Young fish stocks in strong condition
It is hoped that stocks of the main commercial whitefish species are set to bloom around Shetland in the years ahead, with survey catches detecting an abundance of young fish.
While catch rates for mature haddock, cod and whiting were at the lower end of the scale compared to recent years – highlighting the cyclical nature of fish stocks over time – juvenile fish were more prevalent than previously.
These are the key conclusions from the 2024 Shetland Inshore Fish Survey (SIFS), an independent survey of commercial species carried out by marine scientists from UHI Shetland.
The purpose of the survey, which has been carried out annually since 2011 using the 12m Atlantia II (LK 502), UHI Shetland’s own research vessel, is to provide independent information on the distribution, relative abundance and population structure of fish species in local waters. It is an important signal of the future health of key stocks.
Haddock was the main component of the survey catches, which are carried out in 52 pre-defined locations within 12 nautical miles of Shetland including in 25 areas of shallow water that are assessed as potential nursery grounds.
Dr Shaun Fraser, Senior Fisheries Scientist at UHI Shetland, said: “The average catch rates for most of the main commercial gadoids, i.e. haddock, cod, and whiting, were at the lower end of observed catch rates over the survey time series.
“However, more positively, in all cases there was more evidence of a strong age-0 year-class in 2024 than in 2023.”
He added: “Although the future survival rates of undersize fish are unknown, given the results from previous years it seems likely that further strong recruitment to the local commercial fishery will be observed for some gadoid species and that relatively high abundances may again be detectable in larger length classes in future surveys.”
Among other notable trends, there were high catch rates of spurdog, John Dory and horse mackerel, while scaldfish and imperial scaldfish, both small flatfish species more typically found further south than Shetland, were recorded in small numbers having never been seen before.
The squid catch rate remained high in specific nearshore areas, following record levels recorded in 2023.
Shetland Fishermen’s Association Executive Officer Daniel Lawson said: “Given how important inshore waters are to the Shetland fisheries ecosystem, and how vital it is for the future of fishing that nursery grounds show healthy amounts and sizes of young fish, these are encouraging results.
“But they underline the need to protect valuable nursery and spawning areas from inshore developments, especially with a series of such developments at the planning stage.
“The results also highlight the importance of survey work carried out over a long number of years, because the data demonstrates the cyclical nature of fish stocks, and informs politicians and regulators that they do not need to make knee-jerk annual decisions that create unstable business conditions for fishermen.
“The survey work carried out by UHI Shetland, with the Atlantia II absolutely vital for carrying it out, is critical to our evidence-based approach to fisheries, which contrasts starkly with many environmental NGOs which rely on misplaced ideology rather than data to advance their arguments.”
The survey results are available here: