Fishing

Landings by catch location

As part of the assessment required to support the National Marine Plan, this assessment considers fish caught/ fishing in the EEZ by UK, EU and other coastal state vessels. However, it is acknowledged that Scottish fishermen also catch, and land in Scotland, fish caught outside that area.

All landings are reported according to the location in which they were caught. These are subdivided into large areas of sea known as ICES zones and smaller 30 by 30 nautical mile statistical rectangles (figures a, b and c show tonnages caught for these rectangles for 2014 - 2018 for demersal, pelagic and shell fish). The majority of vessels are also required to record the longitude and latitude of each fishing operation they carry out. In the case of vessels over 12 metres in length - which are required to be fitted with an electronic logbook, this is derived directly from the vessel’s Global Positioning System (GPS).

This catch information, together with independent fish surveys, form the basis of the data used to assess the amount of fish that can be caught each year. In Scottish waters all vessels of 12 metres and over are required to be fitted with an electronic Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) which allows for more detailed information about the location of fishing activity to be recorded. Smaller vessels are currently not covered by VMS and report their catches through paper-based logs.

Figure a: Demersal landings (tonnes) from Scottish waters (per ICES statistical rectangle) 2014 - 2018. 

Source: Marine Scotland. Note this map uses Scottish Sea Areas rather than Scottish Marine Regions / Offshore Marine Regions. Map can be accessed on Marine Scotland Maps NMPi (search ‘Fishing Statistics’) allowing user to zoom into the detail of the graphs.

 

Figure b: Pelagic landings (tonnes) from Scottish waters (per ICES statistical rectangle) 2014 - 2018. 

Source: Marine Scotland. Note this map uses Scottish Sea Areas rather than Scottish Marine Regions / Offshore Marine Regions. Map can be accessed on Marine Scotland Maps NMPi (search ‘Fishing Statistics’) allowing user to zoom into the detail of the graphs.

 

Figure c: Shellfish landings (tonnes) from Scottish waters (per ICES statistical rectangle) 2014 - 2018. 

Source: Marine Scotland.

 

The bulk of catch from Scottish waters is made up of the following species: mackerel and herring (pelagic); haddock, cod and monkfish (demersal); Scottish langoustine (Nephrops); crabs and scallops (shellfish).

Scottish Fishing Fleet

Historically Scotland’s membership of the EU has meant shared access to community waters by fishing vessels of a variety of nationalities but the Scottish fishing fleet can be broadly characterised by four groups:

• The pelagic fleet mainly targets herring and mackerel, and tends to use large mid-water trawls. This fleet is comprised of a small number of large vessels, which retain their catch in refrigerated seawater tanks and land via pump-ashore systems. The pelagic fleet fishes in territorial waters and further from the coastline, including waters outside the EEZ.

• The demersal fleet targets bottom-dwelling fish in two types of fishery: one in the North Sea and to the west of Scotland (mainly cod, haddock, whiting, monkfish and saithe) and the other found in the deeper water to the north and west of Scotland (mainly hake and ling).

• The mixed demersal and shellfish fleet targets mainly Nephrops (prawn or langoustine) but also some demersal fish using a variety of gears. This section of the fleet also includes vessels that use mechanical dredges to target scallops. Though these vessels work predominantly inshore, they can also range beyond 12 nautical miles and tend to be fairly nomadic.

• The shellfish fleet is characterised mainly by vessels who use pots and creels to target crab, lobster and Nephrops in the inshore waters (out to 12 nautical miles). The majority are small (10 metres and under), working crews of between 1 and 3 persons.

 

Figure d: Prawn trawler fishing to the west of Scotland. Photo by Stuart Bell, Marine Scotland

Scottish Fishing Ports

The heart of the commercial fishing industry lies in the north-east of Scotland, centred on Peterhead and Fraserburgh. This stretch of coastline has the greatest volume and value of landings, a dense concentration of fish processors (see Fish Processing assessment) and a high level of economic dependence on the fishing industry (see Case study: Overview of the marine economy).

