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2. Overview of Catches and Landings

2.1 Landings by Scottish based vessels

Scottish based vessels made 83 thousand voyages in 2007, a 3 per cent increase on the number in 2006 (Table 18). The value of landings increased by 1 per cent in real terms to £380 million despite the live weight landed dropping by 10 thousand tonnes (3 per cent) to 370,000 tonnes. The value of shellfish landings increased by 13 per cent in real terms to £163 million in 2007 with the volume of landings in this sector increasing by 13 per cent to 67 thousand tonnes. High value shellfish landings formed 18 per cent of the total by weight but 42 per cent by value (Chart I), making shellfish the most valuable sector to the Scottish fleet (Chart 11). The value of demersal landings decreased by 8 per cent in real terms to £130 million, with the volume of landings decreasing by 5 per cent to 89 thousand tonnes. Demersal landings made up 34 per cent of the total value and 24 per cent of the total volume. The 2007 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 continued into 2007. The volume of pelagic species landed decreased by 5 per cent to 213 thousand tonnes. Although prices per tonne landed increased, the value landed decreased by 4 per cent in real terms to £91 million. Pelagic landings made up 24 per cent of the total value and 58 per cent of the total volume. The proportion of the value of the annual catch of the Scottish based fleet landed into Scotland increased slightly to 86 per cent (calculated from table 18).

Chart I: Total landings¹by Scottish based vessels by species type, 2007

Looking at the longer term trends, the value of demersal landings decreased steeply between 1998 and 2003 but has stabilised thereafter and the 2007 figure of £130 million is still 7 per cent higher in real terms compared with 2003. The value of pelagic landings (at 2007 prices) has increased by 5 per cent from £86 million in 2003 to £91 million in 2007. The value of shellfish landings has increased by 58 per cent in real terms since 2003 to reach £163 million.

The total quantity of fish landed by Scottish vessels has fallen by 6 per cent since 2003 (calculated from Table 27) affecting the pelagic sector most (down by 27 thousand tonnes or 11 per cent). Demersal landings by Scottish based vessels into UK ports have decreased compared with 2003 by 13 thousand tonnes to 77 thousand tonnes while demersal landings abroad have increased, resulting in an overall decrease of 10 thousand tonnes, or 10 per cent. The quantity of shellfish landed in 2007 was 31 per cent higher than in 2003.

2.2 Total landings into Scotland

The quantity and value of all landings into each Scottish Fishery Office district are shown in Figures 1 and 2, respectively.

In 2007, the total value of fish landed into Scottish ports by vessels of all nationalities was £403 million, an increase of under 1 per cent over the value of landings in 2006, at 2007 prices. The increase in value compared with 2003 (at 2007 prices) is 28 per cent. In 2007, the total quantity landed into Scottish ports by vessels of all nationalities was 402 thousand tonnes, 4 per cent higher than in 2006, and 6 per cent higher than in 2003 (Table 17). There has been a further separation in the contribution of the demersal and pelagic sectors since 2003, with demersal species declining from 35 per cent to 27 per cent of landed volume, while pelagic species have increased from 52 per cent to 57 per cent (calculated from Table 17). However, since 2003 the quota for key demersal ² stocks has increased by 19 per cent and the quota for and key pelagic ³ stocks has decreased by 22 per cent.

Table II: Combined UK quota ('000 tonnes) for key demersal and pelagic stocks 2003-2007 (based on Table 15)

2.3 Landings by UK vessels into Scotland by area and district

In 2007, UK vessels landed 310 thousand tonnes of all species, at a value of £350 million, into Scottish ports. These landings represent an increase of 5 per cent in value from 2006 (at 2007 prices) and an increase of 8 per cent in quantity (Table 17). This increase in quantity landed is mainly due to the increase in pelagic landings. The value of landings at 2007 prices by UK vessels into Scotland has increased by 36 per cent in real terms since 2003.

The species type composition of these landings was broadly similar to that of landings by Scottish based vessels (Chart I), although pelagic vessels formed a smaller proportion of the UK landings into Scotland total (Chart II) as Scottish vessels landed 57 thousand pelagic tonnes abroad (Table 17).

