The traditional January mackerel fishery for the Scottish fleet has drawn to a close, with sharply reduced 2026 quotas limiting activity despite skippers reporting encouraging fish abundance on the grounds.
Richard Williamson, co-skipper of the Shetland vessel Research, said the scientific stock advice underpinning the quota did not reflect what crews were encountering at sea. “We did three trips fishing mainly to the west and south-west of Foula and encountered plenty of fish,” he said.
“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 highlighted the challenges of accurately assessing mackerel stocks through surveys. “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,” he continued.
“This highlights the difficulty in obtaining accurate results during scientific surveys where fish can easily be missed,” adding that whitefish vessels were also detecting significant quantities of mackerel on their fish-finding equipment.
While Shetland vessels Altaire, Charisma and Serene participated in the fishery, most of the local fleet opted to hold their quota for later in the year. In contrast, virtually all vessels from Peterhead and Fraserburgh fished in January to take part of their 2026 allocation.
The Fraserburgh-based Resolute completed two trips, landing once in Shetland and once in Norway. Co-skipper Ally West said market conditions were strong. “The fish were good-sized, generally ranging between 370gms and 480gms, which appealed to the market,” he said. “The fishing was good and it was really encouraging to see there was plenty of mackerel about.”
READ MORE: Scottish mackerel in high demand
Looking ahead, Resolute will make a single trip later this month to waters off Norway’s Lofoten Islands to fish its small Atlanto-Scandian herring quota. Other Scottish vessels are preparing for the blue whiting fishery west of Ireland, ahead of the mid-summer North Sea herring season and the autumn mackerel fishery.
