Pelagic Fisheries
Fish don’t stay in one place. Pelagic fish are seasonally abundant in specific areas. This also means that the quality of some pelagic fish species is much better at certain times and in specific areas than in other places. The Channel is an important winter fishing ground for North Sea herring.
Normally our vessels fish – depending on the target species that period – divided throughout European waters during the year, but mainly in the November, December and January months several vessels move out to the same area (in some cases, fishing operations can continue for specific vessels).
The fact that vessels are in the Channel, does not mean that there is more pressure on the fishing grounds. First and foremost, pelagic fishing is carried out within strict, science-based quotas. The North Sea herring has been MSC certified since 2006 – which shows that the stock is doing very well.
Pelagic fish swim in enormous shoals- sometimes as big as the city of Paris. In the Channel, our experienced skippers know exactly where the North Sea herring are. They catch them in a highly targeted manner with innovations that also allow unwanted animals to escape through panels in the net.
Although it is sometimes portrayed differently, the vessel’s length has therefore actually a lot of benefits: for instance, due to the freezer trawlers’ size and high-tech capabilities, pelagic fishing is selective and efficient: the use of technology including sonar and echo equipment allows for detection and targeting the large shoals of fish, enabling highly selective fishing (more than 99%).
The size of these vessels is largely explained by their onboard freezing and storage facilities, which occupy more than 70% of the available space. This allows fish to be frozen directly and stored on board, reducing the need for frequent returns to port to land catches. As a result, wild-caught pelagic fish have one of the lowest carbon footprints of all animal proteins; even lower than some plant-based products.
On average, freezer trawlers spend only 10–15% of their time in the Channel actively fishing. The remaining time is spent searching for fish, processing catches, sailing home and other activities. While vessel movements can be viewed through public AIS tracking services their presence in an area does not necessarily mean they are fishing.
Pelagic freezer trawlers are regularly inspected by fisheries control authorities of EU Member States and skippers themselves also report their daily catches every day. Cameras have even already been installed on board (Remote Electronic Monitoring) in anticipation of EU legislation and are mandatory in Scottish waters.
Date Posted: 12th November 2026