The Scottish Government and the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) has published its annual UK Sea Fisheries Statistics 2022.

Scottish Sea Fisheries Statistics 2022 Key Points:

The fishing industry value has increased from last year but hasn’t returned to 2019, pre-pandemic levels. The value of landings has risen less than general inflation between 2019 and 2022:

• Scottish vessels landed 429 thousand tonnes of sea fish and shellfish with a gross value of £617 million in 2022. An increase of four per cent in the real value and a two per cent decrease in the tonnage compared to 2021.
• Compared to 2019, whilst there has been a nine per cent increase in the tonnage landed, the real value of these landings has fallen by five per cent.
• Scottish vessels landed 162 thousand tonnes of sea fish and shellfish worth £167 million abroad in 2022. Landings abroad make up 38 per cent of tonnage and 27 per cent by value.

In addition, the MMO has published its annual UK Sea Fisheries Statistics 2022.  Key statistics include:

Fleet

In 2022 there were 5,541 UK registered fishing vessels. This represents a 14% reduction in the last ten years, however Gross Tonnage (GT) has remained similar at 203 thousand tonnes. Approximately 21% of the UK fleet is represented by vessels over 10 metres in length, of which 44% are administered in Scotland. There are around 10 thousand fishers working on UK registered vessels. This is a reduction of 2,100 fishers in the last ten years.

Landings

In 2022, UK vessels landed 640 thousand tonnes of sea fish with a value of £1.04 billion. Compared to 2021, this is a decrease of 2% in quantity, however an increase in value of 13%. The increase in value is mainly driven by higher fish prices. Landings into the UK by foreign vessels in 2022 was 19 thousand tonnes, which compared to 2021 represents a 4% reduction. Landings abroad by UK vessels also decreased to 245 thousand tonnes, a reduction of 5%.

Effort

Since 2004, fishing effort (kW days at sea) by the over 10m fleet has decreased by around 40%. Most of the reduction in effort is driven by a 1% decline in effort in the demersal trawl and seine segment. Fishing effort by the over 10m fleet decreased by 3% between 2021 and 2022.

Trade

The UK is a net importer of fish. The UK’s crude trade gap in 2022 for sea fish is 316 thousand tonnes. This is lower than 2021, where the gap was 322 thousand tonnes. In 2022 the UK imported 647 thousand tonnes of sea fish, with a value of £3.7 billion. It exported 330 thousand tonnes, with a value of £1.7 billion.

The Scottish Government statistics can be read here and the UK statistics here.