The Shetland Islands sustain a fishing sector on a similar scale to that of north-east Scotland. Aside from its sizeable domestic fleet, its strategically important location amid the rich fishing grounds of the northern North Sea makes it a vital stop-off point for demersal and pelagic fishing boats from the UK, the EU and beyond.

The north coast and Orkney support localised, shellfish-dependent fisheries, although there are some busier ports, such as Scrabster, which see considerable landings of demersal fish species.

In the north-west, Lochinver and Kinlochbervie are important landing points for the fishing grounds to the north-west of Scotland. Aside from their domestic inshore fleets, they also receive significant landings from vessels from other EU countries – notably France and Spain - that operate extensively in those waters.

The west coast still supports numerous small but regionally important ports and harbours, such as Ullapool, Oban, Portree, Ayr, Kirkcudbright and Mallaig. Elsewhere, in the south-east and south-west, many small ports continue to sustain significant localised industry that is increasingly dependent on shellfish.

Shellfish fishing has come to dominate all but the major Scottish fishing ports like Lerwick, Peterhead and Fraserburgh. Overall fishing effort has decreased significantly since 2000 due mainly to steadily increasing start-up costs and fisheries management efforts to promote stock recovery.

Marine Scotland, in line with other UK Fisheries Administrations, operates a restrictive licensing policy maintaining a regulatory cap on capacity and fishing effort. To obtain a commercial fishing licence for the first time, an existing entitlement has to be secured from a current licence holder. An entitlement becomes available when a licence is no longer attached to an active fishing vessel or it may be transferred alongside the purchase of a fishing vessel.

Figure e: Prawn trawler fishing to the west of Scotland. Photo by Stuart Bell, Marine Scotland.

 

Figure f: catch from a prawn trawler in the vessel’s hopper, showing mixed by catch. Photo by Stuart Bell, Marine Scotland.

Managing Stocks

Most fish stocks (see Commercial Fish and Commercial Shellfish assessments) of interest to Scottish fleets span international sea boundaries, and are often caught in mixed fisheries (where a single haul can bring in many different species). This can lead to complicated interactions between the regulations imposed by different nations on different stocks.

For stocks that occur exclusively within the waters of European Union (EU) member states the amount of fish caught is regulated by the EU through the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP).

For stocks that cross international boundaries fishing opportunities are negotiated between the relevant countries. The key third country negotiations for Scotland are bilaterals with Norway (for fisheries in the North Sea) and the Faroe Islands (for quota exchanges and reciprocal access arrangements), as well as multi-party Coastal State negotiations (for pelagic stocks).

In international waters beyond the EEZ, management of stocks is agreed through Regional Fisheries Management Organisations (RFMOs) - international organisations formed by countries with fishing interests in an area. Regarding this assessment, the responsible RFMO is the North East Atlantic Fisheries Commission (NEAFC). NEAFC, recognising the relevant principles laid down by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), works to set catch and fishing effort limits, technical measures, and control obligations, for its members.

Scientific advice from the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) is used by fisheries managers to guide decisions on catch levels and additional management measures.

There are other important elements to managing the stocks in Scottish waters. The landing obligation, often called the discard ban, introduced from 2015 with full implementation in 2019, requires the landing of all quota managed species.

There are also many Fishing Managed Areas which implement specific restrictions such as: areas where all fishing is prohibited, areas where fishing for certain species is restricted, areas where fishing with static gear is restricted, areas where fishing with mobile gear is restricted and areas where fishing with vessels over a certain length or engine power is restricted. These will often be used to protect sensitive features or ecosystems such as Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) (see Case study: Socio-economic impacts of marine protected areas).

For example, in 2016 specific fisheries measures were put in place on 27 MPAs and a further 39 are currently being developed in partnership with the fishing industry and key stakeholders. While the primary purpose of MPAs is for the conservation of marine features, not stock management, they can nonetheless have the side effect of supporting stock management.

Regional management of inshore fisheries is carried out through a network of Regional Inshore Fishery Groups (RIFGs). These are non-statutory bodies, established in 2016 to replace the six Inshore Fisheries Groups (IFGs) that operated from 2013 to 2016.