Pelagic fish
Pelagic fish is caught in drift nets. These large funnel-shaped nets can be dragged through the water at different levels. The fish end up in the funnel of the net. Dutch fishermen mainly fish for herring and mackerel.
No less than five million tonnes of mackerel and two million tonnes of herring populate the north-eastern part of the Atlantic Ocean. The pelagic fishing fleet operates in a sustainable manner to keep fish stocks healthy. While the European Union has reduced the quota for mackerel in recent years, it has substantially increased the quota for other species, notably for North Sea herring, blue whiting, horse mackerel and silver smelt.
IJmuiden is the home port of the Vrolijk en Parlevliet and Van der Plas fishing fleet operators and, as such, receives the largest quantity of frozen fish in the Netherlands.