Current status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 16 October 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what information it has regarding the recorded landings of (a) haddock, (b) whiting, (c) cod and (d) saithe by weight at west coast fishing harbours in (i) 1987, (ii) 1988, (iii)1989, (iv) 1990 and (v) 1991, and how this compares with returns for wild salmon.
The available information on the recorded landings of UK vessels by species and district landed into the west coast of Scotland in 1987 are published in table 6 on pages 18 and 19 of the Scottish Sea Fisheries Statistics 1987:
The available information on the recorded landings of UK vessels by species and district landed into the west coast of Scotland in 1988 are published in table 7 on pages 20 and 21 of the Scottish Sea Fisheries Statistics 1988:
The available information on the recorded landings of UK vessels by species and district landed into the west coast of Scotland in 1989 are published in table 7 on pages 20 and 21 of the Scottish Sea Fisheries Statistics 1989:
The available information on the recorded landings of UK vessels by species and district landed into the west coast of Scotland in 1990 are published in table 7 on pages 24 and 25 of the Scottish Sea Fisheries Statistics 1990:
The available information on the recorded landings of UK vessels by species and district landed into the west coast of Scotland in 1991 are published in table 7 on pages 26 to 28 of the Scottish Sea Fisheries Statistics 1991:
There is no information available for the years 1987 to 1991 on the recorded landings of foreign vessels into Scotland by species and district landed.
Prior to 2016, salmon were caught in commercial coastal net fisheries, but they were not landed through harbours. Salmon catches for 1952-2024, including 1987-1991, are published as official statistics in Scottish salmon and sea trout fishery statistics: http://www.gov.scot/ISBN/9781836914761/documents. Detailed supporting data is available for download: https://data.marine.gov.scot/dataset/salmon-and-sea-trout-fishery-statistics-1952-2024-season-reported-catch-and-effort-district
There are significant differences in environment, biology, fisheries (including methods, seasons, effort, location), fisheries management, and fisheries data collection that preclude a meaningful comparison of the landings of demersal fish species with catches of salmon. In terms of the data referred to above, it should be noted that, for demersal species, the locations of landing and capture may not be closely related whereas, for salmon the location of capture is recorded more precisely (see https://www.gov.scot/publications/collecting-marine-scotland-salmon-sea-trout-fishery-statistics-2/). In Scotland, salmon may be caught by fixed engine, net and coble, or rod and line, which generally correspond to the coast, estuaries, and rivers. However, some net and coble fisheries previously operated within rivers or in coastal embayments and rod fishing for salmon can legally occur within coastal or estuarine waters. Since 2016, salmon may not be retained by any method in coastal waters or where stocks are assessed as being in poor condition.