West Coast of Scotland and Clyde Herring Fisheries Management Plan

Fisheries management

Management strategy for WoS and Clyde herring

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 administrations secondary legislation) and licence conditions where appropriate.

The management of the WoS and Clyde herring fishery in the UK is carried out within this overarching context.

WoS herring is a jointly managed stock with the EU. Quota opportunities are determined through bilateral negotiations between the UK and EU. The approach to Coastal States negotiations follows the principles for international negotiation stated in the JFS. Once the Coastal State negotiations conclude, the TAC is agreed and set out in an Agreed Record of the consultations.

Following the conclusion of annual negotiations with the EU, the UK’s share of the WoS herring 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.^[6] Following this, the UK’s quota is apportioned between the four UK Fisheries Administrations in line with the UK Quota Management Rules.^[7] Each UK Fisheries Administration then allocates its share of apportioned quota to vessels/licences under their administration, in line with their quota management^[8] 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.

Clyde herring is present only in UK (Scottish) waters. Setting the TAC for Clyde herring is therefore the sole responsibility of the UK. As fishery managers, the aim of the UK is to act responsibly even in the absence of comprehensive scientific information. Therefore, to inform TAC setting, the Marine Directorate of the Scottish Government produces an annual report on scientific survey and fisheries data. The TAC is determined as fishing opportunities for British boats by the Secretary of State, informed by this report.

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 are 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 herring stocks, are likely to be similar to those in place to manage the other pelagic stocks.

Fishing for herring is widely dispersed, both spatially and temporally, and as a consequence, the regulatory landscape is complicated.

Current technical measures^[9] in place in UK waters to ensure sustainable exploitation of the herring stocks include:

• Minimum Conservation References Sizes (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),
• Other domestic legislation stipulates that all catches of quota species, which includes herring 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.^[10]

Additional stock specific management measures

There are a range of additional measures in place for Clyde herring, which is consistent with the precautionary approach^[11].

Current monitoring 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.

Fisheries enforcement authorities (the Marine Directorate of the Scottish Government, the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA), the Welsh Government 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. 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.

In addition, from March 2026, pelagic fishing vessels operating in Scottish waters, and Scottish pelagic vessels wherever they are fishing, must have Remote Electronic Monitoring (REM) equipment on board. This helps to deter and detect pelagic fishing vessels from engaging in any illegal fishing activity. It also helps deliver a greater confidence in the quality of scientific evidence on fish catches, which is important for stock assessment and advice on sustainable fishing levels.

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 the WoS and Clyde herring fisheries but apply across the wider pelagic fishing fleet. Compliance risks are factored into the overarching risk management approach taken by the UK fisheries enforcement teams, and also as part of the international monitoring, control and surveillance group (MCS) for pelagic fish stocks in the Northeast Atlantic and will continue to be monitored on an ongoing basis. As a stock managed with the EU, it is important that this FMP reflects appropriate actions identified through MCS group.