MALLAIG FISH LANDINGS VALUE UP +38%

A note by Tony Mackay, Economist

Marine Scotland have just published their annual report on Scottish Fisheries Statistics 2021, which gives detailed statistics on the landings of fish in every port/district in the country, including the Mallaig district. The numbers are disaggregated by species, tonnage and value.

The district includes Mallaig, Arisaig, the Small Isles and Ardnamurchan, right up to Fort William. About half the landings are usually in Mallaig harbour and half elsewhere in the district.

The value of fish landings in Mallaig district increased by a massive +37.7% to £4.8million last year, but the tonnage fell by -5.7% to 1,391.

In Scotland as a whole the value of landings in 2021 was up +8.4% but the tonnage fell by -1.5%. The Mallaig value rise was the highest in the country.

The Mallaig district value was 1.1% of the Scottish total and the tonnage 0.5%.

The tables at the end of this note give the summary statistics for each of the 18 fishing ports/districts in Scotland.  They show that Mallaig ranked 15^th by value of landings but 1^st by the change in value in 2021.  The port ranked 15^th by tonnage landed and 14^th by the change in tonnage in 2021.

The peak value of landings in Mallaig was £9.8 million in 2017. There was a massive -49% fall in 2020 to just £3.5 million. The higher 2021 value is still only 49% of that in 2017.

The detailed Marine Scotland statistics show that shellfish accounted for £3.5 million of the value of landings in 2021, which was 73% of the total. Demersal/white fish accounted for £1.3 million (26%). Pelagic landings were tiny.  The most valuable species were nephrops (59% of the total) and “other demersal” (25%).

In terms of tonnage, shellfish accounted for 83% of the Mallaig district total and demersal fish 5.5%. The biggest landings were nephrops (67% of the total), sprats (16%) and scallops (7%).

The Marine Scotland tables show that there were 39 registered fishing vessels in the Mallaig  district at 31 December 2021, which was 1.9% of the Scottish total of 2082. There were 64 registered fishers, who were 1.5% of the national total of 4241.

2021 was obviously a much better year for the local fishing industry because of the large rise in the value of landings.  However, as highlighted above the 2021 total was still only 49% of the 2017 peak.

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The Marine Scotland annual report gives statistics on landings by Scottish vessels in Scotland and abroad.  The former accounted for 74% of the value of landings by the Scottish fleet in 2021 and 61% of the weight; landings abroad accounted for 26% by value and 39% by weight.

The tables on the attached two pages give the landing statistics for each of the 18 fishery districts/ports in Scotland.

The fishery district/port statistics disaggregate the landings by Scottish and non-Scottish vessels, including vessels from abroad and elsewhere in the UK. My comments relate to the total landings in each district/port and not just those by Scottish vessels.

The Summary of the Marine Scotland report states that “There are signs that some parts of the fishing industry are recovering from the impacts of Covid-19, however there hasn’t been a return to pre-pandemic levels:

• Compared to 2019, whilst there has been an 11 per cent increase in the tonnage landed, the real value of these landings has fallen by nine per cent.
• The long term trend for the value of the fish landed by Scottish vessels has been generally positive since 2016, with 2020 being an exception.
• The 15 per cent increase in real value landed by Scottish vessels between 2020 and 2021 was driven by shellfish and pelagic species.
• The 10 per cent increase in tonnage landed by Scottish vessels between 2020 and 2021 results from an increase in shellfish and pelagic fish landings; Shellfish landings rose 18 per cent by tonnage and pelagic landings rose 14 per cent; Demersal landings decreased by 10 per cent.
• Key species: Mackerel remained the most valuable species in 2021 worth £210 million, making up 37 per cent of the total value of Scottish vessels’ landings; Monkfish became the most valuable demersal species and represented six per cent of the total value of Scottish vessels’ landings.”

Scottish vessels accounted for 90% of the value of total landings in 2021, vessels from elsewhere in the UK (RUK) 7% and foreign vessels 3%.  The foreign vessels’ share fell from 7% in 2020. Scottish vessels also accounted for 90% of the tonnage landed in 2021, RUK 6% and foreign 4%.

Scotland accounted for 62% of the total value of fish landings in the UK in 2021 and 68% of the tonnage.

The report also shows that Scottish vessels landed £393 (70%) of their fish in Scotland in 2021.  The other landings were in Norway £114 million (20%), Denmark £21 million (4%), Rest of UK £20 million (4%), Ireland £8 million (1%) and in other countries £6 million (1%).

“The number of active Scottish vessels has remained stable at 2,082, increasing by two per cent compared to 2012. The Scottish fleet is dominated by vessels that are ten metres and under in length with a total of 1,573 vessels falling into this category in 2021. There are 509 over 10 metre vessels

In 2021, 4,241 fishers were working on Scottish vessels, down 70 fishers compared to 2020. Since 2013, employment on Scottish vessels has fallen six per cent.”