SCOTTISH Sea Farms has awarded a contract worth more than £1 million to Oban-based fish-farming equipment supplier Fusion Marine, relating to two sites in Orkney.

The contract will start in November and includes Triton pens, six at the recently expanded site at Eday, and 12 larger pens for the new Scottish Sea Farms site at Wyre. The pens will be ready to use as of spring next year.

The contract will also include sinker tubes and bird net support wheels at both sites.

It continues a partnership between the two organisations that has now seen more than £7m invested in just over six years by salmon farm specialists Scottish Sea Farms as it focuses on its ongoing expasion. In August it awarded a £3.3m contract to Aberdeenshire's Macduff Shipyards to build vessels as part of ongoing investment in its operations.

Jim Gallagher, managing director of Argyll-based Scottish Sea Farms, said: "We have been working with Fusion Marine for a number of years now and this latest contract builds on this strong relationship and helps us to develop our new and existing sites in Orkney.

"When we were granted permission for new sites we pledged to invest with Scottish suppliers and help to boost the overall economy as a result.

"This investment of over a million pounds demonstrates this," he said, noting that recruitment is under way in Orkney, with five available skilled jobs at the Wyre site.

Iain Forbes of Fusion Marine added: "For this latest contract, we have worked closely with Scottish Sea Farms regional manager Richard Darbyshire and his team in Orkney to develop a fish farm pen equipment package that is ideally suited to the local conditions."