THE VALUE of Peterhead fish landings is up by more than 10%, higher than the national average.
£191.1million worth of fish landed in Peterhead last year, a 10.5% rise from the previous.
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The port/district accounts for most of the country’s tonnage, 53.6%, and around 40% of the country’s total value of fish landings.
That’s because the bulk of the fish that land at Peterhead are demersal and pelagic fish, while many smaller ports/districts specialise in higher value fish suck as shellfish.
Mackerel ended up being the most valuable species landed at £76million, around 40% of the overall total. Nephrops were worth £23million and herring £17.2million.
The Scottish value of landings was up 9.9% in 2022 to more than £480millio. Tonnage was up 2.5% to 289,000 tonnes.
Whilst a 10.5% rise in value shows an exceptional year for fish landings at Peterhead, inflation accounts for much of that.
When annual inflation is deducted, it shows a real increase in the value of Peterhead fish landings sits at about 1.9%.
Economist Tony Mackay “I visited Peterhead a few days ago and was astonished at the huge sizes of some of the fishing boats in the harbour.
“The fishing industry has had a few very difficult years because of the negative impacts of the various Covid pandemics. They reduced the demand for fish significantly and also caused problems for fishermen to get together to go to fish. However, a modest recovery now seems underway.
“Peterhead continues to be by far the most important fishing port in Scotland.”
