Scotland's future catching policy: strategic environmental assessment report 2026

2. Introduction

2.1 Future Catching Policy – Background and Context

Scotland’s seas are rich and diverse, with an abundance of fish stocks meaning that Scottish waters are some of the most productive in the world for sea fishing, both in terms of quality and quantity.

Fishing vessels target different species depending on their type and area of operation. Some are involved in single-species fisheries (e.g. mackerel, lobster, or Nephrops), while others participate in mixed fisheries. For instance, in the demersal whitefish sector, boats aiming to catch haddock often also land other species like cod and hake. The diversity of species caught, combined with the range of fishing techniques and complex regulatory framework, makes fisheries management a challenge. Increasingly, effective management requires tailored approaches at the fleet and operational level, rather than broad, one-size-fits-all approach.

To ensure fishing activity stays within sustainable limits, it is essential for fisheries managers to monitor, understand, and regulate how much fish is being caught. The introduction of the Landing Obligation, introduced through the EU’s Common Fisheries Policy and now part of assimilated UK law, was designed to reduce the amount of unwanted fish being discarded. While it has helped reduce discards, putting it into practice has been challenging, especially in mixed fisheries, where fishers often catch several species at once.

The Future Catching Policy (FCP) is a key component of the Scottish Government's Fisheries Management Strategy. ^[[2]] It is a key policy underpinning our wider approach to sustainable fishing in Scotland and also plays an important role in wider marine spatial management and planning as part of a package of measures including fisheries management measures in Marine Protected Areas (MPAs).

An important focus of the the FCP is to address the issue of discarding of unwanted fish catch and bycatch of sensitive marine species. To support this we have been looking at improvements we can make to selectivity, such as gear configuration and spatial measures, so that fishers can reduce or avoid, where possible, unwanted fish catch and bycatch of sensitive marine species in the first place increasing sustainability in fishing activity.

This builds upon existing regulations, found across multiple pieces of legislation and amongst fishing vessel licence conditions, designed to protect fish stocks and marine ecosystems by regulating how, when, and where fishing activity takes place. These measures aim to reduce unwanted catch (both of fish and sensitive marine species), protect juvenile fish, and minimise environmental impacts. These measures combined with the Landing Obligation are designed to reduce discarding of non-target species. However, in a mixed fishery it is very difficult to completely select out fish you do not want.

2.2 Policy Aim

Addressing selectivity in fishing is essential for sustainable fisheries. Non-selective gear can lead to high levels of bycatch, including juvenile and non-target species, which contributes to waste and harms marine ecosystems. Improving selectivity helps reduce discards to protect fish stocks and bycatch of sensitive marine species, supports compliance with regulations, and ensures that fishing practices are more transparent and accountable. Ultimately, it plays a vital role in maintaining healthy fish populations and reducing environmental impacts.

The selectivity proposals in the consultation are intended to improve the rules associated with reducing unwanted catch of fish and other sensitive marine species by tailoring the measures on a fleet segment basis, taking account of specific operational nuances across these fleet segments and their target species, rather than a one size fits all approach.

Selectivity in commercial fishing is crucial for several ecological, economic, and regulatory reasons. It is important that as fisheries managers we continue to implement the most effective selectivity measures in order to further reduce discards and bycatch of sensitive marine species.

Selectivity measures are not static, as innovation occurs we should look to implement best practice underpinned by the best scientific evidence. It is important for fisheries managers to review and refine existing regulations as this ongoing evaluation helps ensure that the rules remain effective, relevant, and capable of driving meaningful improvements where necessary.

2.3 Scope of the selectivity measures

These selectivity proposals specifically relate to the following fleet segments that operate in Scottish waters:

• Large mesh demersal
• Mixed fleet demersal
• Small mesh demersal
• Gill Nets
• Long Lines
• Pots and Creels

This fleet segment approach focuses on proposed selectivity improvements to reduce unwanted fish catch in the mobile large mesh demersal (>120mm nets), small mesh demersal (<120mm nets) and mixed fleet (which can currently carry two sets of nets of below/above 120mm).

In regard to mitigating bycatch of sensitive marine species, measures are focussed on the static long line and pots and creel fleet segments.

The proposed selectivity measures cover both technical measures that range throughout the net and gear and spatial measures, such as move on rules, to support fishers to reduce and avoid unwanted catch of fish and bycatch of sensitive marine species.