Scottish Sea Fisheries Statistics 2023

In 2023, 332 thousand tonnes of sea fish and shellfish with a value of £517 million were landed into Scotland. This represents a 14 per cent increase in tonnage and a one per cent increase in real terms value (adjusted to 2023 prices) from 2022.

Pelagic species accounted for 52 per cent of the tonnage landed into Scotland in 2023, whilst demersal species made up 35 per cent and shellfish species 14 per cent. By value in 2023, 39 per cent of landings into Scotland were demersal species, 31 per cent were pelagic species and 30 per cent were shellfish. The differences in shares by tonnage and value reflect the differences in average prices per tonne (for landings by Scottish vessels) across the species types: shellfish sell at relatively higher average prices per tonne, whilst pelagic species receive the lowest average prices per tonne (Table 26).

Figures 2 and 3 show landings by all vessels into the eighteen Scottish port districts. The top three districts in Scotland by total tonnage landed were Peterhead (east coast), Shetland (northern island) and Scrabster (north-east coast). Peterhead is the single largest fishing port in the UK by tonnage and value of landing. Information on landings into all the Scottish districts can be found in table 32.

Figure 2. Peterhead on the east coast of Scotland had the largest tonnage of landings, at 181 thousand tonnes in 2023.

Tonnage landed into Scotland by all vessels by district in 2023

Figure 3. Peterhead on the east coast of Scotland had the largest value of landings, at £205 million in 2023.

Value (thousands of pounds) landed into Scotland by all vessels by district in 2023.