Proposed Northern Shelf Hake Fisheries Management Plan

Executive Summary

The Northern Shelf hake (Merluccius merluccius, hereby referred to as “hake”) fisheries management plan (FMP) is one of 43 FMPs set out in the Joint Fisheries Statement (JFS). The FMP has been developed by the Scottish Government in collaboration with UK scientists, regulators, statutory nature conservation bodies (SNCBs) and stakeholders.

This FMP sets out the policies and actions to continue to maintain the hake stock at sustainable levels, ensuring that it can continue to play a key role in providing positive socio-economic benefits to the UK, whilst also setting out a number of actions to improve management where this is needed. The FMP applies to the sustainable management of the hake fishery within UK waters in International Council for the Exploration of the Seas (ICES) areas 4 (North Sea), 6 (Rockall and West of Scotland), and areas 7.a, 7.d-h and 7.j, and has been developed in line with the fisheries objectives of the Fisheries Act 2020 (the ‘2020 Act’) and as required by the JFS.

This FMP covers the management of the hake fishery in UK waters. Overall management of this fishery is shared with Coastal States partners. This international context is important to understand when considering sustainability and wider management issues. Fishing opportunities for hake are managed by total allowable catches (TACs). The setting of TACs can be an effective way of managing fishing pressure on fish stocks. TACs and other joint management measures are agreed through international negotiations which are guided by the best available scientific advice, whilst also balancing environmental, social, and economic factors. The principles followed by the UK in relation to international fisheries negotiations are laid out in the JFS under section 4.2.

Hake is a stock which has a high level of data available. On this basis, there is sufficient available scientific evidence for the relevant fisheries policy authorities to make annual maximum sustainable yield (MSY) assessments for the Northern Shelf hake stock.

Fishing opportunities for the hake stock relevant to this FMP are currently being set within the ICES MSY approach. The health of fish stocks can change over time, and ICES advice often changes on an annual basis. The fisheries policy authorities review stocks annually, and the approach to setting of fishing opportunities takes account of the principles laid out in the relevant multiannual plans (MAPs), and the sustainability objective within the 2020 Act.

This FMP describes a vision with policies and actions which set out how management can continue to support an MSY approach^[1] for the Northern Shelf hake fishery, and highlights areas that could lead to refinements to management approaches in the future. One of the areas for action includes improving the overall management approach by moving the stock into trilateral management arrangements with the EU and Norway, and through the establishment of Long Term Management Plans (LTMP) with other Coastal States. Areas for action also include those which support the wider delivery of policies within the JFS and which contribute to the delivery of the objectives contained within the 2020 Act.