UK: Good start of the year on mackerel fishery for the Scottish fleet

Frozen Herring

Frozen Mackerel

Seafood

United Kingdom

Market & Price Trends

Published Feb 26, 2024

Tridge summary

The Scottish mackerel fleet has reported a successful start to the year with abundant shoals of good-sized fish, primarily fished to the north-west of Orkney. The catches, landed in Shetland, Peterhead, Norway, and Denmark, were of excellent quality due to the short trip durations. Most of the mackerel fishing was completed by early February. Some boats have now moved to fish for Atlanto-Scandian herring and blue whiting to the west of Ireland. The next significant fishery will be for MSC certified North Sea herring in mid-July.

Disclaimer: The above summary was generated by a state-of-the-art LLM model and is intended for informational purposes only. It is recommended that readers refer to the original article for more context.

Original content

Good start of the year mackerel fishery for Scottish fleet. The traditional start-of-the-year mackerel fishery for the Scottish mackerel fleet proved fruitful, with boats reporting abundant shoals of good-sized fish. Fishing mainly to the north-west of Orkney, the plentiful fish on the grounds meant the fleet typically worked short, one or two day trips, landing their catches into Shetland, Peterhead, Norway and Denmark. The short duration of the trips ensured that the quality of the fish landed was excellent, with mackerel being in good demand from both domestic and international buyers. Most of the mackerel fishing had been completed by the first week of February, when around half-a-dozen boats which have a share in the small Scottish quota of Atlanto-Scandian herring moved north to work a short fishery off the Lofoten Islands, Norway. Some boats are also currently fishing for blue whiting to the west of Ireland, where the stock is currently undergoing a period of strong ...

Source: Fish Focus