Draft Inshore Marine Protected Areas Fisheries Assessment Methodology Report

Evidence for the draft Fisheries Assessments

Best available scientific data, evidence and advice have been used to inform these draft Fisheries Assessments.

Evidence used in the draft Fisheries Assessments falls into two broad categories:

1. Fishing activity information. This includes vessel monitoring system (VMS), FISH1 landing declarations and logbook data from 2015-2019, and 2022, and information on spatial distribution, intensity and trends of fishing activities and types of gear used.

2. Ecological information. This includes extent, distribution, condition and sensitivity of protected features within a site.

Fishing activity

Fishing gear types

Prior to the site-based screening of fishing activity, a list of commercial fishing gears operating within the Scottish inshore region was compiled.

The list of gears included within the scope of all draft Fisheries Assessments was derived from analysis of logbook data recorded between 2009 and 2019, restricted to fishing activity within the Scottish inshore region.

Fyke nets were not included because they did not appear in the logbook data for the Scottish inshore fleet during the period 2009 to 2019.

The section below outlines the gears (with gear codes) identified from these logbook data. These gears represent the fishing activities that may occur within designated sites across the Scottish inshore region and therefore require consideration within the assessments.

Demersal Trawls – Towed:

• Beam Trawl – TBB
• Bottom otter trawl – OTB
• Multi-rig trawls – OTT
• Pair trawl, bottom – PTB
• Pair trawl (not specified) – PT
• Nephrops trawls – TBN
• Bottom trawls (not specified) – TB
• Otter trawls (not specified) – OT
• Trawls (not specified / not elsewhere included) – TX

Demersal seines – towed:

• Anchor seine – SDN
• Scottish fly/seine – SSC
• Pair seine – SPR
• Seine net (not specified) – SX

Pelagic fishing – towed pelagic:

• Mid-water trawl (single) – OTM
• Mid-water trawl (pair) – PTM
• Mid-water trawl (not specified) – TM
• Purse seines – PS
• Purse seines (one vessel) – PS1

Boat dredges – Dredges towed:

• Boat dredges - DRB

Traps/Creels - Static pots/traps:

• Pots/creels – FPO

Anchored nets - Static-fixed nets:

• Gillnets (not specified) – GN
• Set gillnets – GNS
• Gillnets and entangling nets (not specified) – GEN
• Fixed gillnets (on stakes) - GNF

Anchored lines – Lines:

• Longlines (not specified) – LL
• Set longlines – LLS
• Hooks and lines (not specified) – LX

Pelagic fishing – Lines:

• Longlines (not specified) – LL
• Hooks and lines (not specified) – LX
• Handlines and pole-lines (mechanized) – LHM
• Handlines and pole-lines (hand-operated) – LHP
• Trolling lines – LTL

Fishing activity data and data sources

Timeframe used

Commercial sea fishing activity can vary in nature and intensity over time. These assessments consider fishing activity based on activity levels and type between 2016-2019 and 2022 (plus 2015 data for fishing intensity). This date range was considered to provide the best available data on current fishing activity levels for the assessment. Using this 5-year date range provides an average view of fishing activity within each site; the years of 2020 – 2021 were not considered representative of regular fishing activity due to the Covid pandemic and so were not included.

Fishing activity and landings information

Fishermen are legally required to provide information on their fishing activities to the Fisheries Administrations. This includes details of species and quantities caught, area of capture, gear type used, and port of departure and return.

The format used depends on the length of the vessel (Scottish sea fisheries statistics: technical manual):

• over 12 metre vessels must have an electronic logbook system to record their activity;
• vessels between 10 and 12 metres may use paper logbooks to record their activity;
• 10 metres and under vessels do not need to keep logbooks, but in Scotland these vessels are required to provide equivalent information on FISH1 forms.

a) Electronic logbooks (vessels ≥ 12 m)

Masters of fishing vessels of 12 metres overall length and above are required to have a functioning electronic logbook (e-log) system installed. The electronic logbook records vessel details, species and quantities caught, fishing effort information (such as gear type and mesh size), and positional data, including fishing area, ICES rectangle, latitude and longitude. Entries are submitted through Fishing Activity Reports and are completed at least once per day. These reports detail the fishing gear used, species caught, quantities landed, and associated positional information.

b) Paper logbooks (vessels between 10 m and 12 m)

Masters of fishing vessels over 10 metres but under 12 metres in overall length may use paper logbooks to record their fishing activity. These logbooks record species and quantities caught, fishing effort information (such as gear type and mesh size), and positional data, including fishing area, ICES rectangle, latitude and longitude.

