Proposed Fisheries Management Measures within Scottish Inshore Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) and proposed Priority Marine Feature (PMF) Management Areas - Island Communities Impact Assessment (ICIA)

2. Step Two – gather data and identify stakeholders

2.1 Available data about the current situation in the islands

A criterion has been developed to identify impacts between islands and between islands and the mainland. We have used the Scottish Island Regions (2023), a new geography for grouping Scotland’s islands into nine different island regions. This new geography is based on the Scottish Island Regions Framework (2020), developed by the James Hutton Institute. These island regions are outlined in the map below.

The James Hutton Institute geography (2020) was revised to include all Scottish Islands (Source: NRS Islands) which are currently, or previously have been, inhabited and therefore have been assigned a unique three-digit code. The National Records of Scotland (NRS) islands included and excluded within each Scottish Island Region are available in the Scottish island regions 2023: overview.

Scotland’s commercial fishing fleet and sea fisheries are contributors to Scotland’s rural and coastal economies, and the Scottish Islands are a key location for sea food production. The commercial fishing industry contributes significantly to Scotland’s food and drink economy, playing an important part in many island and coastal communities.

Scotland’s Marine Economics Statistics show that in 2022, the fishing sector generated £355 million of (approximate) Gross Value Added, accounting for 7% of Scotland’s marine economy and 0.2% of the total Scottish economy. The majority of this was generated in Aberdeenshire (52%), while the Shetland Islands and the Highlands accounted for 25% and 7%, respectively. The Scottish fishing sector employed 4,117 people in total, accounting for 6% of employment in the Scottish marine economy.

GVA cannot be quantified at an islands region scale but has been shown at Local Authority level in Table H. Headcount is similarly only published at a Local Authority level in the Scottish Sea Fisheries Statistics, and is reproduced in Table I. In 2022, for example, the fishing sector employment accounted for 5% and 2% of total employment in Shetland and Na h-Eileanan Siar, respectively, highlighting the importance of the fishing industry to these islands.

All commercial fishing vessels are required to provide information on their fishing activities. This includes species caught, area of capture, type of fishing gear used, and port of landing. Given the number of vessels involved, this gives rise to a significant data set. This data is collated and published as Official Statistics by the Scottish Government in the annual Sea Fisheries Statistics publication, as well as by the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) for the UK as a whole.

For the analysis of potential impacts on vessels in the SEIA, as well as the analysis in this ICIA, detailed management information was used to estimate impacts. This management data is at a more granular level, but there can be inconsistencies when compared to published data. In addition, the baseline established in the SEIA uses an average between 2016 to 2022 (excluding 2020 and 2021 due to the disruption during the Covid-19 pandemic) expressed in 2024 prices, which means there are further differences when compared to published statistics.

The impacts are assessed based on the value of landings affected by vessels registered to each home port district. The value of landings is then converted into employment in the catching sector and upstream supply chain (direct and indirect employment) using Scottish Government employment effects multipliers for the fishing and aquaculture sector. The actual number of jobs affected may differ by region and by fleet segment. Employment impacts may not be fully reflected in the results due to the way the SEIA assessment is structured and reported, which is where the ICIA gets its data.

SEIAs typically rely on quantitative modelling and available economic data, which can limit their ability to capture more nuanced or indirect effects. For example, they may not fully account for part-time or seasonal work, portfolio livelihoods (where individuals rely on multiple income sources), informal economic activity, displacement of fishing effort, or the wider knock-on effects within small and interconnected communities. In addition, thresholds applied within the modelling may mean that smaller-scale impacts are not highlighted, even where they are locally significant.

A comprehensive ICIA provides an opportunity to explore these impacts in greater depth. Through engagement with local stakeholders, and qualitative analysis, it can capture community level experiences that are not evident in high-level economic modelling. This includes understanding how employment changes affect household resilience, demographic trends, local supply chains, and the sustainability of small businesses particularly in areas where employment opportunities are limited and alternative livelihoods may not be readily available. A meaningful mitigation plan is both necessary and appropriate to support those fishers, businesses and communities most affected by significant change.

Table A below is constructed using this management information and summarises landings by UK vessels into selected island regions.

Commercial fishing takes place throughout Scottish waters by UK-flagged vessels as well as vessels from outside the UK (EU and non-EU countries). Within 12 Nm, only UK-flagged vessels are permitted to fish. Beyond this, other countries’ vessels have access to fish in UK waters subject to a license being issued under the relevant agreements.

The data considered within this assessment criterion is outlined below. The data used helps identify island regions that could be most impacted by the proposed fisheries management measures to be consulted on, as well as coastal locations on the mainland. The islands regions will then be compared to determine if one or more island regions could be more significantly impacted to the others and if most likely impacted islands regions are more significantly impacted than the most likely impacted coastal locations on the mainland.

