Scottish Demersal Landings Update NORTH EAST WHITE FISH FORUM 21 ST AUGUST 2018
UK Catch & Quota Uptake As at: 15 th Aug 2018 Total Landings by UK vessels (tonnes) 2017 2018 2018 % Uptake Total UK Quota Total Landings by UK vessels (tonnes) % Uptake Total UK Quota Change to date (+/- tonnes) 2018 Change to date (+/- % Quota Uptake) North Sea Cod 10,163 59.0 11,425 55.6 + 1,619-3.4 Haddock (NS, WoS, Rockall) 18,734 54.3 18,420 47.1-314 - 7.2 Saithe (NS/WoS) 6,417 50.2 9,084 55.6 + 2,667 + 5.4 North Sea Whiting 5,592 54.0 6,598 43.8 + 1,006-10.2 Data source: Weekly whitefish landings reports 15 th August 2018 & 16 th Aug 2017. Marine Analytical Unit. Marine Scotland. Scottish Government 2
Fishing & landings Cod, Haddock, Whiting, Saithe. Fishing of cod has been consistently steady all year and catches have been consistently good month on month. Fleet is not pushing to fish more, quota expected to be ok for year. Haddock catches have remained very stable month/month to date. Some signs of better fishing and landings recently. Marginal increase over recent summer fishing. However the general consensus is that fish remain scarce, with no areas of a large/good consistent fishing being reported. The Rockall fishery also reported to be a little slacker this year, catches slightly down and reported poorer size runs of fish, although it has reportedly shown recent improvement. Whiting fishing has been markedly more strong all year. Landings are falling now, given seasonal trends. However, boats still finding some good sized fish. Saithe landings have been strong all year with sizable monthly landings in Scotland. Observed that there are some additional English boats now landing in Scotland which may contribute to this. Scottish fleet noted to be similar to last year. Observations and comments made in these pages are opinion, observation and conjecture from the NEWFF. They do not present a definitive analysis or projection of current or future trends and do not represent a forecast by Seafish. 3
Scottish Trade and prices Cod, Haddock, Whiting, Saithe. Trading for all fish were reported to be slack with generally low demand during the first part of the year and improved slightly in trade over early summer. However, UK/EU has been noted poorer than expected recently hot weather may have had an impact. Haddock prices have remained firm, any fish of good size, price has been good. Quantities of smallest gutted and rounders have maintained reasonable prices but quantities landed have been limited. The market is still sensitive to larger volumes of small fish, lack of capacity to handle being the main cause. Cod prices have remained strong/firm for most grades. A slight increase in price was noted in June after a relatively stable period after Easter. There have been one/two short term falls, more connected with UK supplies elsewhere. Cod prices landed in EU are also showing similar trend. Heavy landings in the early months saw weaker prices for whiting. However, as landings have dropped going into the summer the price of whiting has now steadily increased. Whilst summer landings have decreased, there has been a recent price fall over the last month. There have been increased and strong landings in Scotland of Saithe. Early year prices stable and moderate, but price has weakened over last 2-3 months and remains poor. Observations and comments made in these pages are opinion, observation and conjecture from the NEWFF. They do not present a definitive analysis or projection of current or future trends and do not represent a forecast by Seafish. 4
Looking Ahead: Note that the quota year for Iceland will commence in Sept, which may lead to improved supplies into UK thereafter. Some reports that effort in the sector over the summer is lighter than expected, but likely to pick up again in next month or so. No significant quota issues for fleet currently and with present levels of fishing do not expect any serious issue. Leasing price for saithe is high, recent poor prices making saithe fishing unviable when leasing costs taken into consideration. Overall - the volume of leasing needed this year is less than previous, should help profitability of fleet in medium term. Other Comment Landings of megrim have been better this year than in recent years. Hake has come into season with a very strong fishing/landings since June. Price has weakened over summer especially. Nephrops fishing has picked up but not as good as previous years, size is reported small/variable. This remains the case. Squid fishing now providing a regular supply into NE. Observations and comments made in these pages are opinion, observation and conjecture from the NEWFF. They do not present a definitive analysis or projection of current or future trends and do not represent a forecast by Seafish. 5
2018: Scottish Whitefish Landings Profiles Notes: These charts illustrate landings of key whitefish species into Scotland by all UK and Norwegian vessels Average historical landings for the last three years from all UK vessels is also shown. Currently these graphs do not include landings by other foreign vessel into Scotland. All landings data are supplied by Marine Scotland and updated monthly. Landings & price data are provisional at this time and should be interpreted as such and treated accordingly As this is provisional data - adjustments will be made in future monthly updates.
Cod: - 2018 Landings To Date Cod: - 2018 Landings To Date
Haddock: - 2018 Landings To Date Haddock: - 2018 Landings To Date
Whiting: - 2018 Landings To Date Whiting: - 2018 Landings To Date
Saithe: - 2018 Landings To Date Saithe: - 2018 Landings To Date
Hake: - 2018 Landings To Date Hake: - 2018 Landings To Date
Monkfish: - 2018 Landings To Date Monkfish: - 2018 Landings To Date
Plaice: - 2018 Landings To Date Megrim: - 2018 Landings To Date
Megrim: - 2018 Landings To Date Megrim: - 2018 Landings To Date
Jess Sparks Regional Manager t + 44 (0) 1358 729609 m + 44 (0) 7876 035753 e jeremy.sparks@seafish.co.uk