Good abundance of mackerel for Scottish fishery this Autumn. The end-of-year Scottish mackerel fishery is progressing well with boats finding an abundance of fish that are well spread over a very large area, from north-east to south-west of Shetland and beyond.
As an example of this, Scottish Pelagic Fishermen’s Association (SPFA) Chief Scientific Officer Dr Steven Mackinson and UHI Shetland student Iohara Amador recently joined the fishing vessel Antares (LK 419) on a mackerel trip to see the fishing at first-hand and support the crew in their scientific sampling of catches as part of the Scottish Pelagic Industry Science Data Collection Programme. Heading out about 50 miles west of Shetland, the boat found shoals of mackerel larger than they have seen in many years, resulting in the fishing being quick and successful, with the return trip from Lerwick taking less than 12 hours. The quick turnaround also ensured the fish landed was premium quality.
A number Scottish and Dutch boats were also operating in the area, all reporting good catches, with fish covering a range of sizes representing a diverse age structure.
Ian Gatt, Chief Executive of the SPFA, said:
“Despite the grim scientific advice calling for a 70% per cent cut in quota for next year, it is encouraging to get first hand reports from the fishing boats that mackerel appears to be relatively abundant this autumn, which is all information that will hopefully get fed into the final decision-making process.”
Meanwhile, Scottish skippers have noticed on their electronic fish finding equipment when in transit to and from the mackerel fishing grounds many big shoals of herring – an encouraging sign that the herring stock is robust and which bodes well for the fishery in future years.
Image: Pixabay