Entries are completed at least once per day and include details of the fishing gear used, species caught, quantities landed, and associated positional information. Positional data are recorded for the area in which the majority of the catch was taken during that day. Paper logbooks must be submitted before landing commences.

c) FISH1 landing declarations (vessels ≤ 10 m)

Owners of fishing vessels with an overall length of 10 metres and under are required to complete a FISH1 form (Marine compliance: FISH1 form). They manually record species and quantities caught; fishing effort details such as gear type and mesh size; and positional data e.g. fishing area/ICES rectangle/latitude and longitude. Entries are completed at least once a day detailing fishing gear used, species and weight along with positional data. Positional data is recorded where the majority of the catch was taken each day. FISH1s are submitted on a weekly basis.

d) Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) data (vessels ≥ 12 m)

In Scottish waters, all fishing vessels of 12 metres overall length and above, including non-UK vessels, are required to be fitted with a Vessel Monitoring System (VMS). The system provides information on the location of fishing vessels while at sea. VMS positional data are transmitted automatically every two hours while a vessel is at sea. Vessels under 12 metres are not generally required to carry VMS equipment. However, under-12-metre scallop dredge vessels and certain other fisheries operating under specific derogations are required to have vessel-tracking systems installed.

Overview of fishing activity evidence sources

For site specific screening, levels of fishing activity within the period range of 2015-2019 and 2022 were assessed utilising the following evidence sources (where relevant):

• Vessel landings data (2016–2019, 2022): Landings data by species and gear type were analysed for individual vessels under 12 metres and those 12 metres or longer (Marine Directorate, 2024a).
• Landed value for vessels <12 m (2016–2019, 2022): Average annual landed value was calculated per 0.05° x 0.05° grid cell (c-square). Gears categorised as: beam trawls, demersal trawls, hooks and lines, lift nets, longlines, mechanical dredges, midwater trawls, pots and traps (creels), set nets, and miscellaneous. Values were adjusted to 2024 market prices and expressed as a proportion of the maximum value (across all c-squares). Data sources included FISH1 landing declarations (vessels ≤10 m), paper logbooks (vessels <12 m), and ICES rectangle landings data (Marine Directorate, 2024b).
• Landed value for vessels ≥12 m (2016–2019, 2022): For vessels over 12m in length, average annual landed value was calculated per year and per 0.05° x 0.05° grid cell. Gears categorised as: beam trawls, demersal seines, demersal trawls, hooks and lines, longlines, mechanical dredges, midwater trawls, pots and traps (creels), set nets, surrounding nets, unknown gear, and miscellaneous. Values were uplifted to 2024 market prices and shown as a proportion of the maximum value (across all c-squares). Data were derived from VMS and ICES rectangle landings (Marine Directorate, 2024c).
• Indicative fishing grounds (≥12 m vessels): Fishing grounds were identified using kernel density estimates of VMS ping data from 2016–2019 and 2022. A 1 km search radius and 250 m x 250 m pixel resolution were applied. Gears categorised as: beam trawls, demersal seines, demersal trawls, hooks and lines, longlines, mechanical dredges, midwater trawls, set nets, surrounding nets, unknown gear, and miscellaneous (Marine Directorate, 2024d).
• Fishing intensity (2015–2019): Fishing intensity for vessels ≥12 m was derived using VMS and logbook data. Gear types included beam trawls, otter trawls, dredges, and demersal seines. The metric is average annual Swept Area Ratio (SAR) per 0.05° x 0.05° grid cell. SAR is the area swept by the fishing gear divided by the surface area of the grid cell and is considered to be a measure of fishing intensity. The data are published as part of the 2021 ICES report; these data are for both UK and EU vessels combined (ICES, 2021). A SAR of 0.1 indicates that the equivalent of 10% of the grid cell has been swept, while a SAR of 1 means the swept area is equivalent to 100% of the grid cell. This may reflect either a single sweep over that proportion of the cell or multiple sweeps over a smaller area within the cell.
• Stakeholder engagement on set nets: The Marine Directorate engaged with stakeholders to identify areas where set nets are or have been used with protected sites. This included fishermen mapping the approximate locations of set net fishing grounds and providing details of the gear specifications and times of year (Marine Directorate, 2024e).

Data limitations and caveats

The limitations of the fishing activities data include, but are not limited to:

