UK landings and value,down – Fishupdate.com

UK landings and value,down Fishing Monthly Published:  27 August, 2004

UK SEA fisheries statistics for 2003 published today, August 27th by Defra show the UK fishing industry recorded landings into the UK and abroad of £521 million in 2003, with landings of over 631,000 tonnes.Both tonnage and value were down.

Catches of crabs,lobsters, nephrops and other shellfish have increased to supply rising demand.In 1985 UK fishermen landed 75,000 tonnes of shellfish worth about £65 million but by 2003 landings into the UK by the UK fleet were 129,000 tonnes worth £171 million.

Exports rose, with total exports of fish and fish preparations increasing by 23 percent to 479,000 tonnes product weight.In terms of value, total exports increased by 17percent to £891 million.

In 2003 there were an estimated 11,774 sea fishermen in the UK, with the UK processing sector employing over 18,000. Within the retail sector there are approximately 1,400 fishmongers.There were 6,735 fishing vessels in the UK with a further 548 vessels registered in the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man.

The UK fishing industry had recorded landings into the UK and abroad of £521 million in 2003 with landings of over 631 000 tonnes.Landings by both quantity and value have been in decline since the mid 1990s reflecting poor stock levels and increasing pressure on prices.

Compared to 2002 UK landings,an 8 percent decrease in quantity, and a 5 percent decrease in value were recorded.Compared to the peak landings in 1998, a 32 percent decrease in quantity, and a 21 percent decrease in value were recorded. On percentages of recorded landings by quantity in 2003 into the UK and abroad, demersal landings by the English and Welsh fleet account for 32 per cent of all landings compared with 64 per cent for the Scottish fleet and 4 per cent for the Northern Irish fleet.The Scottish fleet land 72 per cent of pelagic landings with the English and Welsh fleet landing 21 per cent and the Northern Irish landing 7 per cent of the UK total.The English and Welsh fleet land 56 per cent of all recorded shellfish landings,the Scottish fleet 37 per cent and the Northern Irish fleet 5 per cent.

Islands fleet with departments of administration in Jersey, Guernsey and Isle of Man are responsible for landing 2 per cent of shellfish landings into the UK and abroad. Herring and mackerel accounted for 81 percent of the pelagic species landed by UK vessels into the UK, and 97 percent in terms of value.There is an overall decrease in terms of recorded landings of both stocks, however the stocks show comparable landings figures through the late 1990’s, but since 2000 recorded landings of mackerel have increased to be larger than landings of herring. Catches of crabs, lobsters, nephrops (for example langoustines) and other shellfish have increased to supply a rising demand. In 1985 UK fishermen landed 75,000 tonnes of shellfish worth about £65 million but by 2003 landings into the UK by the UK fleet were 129,000 tonnes worth £171 million.The two species of shellfish, which account for most shellfish landings into the UK by the UK fleet by weight, are cockles and nephrops (both 21 percent).Nephrops, crabs and scallops were important species, accounting for 70 per cent of the total UK fleet landed shellfish value in 2003.There is a sharp increase over the past year of recorded cockle landings from approximately 14,000 tonnes in 2002 to 27,000 tonnes in 2003.This can be attributed to in part to an increase in recorded landings of cockles at Morecambe Bay.

In 2003 UK vessels landed 186,700 tonnes of sea fish directly into non-UK ports, with a value of £129 million.