Early season mackerel achieves good returns

The early season fishery for West Coast mackerel has been particularly successful, according to the Scottish Fishermen’s Organisation, which reports that its members have benefited from a general increase in world mackerel prices. “We were dealt a 28% decrease in quota for 2005, but good catches and better prices have compensated the fishermen, so overall the situation is not as bad as we feared,” says Robert McNab.

Many vessels took advantage of the plentiful supply of mackerel in the UK sector to almost fulfil their quota, leaving a small balance for the more difficult winter season. “Our vessels often find reasonable shoals in October, but by November the mackerel tend to head further north into the Norwegian zone, so it’s a question of risk as to how much quota they leave over from the spring,” he said.

Official UK statistics show an annual quota allocation for West Coast Mackerel from January 1st – February 15th and October 1st to December 31st, at 173,379.1 tonnes. Early season landings by UK vessels amounted to 109,522 tonnes, which is 63.2% of the quota.

Table 1 shows total UK exports for January – March 2005 at 51,150 tonnes, up 3% on the previous year. The overall value was up 30 percent on 2004.

Of particular note, are exports to the Netherlands, China and Nigeria, which increased considerably during 2005, whereas those to Malaysia, Portugal, Lithuania and Russia decreased. An industry spokesman speculated that the increase in exports to China was due to the country’s growing dominance as a centre for processing, whereas those to the Netherlands were either for frozen storage and onward shipping, or sold for trading by one of the major Dutch pelagic players.

There was also a wide year on year variation in price, with export values to Nigeria increasing by 446%, to the Netherlands by 481%, China by 200% and Germany by 112%. Overall, the early season market experienced some excellent trading.

Norwegian exports during the period January – March 2005 were down overall by 28%, although their value increased by 161% and the average price in NOK/kg of frozen mackerel increased 32%, from 7.35 in 2004 to 9.71 in 2005, while the average price of mackerel fillets went up 14% from 17.04 to 19.46 NOK/kg.

Exports of whole frozen mackerel decreased to all the major countries except Japan, where sales increased by 47%, with a 124% increase in price achieved, and an increase in NOK/kg of 52%. Another notable increase in NOK/kg was to China, where the price increased 49% from 7.48 to 11.13 NOK/kg.

Sales of fillets fared better, with Sweden increasing purchases by 291% and Japan by 44%. Exports of fillets to Poland decreased by almost 50%.

There were few fish caught over 600g, with the majority weighing around 400g. Larger quantities of big fish are expected during the main season for Norwegian mackerel, which is due to begin in August. At this time, fat levels in the autumn stock should have recovered to between 20 and 30 percent, following the spring spawning.

At the start of the last mackerel season, Norges Sildesalgslag and the Norwegian Seafood Federation agreed minimum landing prices for mackerel for consumption. These ranged from fish weighing 600g+ at NOK 7,25/kg, through Group 6 fish weighing 475g-499g at NOK 6,00/kg, to the smallest Group 13 fish weighing below 325, at NOK 2,75/kg. These prices were fixed until the 2005 autumn season.

French imports of early season mackerel from the UK and Ireland were up 12% in quantity, 45% in value, and 36% in price per kilo. However, within the overall increase, it should be noted that imports of fresh and frozen mackerel from Ireland were down 42% and 58% respectively. Imports of mackerel fillets from Ireland also decreased by 49%.

In Ireland in 2004, the pelagic processing sector experienced one of the worst years in its history. This was due to both quota restrictions and increased landings of Irish pelagic fish into foreign ports. Onshore processing activity was hit particularly hard and by the end of 2004, four processing plants had ceased production. The result was a reduction in exports of over 7%, to the value of €124 million for the year.

Germany increased its imports of fresh and frozen mackerel from Denmark in January and February 2005 by 138% and 260 percent respectively, but decreased imports from the Netherlands and Ireland. Imports of mackerel fillets were down overall by 61% in quantity and 55 percent in value, although the overall price increased by 17%.

Total imports of all mackerel were up 33% in quantity and 59% in value, with a 20% increase in price per kilo.

The industry is now coming to the tail end of the herring fishery and eagerly awaiting the start of the autumn mackerel season, which it anticipates will bring a flurry of larger fish for processing, and a promise of prices holding up.

Nicki Holmyard, Eurofish
© 2005 EUROFISH