Mackerel rising

A RECENT survey of the north Atlantic by Norway, Faroe and Iceland has shown the mackerel stock is thriving, but swimming further north and west than previously and covering its widest ever area.

The survey results have been handed to the International Council for the Exploration of the Seas (ICES), which will issue advice on 2015 mackerel catches in early October.

However the size of the surveyed stock may not impact on ICES recommendatins as they only look at mackerel aged six or more years, with the huge stock expansion mostly happening in the past two or three years.

Mackerel are the most valuable species for the Shetland and the Scottish fishing industry and have been the subject of an international dispute between the European Union, Iceland and Faroe over the past few years.