How much fish is landed?
In 2021, the amount of fish brought into Dutch fishery ports from sea was 443.5 million kilograms. That is 17 percent more than in the previous year. Most of the fish, 91 percent, landed frozen via trawlers, with the rest landed fresh by cutters. Blue whiting was the most landed frozen fish at 135.9 million kilograms, plaice the most landed fresh fish at 17.6 million kilograms.
Trawlers landed 404.1 million kilograms of fish. These fishing vessels with funnel-shaped nets concentrate on schools of fish swimming in deeper waters. In 2021, they mainly landed blue whiting (34 percent), herring (33 percent) and mackerel (18 percent).
Landings by trawlers were 20 percent higher than a year previously, with more horse mackerel in particular being delivered to Dutch ports (+101 percent). After 2014, particularly trawler catches of herring, mackerel, blue whiting and sardines increased.
Cutters land fresh fish
Cutters focus on bottom fishing in coastal waters. These vessels landed 39.3 million kilograms of fish in 2021, mostly plaice (44 percent) and North Sea shrimps (34 percent). Landings were 4 percent less than the previous year, whereas cod landings actually surged, by 126 percent. After 2014, cutters’ catches of most species of fish decreased.
| Jaartal | Fishing trawlers | Cutters |
|---|---|---|
| 2002 | 398.3 | 97.1 |
| 2003 | 468.5 | 97.6 |
| 2004 | 493.8 | 92.9 |
| 2005 | 546.1 | 86.2 |
| 2006 | 504.9 | 77.8 |
| 2007 | 453.9 | 79.2 |
| 2008 | 371.2 | 78.2 |
| 2009 | 336.0 | 86.2 |
| 2010 | 337.1 | 72.8 |
| 2011 | 283.4 | 68.1 |
| 2012 | 284.0 | 58.3 |
| 2013 | 223.8 | 59.0 |
| 2014 | 205.8 | 54.1 |
| 2015 | 462.6 | 78.2 |
| 2016 | 321.4 | 62.3 |
| 2017 | 423.6 | 53.9 |
| 2018 | 448.0 | 59.4 |
| 2019 | 371.3 | 43.7 |
| 2020 | 336.6 | 41.1 |
| 2021* | 404.1 | 39.3 |
| * Provisional figures | ||
Low point in 2014
The amount of fish landed bottomed at 260 million kilograms in 2014, mainly because trawlers landed fewer and fewer fish. In 2015, this downward trend was broken and fishing yields doubled relative to one year previously. This level was no longer reached after 2015 although yields remained higher than in 2014.
More cod and horse mackerel in 2021
Over the years, there have been strong fluctuations in landings for each species of fish. Landings of horse mackerel and cod were up in 2021 compared to one year previously while there was still a decline the year before. In contrast, quantities of North Sea shrimps (–9 percent) and sardines (–5 percent) showed a decline. The quantity of landed fish is largely determined by fishing quotas (catch limits) which are set per fish species under the EU’s Common Fisheries Policy (CFP).
| Soort | Year-on-year % change |
|---|---|
| Cod | 126.8 |
| Horse mackerel | 101.3 |
| Blue whiting | 23.0 |
| Herring | 14.2 |
| Mackerel | 7.9 |
| Sole | -3.5 |
| Plaice | -4.1 |
| Sardines | -5.2 |
| Common shrimps | -9.0 |
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