Seafood Sector
Fish catching
In 2023:
- Shetland had a fishing fleet of 256 vessels, employing 431 people
- Of the 256 registered vessels, 213 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 64,319 tonnes of fish was landed in Shetland by both UK and foreign vessels, worth £99,970,000
- Shetland vessels also landed 101,864 tonnes of fish out with Shetland, worth £92,889,536
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 small amount of Pacific Oyster (around 3,000 shells) in 2023.
In 2023 there was:
- 24 Shetland based shellfish businesses, employing 91 staff
- 148 active shellfish farm sites in Shetland, just over 50% of the total number of sites in Scotland
- 8,694 tonnes of mussels produced for the table, which was 84.3% of the total tonnage produced in Scotland and worth £9,702,504
- 2,085 tonnes of mussels produced for on-growing, which was 82.5% of the total produced in Scotland
Finfish Aquaculture
In Shetland in 2023 there was:
- 312 people employed in the sector
- 33,414 tonnes of salmon produced worth £251,942,000, just over 22% of Scottish total
- 8,938,000 smolts put to sea, just over 18% of the Scottish total
Fish and Shellfish Processing
There were 19 Food Standards Agency approved fish and shellfish establishments in Shetland in January 2025.