Lunar QMG
Lunar Fishing Company formed its own “in-house” Producers Organisation in September 2009 with official recognition to EU requirements being granted by the Scottish Government in March 2010. In 2020 the organisation transferred over to a “quota management group” under the auspices of the Scottish Government and became Lunar QMG Ltd.
Lunar QMG manages the quota allocations of the Lunar fleet of vessels; the projected landings for 2023 total over 70,000 tonnes of fish, around one third of which will be mackerel. With the sister company Lunar Freezing and Cold Storage Ltd absorbing all the pelagic landings, Lunar QMG looks after the first-stage sales of the whitefish landed by Lunar vessels.
Lunar QMG is an active member several industry groupings including the Scottish Association of Fish producer Organisations (SAFPO) and the Scottish Fisheries Sustainable Action Group (SFSAG). The latter group co-ordinates the certification of Scottish whitefish fisheries to MSC (Marine Stewardship Council) standards; fisheries already certified include North Sea haddock and saithe. The MSC certification for Scottish pelagic fisheries is handled by the Scottish Pelagic Sustainability Group with the main NS herring fishery is being certified.
As Lunar moves from three to two whitefish vessels in April 2023, two new whitefish vessels are on order for delivery late in 2024. These vessels will be larger than the current vessels and will be able to more fully utilise the whitefish quotas that Lunar holds for the west of Scotland and Faroe sea areas.
