Press release

Fishing industry in 2014 statistics published

The Marine Management Organisation (MMO) has published its annual UK Sea Fisheries Statistics 2014 on its website.

• From: Marine Management Organisation
• Published: 24 September 2015

It includes details on the UK fleet, the number of fishermen, the quantity and value of UK landings, international trade, worldwide fishing and the state of key stocks.

The report highlights that in 2014:

• the quantity and value of sea fish (which include shellfish) landed by UK vessels has increased by 21 per cent and 16 per cent respectively on 2013
  
  
• UK vessels landed 756 thousand tonnes of sea fish into the UK and abroad with a value of £861 million
  
  
• the large increase in landings was primarily driven by a 76 per cent increase in mackerel landings, due to a sharp rise in quota for this species
  
  
• pelagic fish such as mackerel and herring accounted for the largest share in terms of UK fleet landings (58 per cent) but the lowest share in value (32 per cent)
  
  
• the Scottish and Northern Irish fleets caught mainly pelagic fish. Demersal fish account for the highest share of the English fleet’s catch and shellfish are predominately caught by the Welsh fleet
  
  
• the UK fishing fleet remained seventh largest in the EU in terms of vessel numbers, with the second largest capacity and fourth largest engine power
  
  
• seventy four per cent of the quantity landed by the UK fleet was caught by vessels over 24 metres in length which accounted for 4 per cent of the total number of UK vessels. These vessels tend to catch lower value pelagic fish and their share of the value of the UK catch is 58 per cent
  
  
• around 11,800 fishermen were reported as active in the UK. Around 2,100 were part-time
  
  
• scottish vessels accounted for 64 per cent of the quantity of landings by the UK fleet while English vessels accounted for 27 per cent
  
  
• Peterhead remained the port with the highest landings – 159 thousand tonnes with a value of £145 million
  
  
• Brixham had the highest quantity of landings in England – 11,600 tonnes with a value of £21 million, closely followed by Newlyn with 11,300 tonnes but with the higher value of £22 million
  
  
• exports of fish and processed fish increased by 10 per cent to 499 thousand tonnes compared with 2013. Over the same period, 721 thousand tonnes were imported, a fall of 3 per cent
  
  
• world figures for 2013 showed that China caught the largest amount of fish, 14.1 million tonnes. Peru had the second largest catch at 5.8 million tonnes

The full report, and more detailed supplementary tables, can be accessed on the UK Sea Fisheries Statistics page.

Press office contacts:

Tel: 0191 376 2543
Email: media@marinemanagement.org.uk

Published 24 September 2015