Policy – July 17, 2026
UK: urged to launch national RAS centre or risk losing aquaculture race
The UK government should establish a national centre for land-based seafood production to accelerate investment in recirculating aquaculture systems, according to a University of Exeter policy paper.
The proposed centre would coordinate research, regulation, training and business development while supporting domestic hatchery capacity and helping new aquaculture companies move from research into commercial production.
The paper, Investing in the UK’s Blue Transformation, also calls for government support programmes to be expanded to aquaculture investors and for research funding and wider incentives to be aligned with land-based production.
“This is a transformational opportunity to boost not only productivity and exports, but also the technology and engineering capabilities behind it,” said Professor Ian Bateman, co-director of Exeter’s Land, Environment, Economics and Policy Institute.
The researchers said recirculating aquaculture systems, or RAS, could operate in rural, coastal, urban and brownfield locations while using up to 99% less water than conventional production methods.
For the salmon industry, the proposed centre could support the development of land-based smolt facilities, domestic hatcheries and potentially additional grow-out capacity. It could also help suppliers export RAS engineering, water-treatment and fish-health technology.
The paper said UK aquaculture was worth approximately £1 billion, with salmon accounting for 93% of its value. It argued that land-based production could provide a second production stream alongside salmon farming in Scottish sea lochs while diversifying output into trout, prawns, shellfish, seaweed and other high-value species.
“The UK has the research expertise, entrepreneurial talent and growing market demand needed to lead the next generation of sustainable seafood production,” University of Exeter Professor Rod Wilson said.
The authors warned that the UK risked losing its technological advantage to countries including Denmark and Poland without early government and private-sector investment.