Chart II: Landings⁴by UK vessels into Scotland, 2007

Regional breakdown

Eastern Area: Eyemouth, Pittenweem, Aberdeen, Peterhead, Fraserburgh, Buckie

(Comparisons calculated from table 21)

• In 2007, the volume of landings by UK vessels into the six eastern districts increased by 3 per cent to 164,000 tonnes and the value of landings increased by 5 per cent to £176 million.
• Aberdeen, Buckie and Eyemouth experienced decreases in the value of landings in 2007.

Northern Area: Wick, Orkney, Shetland, Stornoway, Kinlochbervie, Lochinver

• The value of pelagic landings into Shetland increased by 31 per cent to £34 million causing an overall increase of £10 million in the total value of all landings into Shetland.
• The value of landings into Lochinver decreased by 10 per cent to £8 million, due to the decreased value of demersal landings. The value of landings into other ports in the Northern area in 2007 were similar to the values in 2006.

Western Area: Ullapool, Mallaig, Portree, Oban, Campbeltown, Ayr

• The value of shellfish landings into Campbeltown increased by 42 per cent to £15 million, causing an overall increase in value of all landings of £5 million.
• The value of landings into Ullapool decreased by 22 per cent to £9 million. This was a result of decreased demersal landings.
• The value of landings increased in 5 out of 6 western districts due to increased shellfish landings.

2.4 Landings by foreign vessels into Scotland

Foreign vessels landed 91 thousand tonnes of fish worth £55 million into Scottish ports in 2007, a 5 per cent decrease in quantity and a 21 per cent decrease in value from 2007 (at 2007 prices). The proportion of total tonnage landed by foreign vessels in 2007 decreased from 25 per cent in 2006 to 23 per cent in 2007 (Table 17). This decrease reflects a drop of 6 thousand tonnes of pelagic species landed by foreign vessels and an increase of 21 thousand tonnes in pelagic landings by UK vessels into Scotland.

In 2007 the composition of species types landed by foreign vessel was similar to 2006, with a slight decrease in the proportion of the landings into Scotland of pelagic species, now forming 70 per cent by volume (Chart III). Most of the remainder comprised demersal species, with just 764 tonnes of shellfish landed (Table 24).

Chart III: Foreign landings⁵into Scotland by species type, 2007

2.5 Uptake of UK quota

2.5.1 Demersal stocks

Quota uptake reached 90 per cent or more, just exceeding 100 per cent for NS Cod and NS Plaice, for four of the ten most important demersal stocks ( NS Cod, NS Saithe, NS Anglers and NS Plaice; Chart IV, Table 15). Uptake of these key quota stocks in 2007 was similar to that in 2006 in some cases, but the following exceptions were noted:

• Uptake of NS Whiting decreased from 98 to 87 per cent, as quota increased by 19 per cent and landings increased by only 5 per cent.
• Uptake of NS Haddock decreased from 83 to 73 percent despite quota decreasing by 6 per cent.
• Uptake of NS Anglers increased from 83 to 94 per cent, as landings increased by 11 per cent while quota decreased by 2 per cent.
• Uptake of WS Haddock decreased from 72 to 45 per cent, as landings decreased by 18 per cent while quota increased by 31 per cent.

Chart IV: Quota uptake of main North Sea ( NS) and West of Scotland ( WS) demersal stocks by UK vessels in 2006 and 2007

2.5.2 Pelagic stocks

Quota uptake for the four most important pelagic stocks continued to be high in 2007, approaching 100 per cent for NS Herring, WS Herring and WS Mackerel and exceeding 80 per cent for WS Horse Mackerel. There were some notable changes in quota over the last year for these stocks:

• NS Herring quota decreased by 30 per cent; landings correspondingly decreased by 30 per cent.
• WS Herring quota decreased by 6 per cent; landings correspondingly decreased by 4 per cent, resulting in uptake increasing from 97 to 99 per cent.
• WS Horse Mackerel quota increased by 7 per cent but landings decreased by 3 per cent, resulting in uptake decreasing from 95 to 86 per cent.

Chart V: Quota uptake of main North Sea ( NS) and West of Scotland ( WS) pelagic stocks by UK vessels in 2006 and 2007.

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