Assessing fisheries displacement by other licensed marine activities: good practice guidance

3 Summary of the Literature Review

This Guidance has been informed by a Literature Review which was conducted between February and May 2021.^[7] The Literature Review focussed on identifying existing relevant guidance, EIAs, consent plans, scientific literature and consultation responses relevant to fisheries displacement. Extensive consultation was conducted as part of the Literature Review. Further details on consultation are provided in Section 3.1 in this Guidance, and Sections 5 and 7 of the Literature Review.

The Literature Review includes the following:

• Background, stakeholder consultation approach and objectives;
• Definition of displacement;
• Information on commercial fishing practices for fishing methods identified as being priority research areas;
• Information on other licensed marine activities with a focus on renewables;
• Existing research and approaches into fisheries displacement, including EIA case studies;
• Recommendations / areas of focus for the Guidance; and
• Knowledge gap analysis and recommendation for future studies / research.

3.1 Consultation

Extensive consultation was carried out with the FFSRG throughout the development of the Literature Review and Guidance. The members of the FFSRG who were consulted regarding both documents are provided in Table 3‑1. This group was originally established by Marine Scotland to inform the development of the ScotMER Evidence Maps and was considered to also be relevant for the fisheries displacement assessment scope of work. Marine Scotland during the development of the receptor group aimed to ensure balanced representation from each of the fishing and offshore wind industries, Marine Scotland (multiple relevant branches), Crown Estate Scotland (CES), The Crown Estate (TCE), Regional Inshore Fisheries Groups, research institutions and government advisory bodies.

Three 1-hour long workshops were held with the FFSRG at which the Literature Review and Guidance were discussed. The first workshop introduced the project to the FFSRG. The draft Literature Review and the draft Guidance documents were issued to consultees ahead of meetings 2 and 3 respectively, with a 3-week consultation period being provided for comments on each. The second and third workshops provided an opportunity for guided discussion on the Literature Review and Guidance at the beginning of the consultation period.

Key questions were provided to consultees to focus their feedback, such as information on commercial fishing practices, sensitivities of commercial fisheries to displacement, the knowledge gap analysis and recommendations for further work.

Additional feedback was obtained by way of separate meetings held with members of the FFSRG as required.

The flexible approach to consultation provided several opportunities for written and verbal feedback. This ensured that the documents were shaped collaboratively with Marine Scotland, Xodus and the FFSRG. This was a priority for the project.

Table 3‑1 Members of the Fish and Fisheries Specialist Receptor Group (FFSRG)

Organisation

• Marine Scotland Science
• Marine Scotland Planning and Policy
• Marine Scotland - Licensing Operations Team
• Marine Scotland (Inshore Fisheries Policy)
• NatureScot
• Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC)
• Crown Estate Scotland (CES)
• The Crown Estate (TCE)
• Scottish Renewables / Forth and Tay Developers / EDF Renewables
• Scottish Fishermen's Federation (SFF)
• Moray Firth Developers / Ocean Winds
• Scottish Regional Inshore Fisheries Group
• Community Inshore Fisheries Alliance (CIFA)
• Marine Alliance for Science and Technology (MASTS) Marine Renewable Energy (MRE) Forum
• Fisheries Innovation Scotland
• Sustainable Inshore Fisheries Trust
• Scottish Whitefish Producers Association (SWFPA)