Scotland’s largest salmon farming company said half of the redundancies will be in processing, which reflected the seasonal nature in that part of the business.
Jobs will also be cut from the farming operations of the business, due to the business harvesting fewer fish this year compared with last.
A spokesman said: “Salmon farming has always involved some fluctuation in employment numbers due to the harvesting cycles, but we will do everything we can to help those who will be leaving the business.”
‘Sustainable for the future’
“We’re sorry to have to take this action, but we need to ensure the business is sustainable for the future. We are working with the various agencies and will do everything we can to find alternative employment for those who will be losing their jobs.”
While not recognised as a union for collective bargaining purposes, Unite said it had about 50 members working for Marine Harvest, mainly in fish farming.
However, it would be supporting its members who have been affected by the redundancies on an individual basis.
Unite regional officer Wendy Dunsmore said: “We would urge the management to strongly look at redeployment and voluntary redundancies before going down the compulsory redundancies route.”
‘Redeployment and voluntary redundancies’
The redundancies come two years after Marine Harvest cut 100 jobs to boost efficiencies, following a period of consultation with staff.
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Meanwhile, last month, a former Young’s Seafood factory reopened in Scotland and created up to 20 new jobs, following investment by the European Commission and the Scottish government.