Economic link regarding UK and Scottish vessels: EIR release

Information requested

Can you explain why vessels in England can use U.K. nationals as part of their economic link requirements but in Scotland it is not allowed?

Response

As the information you have requested is ‘environmental information’ for the purposes of the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (EIRs), we are required to deal with your request under those Regulations. We are applying the exemption at section 39(2) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA), so that we do not also have to deal with your request under FOISA.

This exemption is subject to the ‘public interest test.’ Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption, because there is no public interest in dealing with the same request under two different regimes. This is essentially a technical point and has no material effect on the outcome of your request.

In the UK, the management of fisheries is largely devolved, as set out in the Devolution Settlements for each nation (England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland).

Each fisheries policy authority has control over the management of its own fishing fleets and the distribution of its share of the UK’s fishing opportunities to its industry. Each fisheries policy authority is also responsible for enforcement of fisheries rules and regulations within its own waters.

The economic link is a devolved policy area and is designed to ensure that all UK-registered vessels that fish against UK quota, provide genuine economic benefits to communities in the UK dependent on fisheries and fisheries related industries. The current policy is implemented through licence conditions.

In September 2022, the Scottish Government announced that the economic link licence condition for Scottish administered vessels was to be amended following a consultation. The aim of this change was to increase the volume of valuable key fish stocks landed in Scotland in order to support the long term, sustainable growth of local economies. This was done by making landings into Scotland the main basis for fulfilling the economic link licence condition, which is now focused on bringing greater benefits to Scotland from a Scottish national resource, spreading the benefit arising from fishing quotas more widely through fishing communities. The consultation and associated documentation can be viewed here: Consultation on a proposal to amend the economic link licence condition - Scottish Government consultations - Citizen Space

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at https://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.