Open Government Licence (OGL)

The annual Scottish Sea Fisheries Statistics report is aggregated into districts, which reflect the area of responsibility of the local fishery office. This dataset shows the approximate extent of each district using the 1:50,000 scale OS Meridian 2 mean high water spring coastline. The districts are for illustrative purposes only. The districts were updated in the 2013 report to reflect changes in responsibility of the Ullapool fishery office and renamed the Pittenweem district as Anstruther.

Marine Planning Zones are defined in Article 5 of the Town and Country Planning (Marine Fish Farming) (Scotland) Order 2007. The Zones designate marine areas for which planning authorities discharge their functions with regard to fish farming developments. This layer displays the marine planning zones for fish farming.

Non-UK fishing vessels require a licence from Scottish Ministers to fish within the Scottish Zone (https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ssi/2019/87/made). The current licence prohibits access within territorial sea (12NM) (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/united-kingdom-single-issuing-authority-uksi...)

Also includes the "special area" for fishing as defined in the "UK/Denmark: Protocol to agreement with Faroe Islands on maritime delimitation" (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/faroe-islands-maritime-delimitation) where third country fishing vessels can be authorised by Faroe Islands to fish within the Scottish zone

ScotMap is a Marine Scotland project which provides spatial information on the fishing activity of Scottish registered commercial fishing vessels under 15 m in overall length. The data were collected during face-to-face interview with individual vessel owners and operators and relate to fishing activity for the period 2007 to 2011. The data are aggregated and analysed to provide information on the monetary value, relative importance (relative value) and the usage (number of fishing vessels and crew) of seas around Scotland.

The dataset, as of July 2013, is based on interviews of 1,090 fishermen. Individuals defined their fishing areas with variable levels of precision. Users of the data should be aware of this, particularly of the coverage provided by the ScotMap data set which varies regionally.

This layer shows the number of vessels in polygons  identifying Norway Lobster (Nephrops norvegicus) as the primary target species where fishing gear is trawls.