DUE to what it describes as a “significant fall in demand for salmon feed year on year in the Irish market”, Skretting is to close its production and administration operations at Westport, Ireland.

The company yesterday said it had started a consultation period regarding the cessation of production at Westport in the near future and the transfer of the production of feed for the Irish market to Skretting’s manufacturing plants in the UK. This will result in 22 redundancies in Ireland and a number of redundancies in joint services based in the UK. Skretting says it will work closely to support its employees during this period.

A statement from Skretting claimed it "remains fully committed to the Irish aquaculture industry, as it has been for more than 20 years, and will continue to supply and support the industry from its operations in the UK".