Stuart Cannon receives MBE for services to aquaculture in New Year Honours List
Stuart Cannon, co-founder and chairman of Kames Fish Farming Limited, Scotland’s family-run fish farm and producer of unique sea-grown Steelhead Trout, has been awarded a MBE in the New Year Honours List 2025, in recognition of his services to the Sustainable Development of the Aquaculture Industry in Scotland over the past fifty years.
“I am deeply honoured to have been awarded the MBE by the King and very proud to have been a part of the development of the aquaculture industry in Scotland for over 50 years,” said Stuart. “Fish is a wonderful protein for our ever-growing population, with one of the lowest carbon footprints, and there are many within the industry who strive for sustainable development and high, rigorous standards for the welfare and quality of our fish and care of our environment. It’s very encouraging to see some of that hard work and passion recognised in the public eye.”
Stuart personally pioneered fish husbandry and welfare techniques in the early days of fish farming in the UK, helping to influence best practice in the global aquaculture industry today. He was the first to grow trout in cages in freshwater lochs, understanding that they would create their own flow, despite scepticism at the time. He pioneered cage construction and helped establish many farms around the world – from Chile and Greece to the Middle East and Sri Lanka to Africa and Europe. He pioneered the triploidisation of trout, preventing maturation and avoiding genetic contamination with wild stock, and trialled and helped develop many vaccines and histology systems for better fish health monitoring – always focusing on applying academic research and development to practical farm life, with the aim of looking forward, maintaining the environment and achieving the best quality of fish health. As he always says, “you farm for the future.”
Stuart grew up in Lincolnshire on a mixed cattle and arable farm in the sixties. But he was keen for his own adventure, and, whilst studying at Harper Adams agricultural college, he read about some of the first fish farms being established in Denmark. He had always loved both eating and fishing for trout as a boy, and the idea took hold, so he found out about a placement at Kenmure Fisheries, New Galloway, growing trout in a pond system. Graeme Gordon became an early mentor to him, and suggested he go on the first aquaculture course at Stirling University where he studied for a MSc in aquaculture.
Kames expanded greatly over the following decades but has remained one of the last family-run fish farms in Scotland, now managed by Stuart’s son, Andrew Cannon. Kames today only farms sea-grown trout and is passionate about the quality of this exceptional fish. Their ethos of quality, sustainability and community is stronger than ever, and they are proud of their own significant breeding programme ensuring high quality and welfare from egg to plate; a critical development in regard of the climate challenges that the farming sector faces.
In 2018, Stuart won the first Industry People’s Choice award, recognising the work he has done for aquaculture, and in 2022 Kames won Best Aquaculture Company in the UK, followed in 2023 by Best Animal Welfare. Stuart has been involved with many companies, including NFU, SAOS, SAMS , Selonda AS, and Scot Trout, to name but a few, and his current offices include Kames and the British Trout Association.