With significantly reduced quotas for 2026, the January mackerel fishery for the Scottish fleet has already drawn to a close.
The scientific stock advice doesn’t measure up against what fishermen are reporting, with strong marks of mackerel seen on fishing grounds, according to Richard Williamson, co-skipper of the Shetland pelagic vessel Research.
‘We did three trips fishing mainly to the west and south-west of Foula and encountered plenty of fish. Many of the fish were good-sized, but there were also plenty of smaller fish about, which boats tried to avoid, and which bodes well for the future by indicating there is good recruitment,’ he said.
‘On one trip, we scoured an area for several hours with no sign of any mackerel, then suddenly as if out of nowhere, large shoals appeared. This highlights the difficulty in obtaining accurate results during scientific surveys where fish can easily be missed.’
Altaire, Charisma and Serene also fished for mackerel, while other Shetland pelagic vessels have held back their quotas to take them later in the year. Virtually all the Peterhead and Fraserburgh fleet put to sea in January to catch some of their 2026 allocation.
Resolute from Fraserburgh landed one trip in Shetland and another in Norway. Co-skipper Ally West said the fish were good-sized, generally ranging between 370gms and 480gms, which appealed to the market.
‘Fishing was good and it was really encouraging to see there was plenty of mackerel about,’ he said.
At the end of February Resolute will head out for a single trip to the waters off the Lofoten Islands, Norway, to fish for its small quota of Atlanto-Scandian herring.
‘The fishing last year for Atlanto-Scandian herring was good. Atlanto-Scandian herring can be challenging to catch when in deeper water because of the way the fish disperse, so Resolute targets the fish off the Lofoten Islands when they are over shallow banks,’ Ally West said.
Other Scottish pelagic vessels will soon be heading for waters west of Ireland for the start of blue whiting fishery, which generally wraps up by early April. The next major pelagic fishery will be for MSC certified North Sea herring, which will commence in mid-summer, followed by the autumn mackerel.
