In August 2003 the new electronic auction was introduced in Shetland. It has attracted more boats to land their fish. In 2008, 84 different boats landed, of which 26 were from Shetland, 50 from Scotland, 2 from Orkney, 1 from England, 1 from Northern Ireland & 4 from Scandinavia. In turn, this has attracted more buyers from UK and Europe, leading to more competitive prices.
The volume of white fish landed in 2008 has increased 19.1% and a value growth of 25.6% on the previous year. This increase demonstrates the significant progress that the auction development has made despite the overall decline in the white fish catching sector. 2009 is showing similar landings.