today from where it was 10 or even five years ago.”