Yes, our North Sea herring season started on the 13th August with a small landing from the MV Resolute. She was closely followed by her partner, MV Forever Grateful. Both vessels have been catching around the Orkney Islands, which are around 70 miles south of Lerwick. The average size has generally been around 250gms. These 2 vessels have almost finished their quota already, but we expect 2 of our other regular suppliers, MV Ocean Quest & MV Ocean Venture to start fishing soon.
Our mackerel season started earlier than usual, on the 6th September. Since then, we´ve received many landings from Norwegian, Danish & Swedish vessels. The main catching area has been east of Shetland, from 2 to 8 hours away from Lerwick. The quality´s been excellent, as would be expected for purse seined fish. The average size has been 400–450gms, perfect for producing a mixture of 300–500gms & 400–600gms.
Mackerel prices are lower than last season due to a combination of increased quotas and the worldwide financial situation. The start of the season has seen unstable prices, but these have recently been bottoming out with the arrival of Japanese buyers in Norway. Many Norwegian vessels have switched to catching NVG herring, in an attempt to restrict the mackerel supply and increase prices.
The currencies of Japan, Russia and Ukraine against the benchmark US Dollar are fluctuating significantly, adding risks for customers.
The UK trawlers are expected to start w/c 28th September, so the bulk of our supplies are expected to switch from Scandinavian to UK boats. There´s a reasonable quota remaining so we don´t anticipate a shortage of supply in October & November.
Simon Leiper & John Angus attended the World Food Moscow Show, held between the 15–18 September. We had our usual joint stand together with our Russian partners, Russian Fish Company. The Show was certainly quieter than previous years´, a victim of the economic crisis. However, we managed to meet many customers and agree the first sales of mackerel.
John Angus.
25th Sep 2009.
