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Fish landings
19/09/2007
The total value of fish landed by Scottish vessels increased by three per cent in real terms to £370 million in 2006 - according to the final 2006 statistics released today by the Scottish Government.
The value of shellfish landings increased by 22 per cent in real terms to £140 million between 2005 and 2006 with the volume of landings in this sector increasing by seven per cent to 59 thousand tonnes.
The employment figures indicate an increase in the number of fishermen of one per cent between 2005(1) to 2006 to reach 5,205.
Other main findings include:
Landings by Scottish based vessels
- High value shellfish landings formed 16 per cent of the total by weight but 38 per cent by value, making shellfish the most valuable sector to the Scottish fleet for the first time
- The value of demersal landings increased by eight percent in real terms to £136 million despite the volume of landings decreasing by six per cent to 94 thousand tonnes
- Demersal landings made up 37 per cent of the total value and 25 per cent of the total volume
- (1)The 2005 employment figures have been revised because they were affected by an understatement in the figures recorded by Peterhead Fisheries Office. The 2005 figures for Peterhead have been estimated as being the same as the 2006 figure
- The 2006 pelagic landings have been affected by the repayment arrangements agreed with the Commission for historic undeclared landings of herring and mackerel. Under administrative arrangements, repayment started in 2006 and covered some undeclared landings in 2005 and 2006
- The volume of pelagic species landed decreased by 31 per cent to 226 thousand tonnes. Although prices per tonne landed increased, the value landed decreased by 22 per cent in real terms to £92 million
- Pelagic landings made up 25 per cent of the total value and 60 per cent of the total volume
Scottish Fishing Fleet
- There were 2,224 active fishing vessels based in Scotland at the end of 2006, a net reduction of 62 (three per cent) since 2005
- In the last decade, the number of over 10m vessels has decreased reflecting the impact of two decommissioning schemes in 2001 and 2003 which gave grants to owners in the Scottish whitefish fleet to decommission their vessel and surrender their fishing licence
- The over 10 metres fleet decreased by 13 vessels (two per cent) in 2006 to 706, continuing a long term decline. This segment is now 39 per cent smaller than in 1996, a trend which has affected the demersal (down 46 per cent), pelagic (down 60 per cent) and shellfish (down 31 per cent) sectors
- The under 10 metre segment of the fleet decreased by 49 vessels (three per cent) to 1,518 over the year to December 2006
Quota Uptake
- Quota uptake reached 90 per cent or more for four of the ten most important demersal stocks (NS Cod, NS Whiting, NS Saithe, NS Plaice). Quota uptake was greater than 80 per cent for NS Haddock, NS Nephrops and NS Anglers and greater than 70 per cent for WS Cod, WS Haddock and WS Nephrops
- Quota uptake for the four most important pelagic stocks continued to be high in 2006, approaching 100 per cent for NS Herring, WS Herring and WS Mackerel and exceeding 90 per cent for WS Horse Mackerel
This is a Scottish Government National Statistics publication. National statistics are produced to high professional standards set out in the National Statistics Code of Practice. They undergo regular quality assurance reviews to ensure that they meet customer needs. They are produced free from any political influence.
Collection of data
SEERAD's sea fisheries database (the Fisheries Information Network - FIN) holds details of, among other things, all landings into Scotland and landings abroad by Scottish based vessels (ie vessels licensed at a Scottish port). Information on voyages - catches, gear, sea area fished etc - is supplied by skippers who are required under EU regulations to maintain logbooks. Data on landings - weight, presentation, price etc - is provided by fish sellers under similar EU legislation. SFPA port offices collate the information and enter it locally, and each night it is automatically transmitted to the FIN central server in Pentland House. There are details of about 80,000 voyages and over 1 million sale items recorded on the database each year. DEFRA maintains a similar system for landings into England, Wales & Northern Ireland, and by EWNI vessels landing abroad.
Value of Landings
When the Register of Buyers and Sellers (RBS) was introduced in September 2005, Sales Notes were not initially required for sales of Shellfish and information on the value of such landings is consequently missing for 2005. The value has therefore been estimated for a number of landings in 2005, mostly of shellfish, relating to voyages starting on or after 1st September 2005.
Number of vessels
During 2006, it was discovered that the UK Core Vessel file, the official source of information on UK vessels, had been notified of Scottish vessels becoming inactive. while they were still recorded on FIN as active. An exercise was conducted to take this information on board into FIN, leading to an appreciable drop in the number of active vessels recorded. Because this issue affected the figures for earlier years, figures have been revised.
Employment
The 2005 employment figures have been revised because they were affected by an understatement in the figures recorded by Peterhead Fisheries Office. The 2005 figures for Peterhead have been estimated as being the same as the 2006 figure.