Stock assessments stay strong for all species
Around 28 tonnes of lobster was landed last year and with the highest catch rate ever recorded in SSMO records for the species. Landings were double that of two years before, demonstrating a stronger stock than has been seen since 2016.The catch rate reached a record high of 1.9 kilos per 10 creels.
However, shellfish scientist Leander Harlow voiced caution about reading too much into the data until further years' landings are assessed.
Scallop landings fell to around 3.9 million shells during 2025 on the back of a corresponding drop off in fishing effort. The catch landed from each dredge per hour fell slightly from its peak average of 45 seen from 2022 to 2024 but remains relatively stable. The biggest fishing areas were to the north end of Yell Sound and north of Lerwick.
Velvet crab catch rates reached a new high of 0.68 kilos per creel during 2025, Heavily fished areas show signs of pressure but generally the stock is seen to be in a positive state.
Brown crab saw a slight drop in catch levels from the high point of 2024, down to around 1.1 kilos per creel. Just over 200 tonnes was landed last year.
The catch rate for buckies slumped from its record high of 2.8 kg/pot in 2024 to 2.2 last year, giving rise to concerns in some areas about overfishing.
The decline of the queen scallop fishery was evidenced by the drop in landings to zero with no targeted fishery whatsoever last year. Any boat going to the fishery has to be fitted with Remote Electronic Monitoring equipment by law, which is a very expensive consideration for any part-time small-scale fisherman.