GOOD WEEK OF FISH LANDINGS AT PETERHEAD

Good week of fish landings at Peterhead

 Peterhead fish market enjoyed buoyant whitefish landings for the week ending 5 April, with in excess of 20,000 boxes of premium quality fish landed.

Fish Focus visited Peterhead on Wednesday 3 April, where just shy of 4,000 boxes were landed by 12 vessels, including 755 boxes of cod, 252 boxes of monkfish, 285 boxes of large and medium haddock, and 861 boxes of small haddock. Over 500 boxes of whiting,  323 boxes of saithe  and 259 boxes of ling were also sold on the auction.

Final landings of blue whiting were also being put ashore for pelagic processing, with that fishery having now closed for the current season.

Peterhead set a new record for fish landings last year, with £232 million worth of catches traded across the quaysides, beating the total for 2022 of £220 million – itself a record in the modern era, and cementing Peterhead’s position as the largest fisheries port in Europe.

Total landings in 2023 stood at 193,279 tonnes with a gross value of £232,428,422, compared to 166,773 tonnes worth £219,588,085 for 2022. Of those, whitefish accounted for 55,936 tonnes worth £102,415,393 (50,307 tonnes worth £100,786,344 in 2022).

The shellfish figures were lower, 5,809 tonnes worth £16,930,664 (8,329 tonnes worth £23,844,360 in 2022).

Pelagic landings reached 131,534 tonnes worth £113,082,365 (108,137 tonnes worth £94,957,381 in 2022). New economic link regulations making it mandatory for Scottish vessels to land more of their catches into Scotland have helped lift the pelagic landing figures.

The pelagic sector at the port is being further boosted by new investment in processing operations to handle the extra landings anticipated in the future, with Denholm Seafoods, Northbay Pelagic and Lunar all engaged in projects to enhance capacity.

By Fish Focus