Scottish mackerel enjoys bumper year-end

The October to mid-November season took place in the North Sea and east of Shetland and benefitted from a continued investment in infrastructure which saw new vessels Altaire and Christina S join the fleet.

The new Antarctic for Shetland will be delivered next year and the new Sunbeam will be delivered in late 2025 or early 2026. A further two new replacement vessels – Chris Andra and Quantus – have also recently been ordered.

Scottish processors continue to increase market share for mackerel in key south-east Asian markets with signs the market is still expanding.

Meanwhile, work is well underway on Denholm Seafoods major new £30m mackerel and herring processing facility and cold-store upgrade at Peterhead. The investment will enable the company to increase its daily freezing capacity and boost cold storage capacity to 19,000 tonnes.

The existing processing facility will also be refurbished with the installation of an automated turnkey processing system designed and supplied by Skaginn 3x.

North Bay Pelagic is also undertaking major investment into the local fishing sector with a cold-store upgrade that will significantly increase capacity.

Lerwick Port Authority announced earlier this year it is to undertake a major land reclamation project, to accommodate future expansion by the pelagic fish processing sector. Work to reclaim approximately 4,000 square metres of new industrial land at Arlanda East, adjacent to Pelagia Shetland’s factory, has already begun.