Shetland Fisheries Statistics 2016

Almost 72,000 tonnes of fish and shellfish worth some £79 million were landed in Shetland in 2016. The weight of landings was slightly less than in 2015 but their value was substantially greater.
- One-quarter of all the finfish (whitefish + pelagic fish) landed in Scotland in 2016, and one-fifth of all landings in the UK, were made in Shetland.
- More fish and shellfish were landed in Shetland – and in Lerwick – in 2016 that in any other port in the UK, except Peterhead.
- More finfish (whitefish + pelagic fish) were landed in Shetland in 2016 than in all of England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
- Shetland fishing boats landed almost 126,000 tonnes of fish and shellfish worth a record almost £118 million in 2016.
- Shetland fishing boats accounted for almost one fifth of all the fish and shellfish landed by UK boats in 2016.
- Almost 16,000 tonnes of whitefish (haddock, cod, monks, plaice, etc.) worth about £33 million were landed in Shetland in 2016, more than three-quarters of it by local boats. The weight and value of whitefish landings were both substantially greater than in 2015.
- Shetland fishing boats landed almost 16,000 tonnes of whitefish worth over £29 million in 2016, the highest value of landings ever. Most of these landings were made in Shetland.
- Lerwick ranked 4th in in the UK for whitefish landings by UK vessels, Scalloway 8th and Cullivoe 13th.
- Almost 50,000 tonnes of pelagic fish (mackerel, herring, etc.), worth about £41 million were landed in Shetland in 2016.
- About 3,000 tonnes of shellfish (crabs, lobsters, scallops, etc.) worth almost £5 million were landed in Shetland in 2016.
- An estimated 420,000 tonnes of fish and shellfish, worth some £365 million, were landed from the Shetland part of the UK EEZ by EU and UK fishing boats in 2016. That is almost one-third of all the fish and shellfish landed from the UK EEZ.
- Shetland fishing boats caught less than one-sixth of the fish and shellfish landed from the Shetland part of the UK EEZ in 2016.
- Less than one-fifth of the fish and shellfish caught in the Shetland part of the UK EEZ in 2016 were landed in Shetland.