SCOTTISH Salmon Company (SSC) has seen a fall in volumes in the first half of the year as a result of sea lice infections and jellyfish swarms at some of its facilities.

SSC said it harvested 13,610 tonnes of salmon between January and June this year, less than the 14,301 in the same period of 2014.

The Edinburgh business also trimmed its annual forecast of 30,0000 by around 10 per cent as a result of the problems.

Revenue in the six months was also down from £61.5m to £58.5m, partly as a result of the lower volumes although exchange rate fluctuations and lower spot prices also contributed

Underlying earnings dropped from £12.8m to £10.9m for the Oslo Stock Exchange listed business.

Craig Anderson, managing director at The Scottish Salmon Company, said: “In the face of challenging conditions, which are being felt across the wider industry, these results reflect a stable performance in the second quarter of 2015.

“With greatly increased supply, fluctuating prices, a strong pound, and biological challenges, [the second quarter] proved to be a testing period, but our harvest volumes remain on a par with last year and we are confident about long-term future growth.”

The company said preparatory work on two new sites, at Scadabay and Reibinish on the Isle of Harris, has been completed and are due to be stocked before the end of this month.

SSC said it had invested £200,000 on a hatchery development on North Uist which it plans to become the centre of a programme to provide salmon with 100 per cent Scottish provenance.