Proposed West Coast of Scotland Whiting Fisheries Management Plan

Fisheries management

Management strategy for whiting

In the JFS, the UK fisheries policy authorities lay out a shared ambition to deliver ‘world class, sustainable management of our sea fisheries and aquaculture across the UK, and to play our part in supporting delivery of this globally’. The JFS also states that ‘As part of being an independent coastal State, the fisheries policy authorities will work together to support a vibrant, profitable, and sustainable fishing and aquaculture sector supported by a healthy marine environment that is resilient to climate change’. These ambitions are managed in line with numerous domestic and international policy drivers, which oblige action to consider and mitigate for the wider adverse environmental impacts of fishing activity.

In UK waters fisheries are managed in line with UK fisheries legislation (such as the 2020 Act, UK and devolved administration secondary legislation) and licence conditions where appropriate.

West of Scotland whiting is a jointly managed stock with other Coastal States. Quota opportunities for the TAC area (WHG/56-14) are determined within the UK and EU bilateral. The approach to Coastal States negotiations follows the principles for international negotiation stated in the JFS.

Following the conclusion of annual negotiations with the EU, the UK’s share of the TAC is determined as fishing opportunities for British boats by the Secretary of State and published in a document under section 23 of the 2020 Act.^[8] Following this, the UK’s quota is apportioned between the four UK Fisheries Administrations in line with the UK Quota Management Rules^[9]. Each UK Fisheries Administration then allocates its share of apportioned quota to vessels/licences under their administration, in line with their quota management^[10] and Section 25 of the 2020 Act. Quotas are adaptable: for example, they may be transferred between the management groups which represent UK fishing vessels, or exchanged with the EU.

Current technical measures

All fishing activity in UK waters is managed through a range of technical measures. These technical measures were historically laid out in the form of technical conservation regulations written into the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) legislation through various EU delegated acts, which have now been retained into UK law following the UK’s exit from the European Union and will be referred to as ‘assimilated law’. Following the UK’s exit from the EU, the UK Government and devolved administrations have various powers available to them to introduce new technical measures, for example by using licence conditions, or through secondary legislation under the 2020 Act or other relevant UK laws.

Technical measures tend to apply to specific groupings of vessels, or types of fish, and as such can be very similar. This means that the technical measures in place to support sustainable exploitation of the West Scotland whiting stock are likely to be similar to those in place to manage the other whitefish stocks, particularly when they are part of a mixed fishery.

Current technical measures^[11] in place to ensure sustainable exploitation of the whiting stock include:

• Minimum Conservation References Size (MCRS) (which prevents targeting of undersized fish by ensuring that only fish above the MCRS can be sold for human consumption),
• Minimum mesh sizes and structure of fishing nets (which set a minimum standard intended to reduce catches of fish below the MCRS and generally make fishing operations more efficient and effective),
• The Landing Obligation^[12] which stipulates that all catches of quota species, which includes whiting and includes all catches below MCRS must be landed and counted against quota unless exemptions apply.

Further detail regarding technical measures can be found on the UK Government’s Technical Conservation and Landing Obligation rules and regulations webpage.^[13]

As already noted within this FMP, despite the landing obligation being in place, there remains issues with illegal discarding of fish within the West of Scotland whiting fishery. Discarding figures produced by ICES show that for all vessels taking part in the West of Scotland whiting fishery (i.e. not limited to UK vessels and not just in UK waters), on a 5 year average between 2019-2023, out of a total catch of 5,378 tonnes, there was a corresponding discard tonnage of 2,255 tonnes. The discard rate ranged from 1.7% to 6.5%. These figures relate to ICES area Division 6.a (West Coast of Scotland). Discarding issues are not specific to UK vessels, and will also apply to other non-UK vessels that catch the stock (both within and outwith UK waters). Steps are being taken across the UK to address issues with discarding, and actions relating to this are included within the actions section. This includes consideration of additional technical measures which might support fishing vessels to be more selective and avoid catching fish they wish to avoid. In Scotland this is under the Future Catching Policy programme of work.

The West Scotland whiting stock does not currently cause ‘choke’ issues in any prosecuting fishery. Choke refers to a situation that may occur when the quota opportunities for one stock in a mixed fishery may limit the ability of fishing vessels to maximum catches of another stock because the available quota is limited. Fisheries policy authorities take account of potential choke problems as part of the setting of quota opportunities.

Additional stock specific management measures

The UK has taken positive steps to support the recovery of West of Scotland whiting stock. Methods include changes in gear, spatial and quota management, along with the use of smart technology to help the fleet to avoid unwanted catches. The UK made a significant contribution to the North Western Waters bycatch reduction plan, and the increase in size of the square mesh panel for the Nephrops fleet in the West of Scotland has helped to reduce whitefish bycatch. The Scottish industry have put in place a Real Time Reporting project^[14] to help whitefish vessels to avoid areas of whiting abundance to reduce unwanted whiting bycatch.

Monitoring, control and enforcement

Fisheries regulations serve a range of purposes, including the prevention of actions which adversely impact the sustainability of the marine environment. Fisheries policy authorities are focused on reducing the main risks for non-compliance with those regulations, for example relating to non or inaccurate reporting, use of illegal fishing gear and fishing in areas where activity is restricted.

Fisheries enforcement authorities (the Marine Directorate of the Scottish Government, the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) and the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) in this instance) carry out enforcement that is intelligence-led, risk-based or is required by the UK’s international obligations. Enforcement of the respective regulations (domestic and international) is in line with applicable guidelines for regulators. Across the UK there are a range of assets to support this, including compliance vessels, surveillance aircraft, and the UK Fisheries Monitoring Centre and Marine Enforcement officers conducting physical and office-based inspections throughout the chain of traceability.

Fishing vessels over 12 metres are required to have fully operational satellite Vessel Monitoring Systems (VMS), and electronic logbooks, enabling authorities to remotely monitor and control fishing activity and encourage higher compliance. VMS is also being rolled out across the under 12 metre fishing fleet and will form part of the monitoring and enforcement regime for all fishing vessels once this rollout is complete. Understanding and being able to monitor and control where fishing activity is taking place is an important part of fisheries management, particularly where area restrictions are in place. Accurate and robust locational data is also crucial for informing marine planning decisions. Remote Electronic Monitoring (REM) is also being rolled out in parts of the UK and for certain fishing vessels. REM can provide a higher degree of locational data, along with the use of sensors and cameras where appropriate which enable monitoring of fishing activity and can provide a richer dataset, for example, in relation to catches and bycatches. Specific actions relating to VMS and REM are contained within the actions section below.

UK fisheries authorities apply a fishing vessel licensing regime along with control measures throughout the whole chain of traceability from catching to sale. These measures include requirements to record catch details whilst at sea, the weight of catch landed, transport and takeover documents once landed and sales notes from registered buyers. This comprehensive data set enables fisheries authorities to effectively monitor fishing activity and compliance with national and local regulations.

These measures are not specific to West of Scotland whiting fishing, but apply across the wider demersal fishing fleet. In the past, there have been specific risks associated with the whiting fishery, specifically relating to misreporting of catch between sea areas, and the illegal discarding of fish. These risks are factored into the overarching risk management approach taken by the UK fisheries enforcement teams, and also as part of the international monitoring and control groups, and will continue to be monitored on an ongoing basis. As a bilaterally jointly managed stock it is important that this FMP reflects appropriate actions identified through the monitoring and control group.

Actions to enhance the current monitoring and enforcement approach are contained within ‘Actions’ under policy 3.