Seafood Sector
Fish catching
In 2022:
- Shetland had a fishing fleet of 246 vessels, employing 585 people
- Of the 246 registered vessels, 203 measured 10 meter and under
- Shetland ranked 2nd in a list of Scottish ports for the tonnage of fish landed, handling 19% of all fish landed in Scotland
- A total of 54,775 tonnes of fish was landed in Shetland by both UK and foreign vessels, worth £82,258,364
- Shetland vessels also landed 85,528 tonnes of fish out with Shetland, worth £80,237,281
Shellfish Aquaculture
The annual Scottish Shellfish Farm Production Survey collates regional data on the production of Mussels, Pacific Oyster, Native Oyster, Queens and Scallops. Of these species, Shetland produced Mussels and a very small amount of Pacific Oyster (around 1,000 shells) in 2022.
In 2022 there was:
- 23 shellfish businesses, employing 94 staff
- 143 active shellfish farm sites in Shetland, just under 50% of the total number of sites in Scotland
- 167 sites across Scotland producing shellfish for sale, an increase of 1% from 2021, with 57% of these sites located in Shetland
- 7,164 tonnes of mussels produced for the table, worth £6,805,800, which was 78.8% of the total produced in Scotland
- 2,431 tonnes of mussels produced for on-growing, which was 97% of the total produced in Scotland
The number of people employed by the shellfish farming industry across Scotland decreased by 16% from 2021 to 2022. In Shetland this decrease was lower, at 7%.
Finfish Aquaculture
In 2022 there was:
- 288 people employed in the sector
- 39,258 tonnes of salmon produced worth £285,406,000, just over 23% of Scottish total
- 10,571,000 smolts put to sea in Shetland, just over 19% of the Scottish total
Fish and Shellfish Processing
There were 24 Food Standards Agency approved fish and shellfish establishments in Shetland.