First herring haul in over 20 years

Thu, 12 Oct 2023

Following new UK quotas, local fishermen have started to catch herring in Manx waters which could enable a commercially viable Manx fishery for the first time in 25 years.

The agreement between the Isle of Man and UK governments allows Manx boats to catch up to 100 tonnes of herring in 2023, and could quadruple by 2026.

Manx fishermen had been free to catch herring for centuries before the EU Common Fisheries Policy introduced quotas in the 1980s. But by the time stocks had recovered the island had been excluded – driving most fishermen to focus their efforts on scallops.

Adie Kinrade was the first fisherman to successfully apply for funding from the Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture (DEFA) to kit out his vessel Our Sara Jane.

He said: “Today is a little piece of history. When I was a kid the herring fishery was huge in the Isle of Man and then obviously it died out for one reason or another.

“It’s just nice when the fish are literally a mile off shore that we can go out of Douglas and come back with what we have caught today.”

Kinrade, and his five-strong crew, completed a series of trials with their new equipment before successfully hauling their first large catch of 12 tonnes on Tuesday.

Skipper Melvin Reid said: “This is my 44th year fishing, but all I have ever done is scallops and queenies. We were like kids today, when we saw a full net of herring come in. It was amazing!”

David Beard Chairman of the Manx Fish Producers Organisation expressed how special the herring fishing is for the industry, however he assured that they will manage the fishery sustainably to ensure lasting results.

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