Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment on Nephrops Fisheries Management Plans

Section 5: Next steps and implementation

Recommendations/ preferred options

Based on the analysis, Option 1 - Publication of Nephrops FMPs – is recommended.

Implementation considerations/ plan

Subject to the consultation, it is proposed to publish the West Coast of Scotland and North Sea Nephrops FMPs. This complies with the statutory obligation in the 2020 Act to prepare and publish the FMPs (the FMPs having been included in the JFS which was published in November 2022 and amended in December 2024).

The actions contained within the FMPs will be taken forward following their publication and will be subject to further policy development work, including further evidence gathering or public consultation, along with the completion of appropriate impact assessments. However, it is important to remember that many of the actions are already underway and part of multi-year delivery programmes.

Impact assessments will be completed by the relevant national fisheries authority, in line with each authority's individual assessment processes. Requirements for Scotland, Northern Ireland and England are set out below.

Scotland

When developing policies the Scottish Government looks at impact assessments, assesses which ones are relevant to the policy and plans how to complete them as part of the process.

Any new management interventions will be screened and, where necessary, an appropriate assessment will be completed to ensure any actions or measures take before being implemented.

Some of the assessments which may require to be completed include:

• Strategic Environmental Assessment
• Business and regulatory impact assessment
• Data Protection Impact Assessment
• Equality Impact Assessment
• Islands Communities Impact Assessment
• Child Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessment (CRWIA)

Northern Ireland

The Rural Needs Act (Northern Ireland) 2016 was established to ensure that rural communities are fairly considered in the planning and delivery of public services and policies.

It imposes a legal duty on public authorities to actively account for rural needs when designing, revising, or implementing new policies.

This includes conducting Rural Needs Impact Assessments (RNIAs), integrating rural considerations into business cases and consultation documents, and publishing annual reports that demonstrate compliance.

England

When producing policy and determining the need for impact assessments, the Better Regulation Framework guidance is taken into consideration. Where policies require a regulatory provision such as legislation, an options assessment or final stage impact assessment is undertaken and submitted to the Regulatory Policy Committee (RPC) for independent scrutiny. Such scrutiny will be in advance of introducing any secondary legislation for measures that are above the £10 million per annum threshold for net costs to business. This analysis is not required for measures below the £10 million equivalent annual net direct costs to business (EANDCB) threshold. For measures below this threshold Defra will, if appropriate, produce de-minimis assessments.

Post implementation review

FMPs contain a number of policies and actions intended to ensure that stocks covered by the FMPs are fished sustainably with respect to an MSY approach and also to support improvements in the overall management approach.

ICES stock assessments assess how fish populations have changed over time and the effect fishing pressure is having on stocks. Key biological indicators are provided as reference points, which give indication towards their MSY, fishing pressure and spawning stock biomass. Fisheries policy authorities undertake a review of ICES stock assessments on an annual basis, to determine how stocks are performing against these reference points, and any other reference points provided within the advice.

The health of the stock will continue to be reviewed in this way as part of the ongoing negotiations cycle, utilising the ICES stock assessment process, and will also be reviewed on a more in-depth basis as part of the ICES benchmark process (which varies from stock to stock). The health of the stock will be the indicator used to monitor the effectiveness of the FMPs in managing the Nephrops stocks sustainably.

The policies and actions within each FMP will be reviewed as part of the three year review cycle for the JFS. In addition, as set out within the 2020 Act and the JFS, FMPs will be reviewed at least every six years. An earlier review may be triggered in light of a change to relevant evidence, international obligations, or wider events. The decision to review earlier will be taken by the fisheries policy authorities. The review of the FMPs will include a report on individual policies and actions and whether they have been a) implemented and b) any known interactions between the actions and health of the stock.