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

8. Monitoring and Review

Section 19 of the 2005 Environmental Assessment (Scotland) Act requires the Responsible Authority to monitor significant environmental impacts arising as a result of the implementation of the plan, programme or strategy. The purpose of the monitoring is to identify any unforeseen adverse effects at an early stage and to enable appropriate remedial action to be taken.

We recognise that this assessment was conducted against a baseline that primarily used existing evidence on the state of the marine environment set out in UK MS Part 1 and that over time this baseline is subject to change. As the FCP develops further updates to the SEA may be required and will reflect updates to the UK MS Part 1 assessment which is due for publication in 2026.

We recognise the need to consider appropriate monitoring of the impacts of the selectivity proposals on unwanted catch of both fish and other sensitive marine species. The SEA monitoring strategy will link into monitoring systems which are already in place.

The Scottish Government already has a sampling programme used to make annual assessments of the quantity and composition of the demersal catch. The catch is divided into the landings and bycatch (unwanted catch) components. The Scottish Demersal Observer Programme, operated jointly by the Marine Directorate of the Scottish Government and the Scottish Fisherman's Federation, collects biological data from the bycatch of these trawler fleets targeting demersal species in the North Sea and the West of Scotland. Selectivity measures will focus on the effectiveness of the measures on impacts of the discard rate. and bycatch of sensitive marine species.

The UK Bycatch Monitoring Programme (BMP) is a comprehensive initiative aimed at collecting data on bycatch of sensitive marine species across various fishing methods and is used to assess bycatch risk and mortality.

The Scottish Government funds the Scottish Marine Animal Strandings Scheme (SMASS) which investigates the cause of death of marine animals stranded along the Scottish coast, including where injuries are consistent with instances of bycatch and entanglement with creels.

There is currently a requirement under fishing vessel licence conditions for all fishing vessels operating in UK waters to report any bycatch (incidental mortality or injury) of marine mammals to the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) within 48 hours of the end of the fishing trip.^[31] The MMO coordinate the collection of this data on behalf all UK administrations.

The Climate Change Committee was set up under the Climate Change Act 2008 to support the strategic aims of the devolved administrations and to independently assess how the UK can optimally achieve its emissions reductions goals. The Committee advises on the level of carbon budgets and submits annual reports to Parliament on the UK’s progress towards targets and budgets. Evidence on the contribution of the UK demersal fishing fleet has been considered in this SEA and would continue to be reviewed against policies as part of monitoring.