Not going to lie, I’ve been really confused by some of the reports I’ve seen this year from around the UK and the state of the Mackerel stocks. It was always my belief that the Mackerel we saw came from down south and migrating north as the sea warmed up but if what people are reporting is right that can’t be the case?
It seems that generally the UK 2021 Mackerel fishing season was terrible. I’ve seen reports from the English Channel all the way up to north Wales where it’s just been endless moaning about the lack of Mackerel about. If anything the east coast seems to have been worse. The English Channel appears to have had a short burst of Mackerel at the beginning of the summer and then an influx of Scad. It’s strange because on the Isle of Man we’ve had one of our longest and most reliable Mackerel seasons in a long long time. From when they turned up in July to now the Mackerel are still around in large numbers, of course we had the earlier shoals of small joeys just like every year but that soon settled down to nice sized fish coming up by the feather load. Only on one occasion did I struggle to catch bait and that was a rubbish tide. It’s not just an impression either, the predators that rely on them have been here in record numbers as well. The Bass fishing around the island has never been better. The Tope that usually arrive to coincide with the Mackerel have been caught in record numbers this year as well, in places where we’d just not normally see them. The whole food chain here is looking very healthy this year and that will be in no small part to the number of Mackerel hanging around ( you know you’re having a good Mackerel season when a Thresher Shark is caught around pot lines in October). I’ve heard similar stories about the numbers and reliability of the Mackerel from the west coast of Scotland and Northern Ireland as well.
It could be just a case of the Mackerel passing through so quickly until they get the water temperature they like, which with global warming could just coincide with more northerly parts of the UK now? Or is it a case that our Mackerel come from a different place, maybe down through the north channel and the more northern part of the Atlantic? I think that’s where the biggest factory factory ships operate so if that was the case then wouldn’t we be seeing less? Honestly I’m not sure what is going on but I do know that I’d like a lot more Mackerel seasons like the one we enjoyed in 2021. How was your 2021 Mackerel season, did you see any numbers, are they still about?