Six major fishing companies dominated Danish landings of both herring and mackerel in 2025, with a small group of large pelagic vessels accounting for most of the catch across the North Sea, the North Atlantic, and the Baltic fisheries. This, according to the Swedish fisheries website Svenssons Nyheter.

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The companies are Astrid Fiskeri A/S, Rederiet Isafold A/S, Asbjørn A/S, Beinur A/S, Cattleya A/S, and Themis Fiskeri A/S, which also operate several of the vessels that land the highest volumes of fish.

Herring catches are concentrated among a few vessels

Herring fishing mainly takes place in the North Sea and is largely aimed at the food market. Pelagic trawls are used, which fish in mid-water and do not touch the seabed.

Catches are pumped aboard and stored in refrigerated seawater tanks. By-catch levels are generally low, with sprat the most common species caught alongside herring.

The vessels with the largest reported Atlantic-Scandinavian herring (NVG herring) landings in 2025 included:

  • HG 265 Asbjørn – 2,041 tonnes
  • HG 62 Beinur – 1,769 tonnes
  • HG 333 Isafold – 414 tonnes

Landings were mainly made in Skagen, although deliveries also occurred in Thyborøn, Kungshamn and Ellös.

Compared with 2024, herring fishing declined in the Norwegian Sea but increased in the Baltic Sea.

Swedish ownership is significant in Danish fisheries

Several leading vessels operating on Danish quotas are Swedish-owned. Two of the major fishing groups involved in the fishery are controlled by fishermen from Rörö, near Gothenburg, and a Swedish-registered vessel, GG 64 Astrid Marie, also landed herring on Danish quotas in 2025.

In the Baltic Sea fishery, all vessels landing larger quantities of herring in 2025 were Swedish-owned.

Mackerel fishery led by the same fleet

The same six companies also dominate the Danish mackerel fishery, which targets fish for human consumption using pelagic trawls.

Fishing takes place in the North Sea and the North Atlantic west of Ireland, and around the Faroe Islands and Shetland, with smaller-scale fishing in the Skagerrak, Kattegat, and along the Danish west coast.

The vessels with the largest mackerel landings in 2025 included:

  • S 264 Astrid – 4,348 tonnes
  • HG 333 Isafold – 3,883 tonnes
  • HG 265 Asbjørn – 2,220 tonnes

Mackerel typically commands 10–15 times higher prices per kilogram than herring.