Sandeel fishing: consultation

7. Displacement

One common response of a fishery to an area closure is fisheries displacement, in which the vessels concerned move to a different area to fish (spatial displacement) or change their fishing gear and methods to focus on different species (species switching). Sandeel in area 4 is managed as a single stock and catching levels are set in line with the agreed TAC level following the annual UK-EU bilateral agreement. The current ICES advice for sandeel indicates that the assessment model does not take account of the current area closure for sandeel (refer to section 3.2), meaning that the available TAC must be taken from a smaller area than intended. This situation would be exacerbated if the fishery closure was extended subject to the outcome of this consultation. However, without a robust model of fleet dynamics (which does not yet exist for these fisheries) or an extensive consultation with the international fishing industry, it is impossible to determine what the response of the fleet would be to an area fisheries closure in Scottish waters.

To inform the consultation, the environmental impacts of fisheries displacement as a result of any extension to the closed area is considered in the SEA Environmental Report. This report can be found along other supporting documents to this consultation.

Furthermore, the UK government consulted on potential spatial management measures for sandeel in English waters in spring 2023. If the UK Government proceed with such measures, then this would mitigate the risk of displacement of activity into English waters. On the other hand, spatial management measures for sandeel in English waters may risk displacement of fishing activity wholly into Scottish waters if the option presented in this consultation for Scottish waters is not pursued. It is also expected that fisheries effort might be displaced into non-UK waters should the sandeel fishery closure in Scottish waters presented in this consultation be pursued.