Construction work gets underway this week on a new salmon processing plant on the Hebridean island of Scalpay. The project, for Stolt Seafarm Ltd., will create up to 80 new jobs once full production has been achieved.

The contract to build the factory has been let to Dingwall-based RJ MacLeod, and work is due to begin on-site on Thursday (3rd February).

The new plant is part of a development package worth over £5.7 million (pounds) to expand Stolt's activities in the Western Isles. This has been assisted with an investment of £500,000 from Western Isles Enterprise (WIE).

The factory itself will cost some £3.7 million (pounds), with £2 million (pounds) being invested in the expansion of 16 of the company's salmon farms in the Islands. These will provide the 10,000 tonnes of salmon which the plant is designed to handle each year.

Norwegian-owned Stolt Seafarms' decision to site the new plant in the Western Isles represents a significant inward investment success for the area.

Construction of the Scalpay factory, close to the island's new bridge to Harris, is expected to take up to ten months. When complete it will provide an estimated 25 jobs, rising to 80 as production levels increase.

WIE chief executive Donnie Macaulay said: "With the building work now in hand, this factory will provide very welcome jobs in Scalpay and the wider area, along with other economic spin-offs such as increased spending on local goods and services."

A spokesman for Stolt said: "The location of our farms and this processing plant in the Western Isles means the salmon can be harvested quickly and efficiently. This will help us meet the growing demand for farmed salmon, and allow us to develop new markets in Asia and America."