Fish Landings 2023

Landings by all vessels in Irish ports decreased by 8%

Overall, landings by all vessels in Irish ports decreased by 8% between 2022 and 2023 from 267,202 tonnes to 244,990 tonnes.

In terms of Irish vessels in Irish ports, landings decreased by 0.01% between 2022 and 2023 from 156,943 tonnes to 156,920 tonnes. Over the same period, landings by foreign vessels in Irish ports decreased by 20% from 110,259 tonnes to 88,070 tonnes, which accounted for 36% of total landings in Ireland in 2023.

Landings in Irish and Foreign Ports

Figure 2 shows tonnage of landings by Irish vessels in Irish and foreign ports, as well as, by foreign vessels in Ireland. Figure 3 shows corresponding figures in terms of value.

Between 2022 and 2023, landings by Irish vessels in Ireland decreased from 156,943 tonnes to 156,920 tonnes, while those by Irish vessels in foreign ports increased from 18,505 tonnes to 30,124 tonnes or 63% (see Table 1A). In total, landings by Irish vessels in Irish and foreign ports rose from 175,448 tonnes to 187,044 tonnes. In terms of value however, this corresponds to a decrease of €38 million.

Landings by foreign vessels in Irish ports fell from 110,259 tonnes to 88,070 tonnes between 2022 and 2023 (see Table 1B). In terms of value, this corresponds to a decrease of €5 million.

Irish Vessels by Landing Country

Following the trends of recent years, the highest tonnage landed by Irish vessels outside of Ireland in 2023 was in the United Kingdom at 6,757 tonnes, corresponding to a value of €8.8 million (see Table 2A and Table 2B). The next highest was in Norway at 5,772 tonnes.

Species

In 2023, the species for which the largest quantities landed by Irish vessels in Ireland was Blue Whiting at 48,749 tonnes, which was an increase of 79% from 2022 (see Figure 4 and Table 3A). In terms of value, Atlantic Mackerel accounted for the highest value landings at €62 million followed by Norway Lobster at €51 million (see Table 3D).

At 10,628 tonnes, Atlantic Mackerel was the species with the highest quantity landed by Irish vessels in foreign ports in 2023 (see Table 3B).

Blue Whiting was the most landed species by foreign vessels in Ireland at 49,941 tonnes in 2023 (see Table 3C). Note however that this was a decrease of 31% from 72,608 tonnes in 2022.

Port

Consistent with previous years, Killybegs in Co Donegal had the highest quantity of landings by Irish vessels in Ireland at 105,577 tonnes in 2023 (see Figure 5 and Table 4A). Next highest was Castletownbere in Co Cork at 7,936 tonnes and Dunmore East in Co Waterford at 5,754 tonnes.

The highest quantity of landings by foreign vessels in Ireland was also in Killybegs at 60,846 tonnes (see Table 4B). This was followed by Castletownbere at 19,129 tonnes. However, in terms of value, these tonnages represent €34 million for Killybegs and €74 million for Castletownbere (see Table 4D).

County

In 2023, Donegal was the county with the highest quantities landed by Irish and foreign vessels in Ireland at 112,091 tonnes and 61,277 tonnes, respectively (see Tables 5A and 5B). The total landings in Donegal accounted for 71% of total landings by all vessels in Ireland.

Cork had the next highest quantities landed by Irish and foreign vessels at 15,713 tonnes and 21,377 tonnes, respectively.

Catch Zone

Similar to previous years, in 2023, the West of Scotland and Rockall accounted for the highest proportion of catch tonnages by Irish vessels that were landed in Irish and foreign ports at 39% (73,205 tonnes).

Porcupine Bank was next highest at 16%, reflecting an increase between 2022 and 2023 from 13,693 tonnes to 29,580 tonnes. In contrast, the South-West of Ireland which accounted for the third highest proportion at 11% fell by 41% in the same time period.

Selected Ports by Species

Landings by all vessels in Castletownbere were at 27,065 tonnes in 2023. The species with the highest quantities landed was European Hake followed by Monkfish Angler nei.

In 2023, landings by all vessels in Killybegs were at 166,423 tonnes. The species with the highest quantities landed was Blue Whiting followed by Atlantic Mackerel.

Selected Species by Port

In 2023, the highest quantities of Blue Whiting, Atlantic Herring, Atlantic Mackerel and Horse Mackerel landed by all vessels in Ireland were in Killybegs.

Monthly Landings

The monthly landings trend in 2023 was similar to 2022 (see Table 9A). In 2023, nearly a quarter of the tonnes landed by Irish vessels in Irish and foreign ports occurred in March which was the busiest month. This was followed by February (20%), January (13%) and April (11%). Note that prior to 2022, some of the busiest months also occurred in the last few months of the year.

At species level, monthly landings by Irish vessels in Irish and foreign ports showed greater variability (see Figure 7 and Table 9B). The highest proportion of Blue Whiting landings occurred in March (71%), while for Atlantic Mackerel this occurred in February (58%) and in November for Atlantic Herring (38%).