Whitefish Landings in Shetland: and the impact of the electronic auction

Whitefish landings in Shetland have exhibited large fluctuations over the last few decades, but have increased substantially – more than doubling in weight and quadrupling in value – since 2003, when the electronic auction was introduced. That reversed the general decline in whitefish landings seen before 2003. A number of other parameters relating to whitefish landings in Shetland, including Shetland’s share of Scottish whitefish landings, and the quantity of whitefish landed in the islands by non-Shetland boats, have also increased markedly since 2003.
While it is not possible to prove a direct ‘cause-and-effect’ link, these results suggest that the introduction of the auction, and the associated efforts to promote Shetland’s fish markets, have had a substantial positive effect on whitefish landings in the islands.