The U.K. fishing fleet landed 225,080 metric tons (MT) of fish, crustaceans, and mollusks with a first-sales value of EUR 415.9 million (USD 459.2 million) in the first seven months of this year, a 3 percent increase on both counts compared to the corresponding period of 2015, highlights the European Market Observatory for Fisheries and Aquaculture Products (EUMOFA).
When compared with January through July 2014, the first-sales value increased 3 percent, whereas the volume decreased 9 percent.
Last year, fishing vessels landed 409,181 MT of seafood, a 13 percent decrease from 2014. The total first-sales value achieved – EUR 721.4 million (USD 796.6 million) – was down 1 percent.
In January–July 2016, the top five species landed in the United Kingdom were nephrops, mackerel, scallops, monkfish and haddock, which together represented 53 percent of the total first-sales value and 52 percent of the volume. Compared with January–July 2015, the first-sales of the top five species increased 3 percent in value and 9 percent in volume.
The country’s top three landing ports are all Scottish – Peterhead, Lerwick, and Fraserburgh, which last year accounted for 23 percent, 9 percent, and 5 percent of the total first-sales value, respectively. In Peterhead and Lerwick, groundfish – cod, haddock, and saithe, as well as small pelagics – mackerel, and herring are the main species landed and sold. At Fraserburgh, nephrops was the species most sold (by value), followed by mackerel and monkfish.
In addition to the volumes landed at U.K. ports, between 200,000 and 300,000 MT are landed abroad. Meanwhile, the number of fishermen employed in the industry now stands at approximately 12,000, which is a significant decrease from the mid-1990s when there were approximately 20,000 fishermen.
