North Sea Nephrops: proposed Fisheries Management Plan

Policies

As there is sufficient available evidence to assess MSY for economically and socially critical FUs in the North Sea, the FMP must contain policies which will at least contribute to restoring or maintaining at MSY levels. In addition, in accordance with section 5.4 of the JFS, the design and structure of FMPs directly relate to the fisheries objectives identified in section 5.4.2 and may also address wider issues in fisheries management depending upon the specific goals or targets of each plan and may contribute to one or more of the remaining fisheries objectives. It should be noted that for some FUs, and Nephrops outside of FUs in the North Sea, data is limited and MSY cannot be estimated. There are no current plans to improve data for these areas given that they do not contain the most significant economically and socially critical Nephrops stocks.

The proposed FMP identifies six policies focussed on domestic and international management priorities. These policies are subject to the consideration of the consultation and will be prioritised appropriately to ensure realistic and measurable outputs. They were drafted with stakeholder input to meet the requirements of section 6(3) of the Act (policiy 1) and policies set out in the JFS (policies 2, 3,4, 5 and 6).

For each policy, the FMP sets out:

• a rationale;
• ongoing short and longer-term actions; and
• how the actions support delivery of the fisheries objectives.

Each policy describes the outcome that is being worked towards, and the actions are intended to support the delivery of those outcomes.

Performance indicators for the FMP are addressed towards the end of this document.

The six policies of this FMP are to:

1. Harvest Nephrops stocks sustainably, with biomass maintained above the level capable of producing MSY.

2. Understand and minimise the benthic impact of Nephrops fisheries.

3. Minimise the impact of Nephrops fishing activities on sensitive marine species by reducing bycatch and entanglement of these species.

4. Address discarding issues in the Nephrops fisheries and ensure that where possible all catches are accounted for against quotas.

5. Support fishing businesses to continue to deliver socio-economic benefits to coastal communities and the wider UK economy.

6. Reduce the impact of Nephrops fishing on climate change and support the fishing industry to adapt to the impacts of climate change

There is significant overlap in policies between the North Sea and West Coast of Scotland (Subarea 6) Nephrops FMPs; this is intentional to ensure that there is harmonisation in management approaches and delivery as far as practicable.