Lower prices led to a sharp fall in the value of mackerel catches last year, according to the Directorate of Fisheries survey of the quantity and value of the Norwegian fisheries landings in 2012.
In 2012, Norwegian fishermen landed over 2.1 million tonnes of fish and shellfish valued at just over 14 billion.
This is a decline in both the quantity landed and the value of fish landed, compared to 2011. The value for 2012 is still over both 2009 and 2010 in value.
The Directorate of Fisheries Statistics Division has recently published an overview of the landed catch for the years 2009 to 2012.
The value of mackerel fell from 16 per cent of total exports in 2011 to nine per cent in the last year.
After the pelagic sector experienced a large increase in value from 2010 to 2011, this turned into a decline of 20 per cent in 2012.
Ten per cent less pelagic fish was brought ashore than the year before, and the sharp change in the total value is mainly due to a decline in the price of mackerel. The average price of mackerel declined by 40 per cent from 12 million in 2011 to 7 million in 2012.
Herring, which is the second largest main species in the pelagic sector, however, had a positive trend with an increase in the average price of 10 per cent.
