An economist has expressed fears over the future of the Ayr district fishing fleet after a new report shows that the area’s landing figures last year were significantly down on 2019.
Tony Mackay predicted that the current decline will see some Ayrshire fishermen call it a day and leave the industry altogether.
The value of fish landings within the Ayr district, which includes the major Port of Troon and other smaller towns and villages, fell by a massive 33 per cent to £9 million last year.
And the tonnage fell by 26 per cent to 3.7 million. Those figures come from Marine Scotland’s annual report on Scottish Fisheries Statistics 2020, which gives detailed figures on the landings of fish in every port in the country, including Ayr