£1 million per day!
Press release about the publication of Shetland Fisheries Statistics 2016
One million pounds worth of fish and shellfish were landed from the waters around Shetland every day in 2016 on average, but only a small proportion of it by Shetland fishing boats.
An estimated 420,000 tonnes of fish and shellfish, worth some £365 million, was landed from the Shetland part of the UK's Exclusive Economic Zone by British and EU fishing boats in 2016, more than half of it by EU boats, according to an analysis of official fisheries statistics by Dr Ian R. Napier of the NAFC Marine Centre UHI. The results are published today in Shetland Fisheries Statistics 2016 which contains a wealth of facts and figures on fish landings in Shetland and by Shetland fishing boats, and from the waters around Shetland.
Dr Napier's analysis also showed that Shetland fishing boats caught less than one-sixth (15%) of the fish and shellfish landed from the Shetland part of the UK EEZ in 2016, while almost one quarter of all landings from the UK EEZ were caught within 50 miles of Shetland.
In total, Shetland fishing boats landed a record £118 million worth of fish and shellfish in 2016, reflecting a small increase in the weight but a large increase in the value of landings compared to 2015.
There was also a large increase in the value of fish and shellfish landed in Shetland, to some £79 million, with more than half landed by local fishing boats.
More fish and shellfish were landed in Shetland in 2016 than in any other UK port, except Peterhead, and more finfish were landed in Shetland than in all of England, Wales and Northern Ireland put together.
The landings in Shetland included almost 19,000 tonnes of whitefish (such as haddock, cod, monks, and plaice) worth about £33 million, more than three-quarters of it landed by local boats, and substantially more than in 2015. Lerwick ranked 4th in in the UK for whitefish landings, Scalloway 8th and Cullivoe (Yell) 13th.
Shetland fishing boats landed almost 16,000 tonnes of whitefish in 2016, worth a record £29 million, most of it in Shetland.
The landings in Shetland in 2016 also included 50,000 tonnes of pelagic fish (such as mackerel and herring), worth about £41 million, and 3,000 tonnes of shellfish (such as crabs, lobsters and scallops), worth almost £5 million).
The full report Shetland Fisheries Statistics 2016 and a summary Shetland Fishing Facts 2016 are available at www.nafc.uhi.ac.uk/fish-stats .