Data sources informing the assessment criteria for ICIA analysis.

• Estimated impacts by Scottish Island Region Landing Ports.

• Estimated impacts by Scottish Island Region Home Ports.

• Fish or food processing plant locations by Scottish Island Region.
• Marine economics local authority employment stats to identify FTE in fishing sector per Scottish Island Region.

• Social impacts from social analyses report headings: Livelihoods, Community and Culture, Governance and decision-making, Environment and Infrastructure and services that can be applied to island regions.

• Any other relevant social data that can be attributed to individual islands or island regions from Islands survey for example Scottish Islands Typology.

• Repeated for mainland to get locations to compare against island regions.

Other data sources informing the ICIA.

• Scottish sea fisheries statistics (incl. detailed unpublished data) by gear, landing port, and home port.
• UK vessel home port data.
• Scottish Islands Regions.
• Scottish Islands Survey.

The data cannot always be quantified at an island region level as outlined in the Scottish Island Regions map. In instances where this occurs, where possible, impacts have been quantified at a Local Authority level. Some data is shown on a national scale to give overarching impacts of the proposed measures.

2.2 Do you need to consult?

Consultation is an essential and important aspect of our public engagement.

Consultations can be used to:

• inform the development of a particular measures.
• help decisions to be made between alternative proposals.
• finalise new legislation before it is implemented.

Consultation enables us to ask a wide range of people about their views. This should improve the policy or law being developed and make sure that it works in the real world. It can expand the pool of expertise contributing to the policymaking process and provides a richer evidence base. It also promotes transparency and legitimacy in the process.

There will be an extended 16-week public consultation on the proposed fisheries management measures options, where we invite the public and stakeholders to comment and respond to these proposals. Within this consultation we will ask if this document appropriately reflects the impacts to island communities. This would therefore be the appropriate stage to carry out further engagement on how this policy may impact the needs of different island communities and then review this ICIA, if required.

2.3 How does any existing data differ between islands?

The data used in modelling is of the same standard for all islands.

2.4 How are mitigations incorporated into the design of the proposed measures?

The Scottish Government has engaged extensively with the fishing industry, communities and local decision makers throughout the process of developing the fisheries management measures to be consulted on. This includes targeted engagement with the island regions to better understand the different needs and challenges faced by stakeholders in these rural and island communities.

Developing fisheries management measures with stakeholder input, helps to develop consultation options suitable to achieve the desired level of protection of the features. Most proposals were developed between 2018-2021 with stakeholders and underpinned by scientific and conservation advice provided by NatureScot. Following this initial round of engagement, further scientific evidence and fishing data became available for some sites in 2021-2024 and measures were updated and engaged upon accordingly.

Some proposed measures included a zonal management approach, where fishing is restricted only in certain areas within the designated site enabling fishing to continue where it would not impact on achieving the desired level of protection of the features. In line with The Environmental Assessment of Plans and Programmes Regulations 2004^[3], a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) has been undertaken. In addition, a SEIA, a Social Impacts Research Report and a Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment (BRIA) have also been conducted.

All proposed fisheries measures are subject to public consultation. Engagement with the consultation is valuable to the development of mitigation strategies, where fisheries management measures may result in economic, environmental, and social impacts. The outcome of the consultation will be analysed and presented in the consultation report and proposals will be reviewed accordingly.

2.5 Will there be further mitigations put in place

Alongside the development of inshore fisheries management measures, the Scottish Government is committed to working with the fishing industry to develop a Mitigation Plan to address the socio-economic impacts on the most affected communities in both islands and on the mainland. We understand that these measures may bring additional challenges to island and coastal communities, and we are actively exploring ways to further support the most affected fishers, fishing-related industries, and communities when they come into force.

This includes work to identify opportunities for mitigation that will help fishers to diversify and continue to operate where possible, support the resilience of seafood supply chains, and contribute to the sustainable growth of the Blue Economy. We are also looking at ways to close key knowledge gaps that may be limiting the potential of inshore fisheries to diversify and deliver long-term benefits for communities.

As well as developing the Mitigation Plan the Scottish Government is also running a monitoring project to evaluate the level of seabird bycatch from bottom set tangle net activities in the under 12 metre fleet within Scottish waters. This project has been developed as a response to the engagement the Scottish Government has had with local fishers, who advised that in their view there is limited bycatch of seabirds through tangle net activity.

The project will take place in and around SPAs within the Outer Hebrides and around Coll and Tiree. Monitoring is expected to last two seasons from April 2025 to November 2026. Data collection will take place through electronic monitoring and dedicated observers, which will allow the recording and identification of bycatch events. The findings of these trials may help fill data/knowledge gaps in our understanding of the Scottish tangle net fishery and its impacts on seabird bycatch. This may determine if further considerations can, or need, to be made to fisheries management measures for certain SPAs.