ROSYTH councillors have hailed salmon firm Marine Harvest beginning production at its Admiralty Road plant as “great news” for the town.

Work at the new multi-million pound fish processing factory began in the run-up to Christmas and so far 30 members of staff –28 from the West Fife area – have been recruited.

Another 80 are due to follow by the end of April as Marine Harvest – the world’s largest producers of Atlantic salmon – turn the 200,000 sq ft site into one of the largest processing plants in the UK, which is already supplying products to markets in France and Italy.

A total of 23 previously unemployed workers were among those offered posts and Councillor Mike Shirkie said, “The first 30 were hired just before Christmas and New Year which is pleasing.

“It’s great news and after being up there talking to the company, the training programme they have for staff is second to none.

“Things are going well and it’s been a long-time happening, but we have an international-quality company training local people which is fantastic.” Cllr Douglas Chapman agreed, commenting, “The figures coming through are showing a high percentage of locally based people and those on the unemployment register being hired, which is important for the future.

“They are committed to providing good training and the more innovative products they can produce, the more jobs they can bring to Rosyth.” Norwegian fish giants Morpol, then the world’s largest smoked salmon producer, bought the Admiralty Park plant in 2011 for £3.7million after Lexmark pulled the plug on its Rosyth operations in 2006, leaving almost 700 staff redundant.

However, progress on the plant stalled and Jerry Malek, Morpol’s founder, sold his shares to Marine Harvest in 2012.

The company, who employ more than 10,000 staff in 22 countries worldwide, said that the production of its first Harbour Salmon Co. product this week marked a “significant milestone” for its West Fife operations.

Andy Stapley, managing director of Marine Harvest VAP UK, said, “We’ve been hard at work equipping the factory and recruiting staff and we’re delighted to be producing our first finished product. This not just a milestone for the company, but also for the salmon farming industry as Marine Harvest brings to the market the whole process from farm to fork which has not been the case until now.

“It’s great news for the company and also great news for the local economy which will benefit from new jobs across a range of disciplines.

“Demand for Scottish salmon continues to grow and we are ready to meet the demand for salmon fillets and a range of other salmon products.

“We all care passionately about the quality of our fish and we hope local people will also feel a sense of pride that this facility in Rosyth is producing a world class product for export around the world.” At the end of last year Marine Harvest hosted an open evening for community representatives and plan to have an official opening of the facility in the near future.