Consultation on Three Joint UK Fisheries Management Plans (FMPs) for Pelagic Stocks

Summary of the Scottish-led pelagic FMPs

All of our sea fish and shellfish stocks are complex to manage. The vision for all 43 UK FMPs is that the fisheries they cover are managed sustainably, to help ensure that we maintain or restore stocks’ biomass above levels capable of producing maximum sustainable yield (MSY) and highlights areas that could lead to refinements of management approaches in the future.

The three pelagic FMPs which are subject to this consultation have been developed by the Scottish Government, Defra and DAERA, and with input from industry, scientists, eNGOs and SNCBs.

These plans have been developed within the wider context of the Marine Plans in place in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Consideration will also be given to the objectives and principles outlined in the TCA when considering measures. It should also be noted that the pelagic stocks covered by these FMPs are jointly managed, and therefore overall fishing opportunities are determined through international negotiation. These stocks are also subject to different management measures in different areas of the sea by individual coastal States.

These FMPs sets out policies and actions to restore or maintain the pelagic stocks in UK waters at sustainable levels and contribute to this, ensuring that they can continue to play a key role in providing positive socio-economic benefits to the UK, whilst also setting out a number of actions to improve management where this is needed. The FMPs have been developed in line with the fisheries objectives of the Act, as required by the JFS.

The draft pelagic FMPs will apply to all areas in Scottish waters^[11], English waters^[12] and Northern Irish waters where fishing activity for the above given species takes place.

Pelagic fisheries in UK waters are seasonal and primarily target key commercial species such as mackerel, herring and blue whiting. These are highly directed fisheries, focusing on fish in the open water column, with target species accounting for the vast majority of both catch volume and economic value. The stocks covered by the three pelagic FMPs are relatively less important economically to the UK, however, similar to other pelagic stocks, they play an important role in the marine ecosystem and given their presence in UK waters, it is important that appropriate management measures are in place.

Catch limits in the form of Total Allowable Catches (TACs) are set annually, informed for the majority of these stocks, by scientific advice from ICES. These FMPs cover more than one ICES advice area and/or TAC, and for some stocks, a single ICES advice sheet may feed into more than one UK quota. These are explained further within each FMP.

These FMPs therefore describe a vision with policies and actions which set out how management can continue to support an MSY approach^[13] for the pelagic fisheries in UK waters, and highlights areas that could lead to refinements to management approaches in the future. Areas for action include those which support the wider delivery of policies within the JFS, and which contribute to the delivery of the fisheries objectives in the Act. In most cases further policy development work will be needed for any new actions, which could include additional evidence gathering or public consultation, along with the completion of appropriate impact assessments.