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New record for fish landings in Peterhead

Blue Toon's fish and shellfish haul from January-November was worth £226 million.

Fishers and their nets on the quayside in Peterhead.f
Fishers and their nets on the quayside in Peterhead.

Peterhead Port has set a new record for annual fish landings, with £226 million-worth of catches traded across the quaysides by the end of November.

It beats last year’s total of £220m, itself a record in the modern era, with December not yet done.

Total landings to November 30 by volume stood at just under 190,000 tons.

This was compared with about 163,000t worth £211.6m for the same period in 2022.

Breaking up the catch

White-fish landings from January-November 2023 totalled nearly 53,000t, worth £96.8m.

The white-fish catch a year ago totalled just under 47,000t, worth £94.7m.

Pelagic landings – mainly mackerel and herring – reached more than 131,500t this year, worth £113m.

Shellfish landings have declined in 2023

This was compared with about 108,137t valued at just shy of £95m from January-November 2022.

Shellfish figures were lower this year, at around 5,50ot worth just over £16m. The shellfish haul for January-November 2022 totalled about 7,700t, worth nearly £22m.

Peterhead fish market.
Peterhead fish market. Image: Kami Thomson / DCT Media

Peter Duncan, head of fishing, commercial, Peterhead Port Authority, said 2023 had been a “very successful year” for landings in the Blue Toon.

He highlighted a notable increase in pelagic landings due to the Scottish “landings obligation”,  which forces vessels to land much more of their catch in domestic ports.

Mr Duncan said the increase in pelagics more than compensated for the decline in shellfish.

He added: “White-fish landings are slightly ahead for the year… and improved quotas for 2024 for most of the key commercial stocks bode well the future.”

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