Scottish Sea Fisheries Statistics 2020

6. Scottish sea fisheries in comparison to other countries

6.1. Scottish registered vessels compared to the whole of the UK

Landings by Scottish vessels accounted for 63 per cent of the tonnage and 59 per cent of the value of all landings by UK vessels in 2020 (Table 22a). Compared to 2019, this Scottish share of the total UK value has decreased by less than one percentage point and tonnage has increased by less than one percentage point.

The Scottish fleet lands 58 per cent by tonnage and 52 per cent by value of the UK's demersal fish. Across the top two demersal species by value, Scottish vessels landed high proportions of UK total landings. Scottish vessels landed 81 per cent of UK landings by both tonnage and value of haddock. For monkfish, Scottish landings accounted for 64 per cent both by tonnage and by value. By comparison, the rest of the UK fleet landed the majority of species such as bass, brill, cod^[10] and turbot, showing that the Scottish fleet and rest of the UK fleet mostly fish for different species.

Scottish vessels' landings account for 73 per cent by tonnage and 77 per cent by value of pelagic fish landings into the UK. This included just over four fifths (81 per cent) of UK mackerel landings by tonnage and 85 per cent by value, and 64 per cent of herring landings and 61 per cent of value.

Scottish vessels landed 40 per cent of the UK total tonnage and 47 per cent of the UK total value of shellfish. For key species, Nephrops landings by Scottish vessels were 67 per cent of the UK landings by tonnage and 73 per cent by value. Scallops landings were 66 per cent by tonnage and value of UK landings. The proportions for crabs and lobsters are lower: for edible crabs, Scottish landings were 33 per cent by tonnage and value of UK landings and for lobsters, it was 38 per cent by tonnage and 37 per cent by value.

6.2. Landings into Scotland compared to all landings into the UK

Landings into Scotland were 69 per cent by tonnage and 63 per cent by value of all landings into the UK (Table 22f). This high percentage landed into Scotland applies to fish landings into the UK across the demersal and pelagic species groups. For demersal species, landings into Scotland represented 79 per cent of the tonnage and 67 per cent of the value. For pelagic landings, it was 86 per cent of tonnage and 91 per cent of value and for shellfish landings, it was 32 per cent of tonnage and 42 per cent of value.

The Marine Management Organisation (MMO) produces a comparison of the UK fishing fleet (vessels) by home nation in UK Sea Fisheries Statistics (see Annex 3: Further Information).

6.3. Landings by Scottish vessels compared to landings by other European countries

Data on landings for the European Union^[11] are published by Eurostat and include all EU member states with sea fishing fleets as well as Iceland, Norway and Turkey. Data are available for 2019 for all but three member states^[12]. The UK was still a member of the EU in 2019 and therefore is included in the dataset. The EU fishing fleet in 2019 landed 5 million tonnes live weight equivalent, of which the UK fleet landed 617 thousand tonnes^[13] (12 per cent). The UK landed the third-highest tonnage of fish, with Denmark and Spain first and second respectively. The Scottish fleet landed 393 thousand tonnes or eight per cent of the EU total, in 2019. If the Scottish fleet was counted separately from the rest of the UK fleet, it would be the fourth-highest tonnage of landings in the EU.

6.4. Scottish vessels compared to UK and European Union vessels

The total EU fishing fleet in 2019 was 81,142 vessels, of which 5,905^[14] vessels (7.3 per cent of the total) were registered in the UK. The Scottish fleet numbered 2,098 vessels or 2.6 per cent of the EU total. Compared to 2010, the EU fishing fleet decreased by 2.7 per cent, the UK fleet decreased by 8.6 per cent and the Scottish fleet decreased by 2.1 per cent.