• VMS-based activity estimation: Fishing activity derived from VMS data is inferred based on vessel speed, which may not always accurately reflect actual fishing behaviour, potentially leading to misclassification and over-classification of fishing activity around ports and harbours (manoeuvring speeds).
• VMS coverage: VMS data are only available for vessels over 12 metres in length. As a result, fishing activity by vessels under 12 metres is inferred solely from landings data and is only available at c-square level (Marine Directorate, 2024b).
• FISH1 forms: These apply to vessels under 10 metres in length. There are known data quality and reliability issues, such as: the data is fisher self-reported; location data is based on self-reported latitude/longitude for where the majority of the catch was taken (e.g. single-point reporting for multi-location trips) and data is trip-based, not haul-by-haul, so fine-scale effort and catch dynamics are lost.
• Spatial resolution assumptions: Data presented at the c-square level assume a uniform distribution of activity within each grid cell. This may lead to over- or underestimation of actual fishing effort in specific areas.
• Kernel density estimation: Outliers are excluded from kernel density analyses using a 1 km search radius. Consequently, the resulting maps highlight areas of concentrated or regular activity, rather than capturing all fishing activity for a given gear type.
• Longlining / jigging: For several SPAs available fishing data indicates that longlining activity occurs within the SPA. These records however have been verified by local fishery offices as corresponding to jigging activity which is recorded under the same gear code as longlining (as there is no dedicated code for jigging). As identified in each site’s Conservation and Management Advice (CMA) document, jigging is considered not capable of affecting the protected features, other than insignificantly and therefore jigging activity is screened out of the assessment.
• Beam trawling: For several sites, available fishing data indicates that beam trawling activity occurs within the site. However, subsequent consultation with local fishery offices confirmed no beam trawling activity has taken place. The indication of beam trawling reflects a data recording error rather than actual fishing activity at these locations.
• Stakeholder input: Information gathered through stakeholder engagement is qualitative and unverified and should therefore be interpreted with caution.

Ecological information

The draft Fisheries Assessments use the Conservation and Management Advice documents produced by NatureScot. For sites that overlap with the Scottish offshore region CMAs produced jointly by NatureScot and JNCC were used. For sites that overlap with the English inshore region, conservation advice packages and CMAs produced jointly by NatureScot and Natural England were used. These provide information on the features of the site, their conservation objectives, feature condition and advice on the possible impacts that different activities can have on a site’s protected features.

The exploration of feature sensitivity to fishing gears and subsequent pressures within each assessment was informed by the relevant CMA documents and supplemented where appropriate from wider literature, the Scottish Feature Activity Sensitivity Tool (FeAST) or the Marine Life Information Network (MarLIN) Marine Evidence based Sensitivity Assessments (MarESA).

The associated categories for features within FeAST are outlined in Table 1. Sensitivity assessments on FeAST are determined by considering the tolerance (None, Low, Medium, High) and recovery (Very Low, Low, Medium, High) of the feature to each pressure. Tolerance is the ability of the feature to absorb or resist change or disturbance; recovery is the ability of the feature to recover from disturbance or stress. Full details on the sensitivity scoring methods used in FeAST can be found at Feature Activity Sensitivity Tool | Methods, and a full glossary of definitions can be found at Feature Activity Sensitivity Tool | Glossary.

Table 1: Categories and definitions from FeAST

Category : Description

High - There is good information on the sensitivity of the feature to the relevant pressure. The assessment is well supported by the scientific literature

Medium - There is some specific evidence or good proxy information on the sensitivity of the feature to the relevant pressure

Low - There is limited or no specific or suitable proxy information on the sensitivity of the feature to the relevant pressure. The assessment is based largely on expert judgement

Sensitive - Not enough information is available to complete one of the sensitivity assessment stages to give a final score. On the basis of expert judgement, there is concern over potential impacts on the feature and it has therefore been assessed as sensitive.

Not Sensitive - Features with ‘High’ tolerance and ‘High’ recovery from the impacts caused by pressure are considered ‘Not Sensitive’ at the benchmark described.

Not Relevant - There is no obvious pathway for an interaction between the pressure and the feature. The pressure definition may also not be applicable to the feature.

Not Exposed - Although the feature may be sensitive to the pressure, the activity exerting that pressure does not spatially overlap with the known distribution of the feature.

Not Assessed - There is insufficient evidence available with which to undertake a sensitivity assessment, although there is an obvious pathway for an interaction between pressure and feature. However, there is not sufficient concern of potential impacts to assess the feature as ‘Sensitive’.

Common terms used in sensitivity assessment within MarESA are presented in Table 2.

Table 2: Common terms and definitions from MarESA

Term : Definition

Sensitivity - The intolerance of a species or habitat to damage from an external factor and the time taken for its subsequent recovery.

Or

The likelihood of change when a pressure is applied to a feature (receptor) and is a function of the ability of the feature to tolerate or resist change (resistance) and its ability to recover from impact (resilience).

Resistance (Intolerance) - Resistance characteristics indicate whether a receptor can absorb disturbance or stress without changing character.

Resilience (Recoverability) - The ability of a receptor to recover from disturbance or stress.

Pressure - The mechanism through which an activity has an effect on any part of the ecosystem. The nature of the pressure is determined by activity type, intensity and distribution.

Exposure - The action of a pressure on a receptor, with regard to the extent, magnitude and duration of the pressure.

Vulnerability - Vulnerability is a measure of the degree of exposure of a receptor to a pressure to which it is sensitive.