Scampi or langoustine

In the Firth of Forth, scampi, often referred to as Nephrops or Norway lobster, is not overfished or subject to overfishing.Stock abundance in 2023 was estimated to be 801 million individuals. Abundance has fluctuated, but shows a long term increase since 1998. Although it is lower than in 2022, abundance in 2023 remained well above target levels (MSY BTrigger, 292 million). Therefore, the stock is not in an overfished state.The total catch in 2022 was 2,489 tonnes. This is equivalent to a harvest rate of 12.6% of the population (by number). It is below the level associated with Maximum Sustainable Yield (FMSY, 16.3%), indicating that the stock is not subject to overfishing.ICES advises that when the MSY approach is applied, catches in 2024 should be no more than 3,216 tonnes, assuming discard rates and fishery patterns don't change from recent years. This is the same as the advice given for 2023.A 2011 study on Norway lobster in the Clyde found a high prevalence of plastics and suggested that this could have implications for the health of the stock - this may have relevance for other Norway lobster stocks. Some of the plastics were sourced to fishing waste. Studies have shown that the effects of climate change - warmer waters, reduced oxygen levels, higher ocean acidity, and higher levels of heavy metals - can negatively impact Norway lobsters' larval development and make adults more susceptible to disease. Lower oxygen levels can also cause Norway lobster to leave their burrows, making them easier to catch.

Some management measures are in place for Norway lobster in the Firth of Forth. Catch limits don't match the stock area, meaning there is a risk of overfishing. Catches have historically been too high, although they have recently declined and over the last 5 years, catches have been 79% of the scientific advice. However, there is a relatively high level of discarding in this area, and more selectivity is needed to reduce catches of undersize Norway lobster.Norway lobster stock assessments are conducted by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES). Stock assessments are produced for 33 areas across the Northeast Atlantic, called Functional Units (FUs). However, management is applied to 18 areas, called management units. These management units broadly overlap with the functional units, but not very effectively. Vessels are free to move between grounds, allowing relatively uncontrolled fishing on some stocks, and risking overfishing. Scientists have repeatedly advised over the years that management should be implemented at the functional unit level, to better protect Norway lobster. This would result in fishing controls that respond to changes within individual stocks. However, this advice is not being followed.This stock is fished by the UK, primarily by Scottish fleets. It is covered by the EU's North Sea Multi Annual management Plan (MAP), but the UK is not signed up to the MAP. There is no UK management plan for it.Catch limits (Total Allowable Catches, TACs) are in place, but these are not specific to this Norway lobster stock. One TAC covers the whole of the North Sea, encompassing 7 different stocks. This does not protect stocks from overfishing. From 2007-2018, catch in the Firth of Forth exceeded scientifically recommended limits every year except 2011. However, catch has been below the limits in the last three years. Catches in 2020 and 2021 and were particularly low, (59% and 50% of the advice, respectively) which may have been an effect of low market prices as a result of the Covid pandemic. From 2017-2022, catches were on average 79% of the advice, and therefore management is thought to be preventing overexploitation.Although the persistently high estimated harvest rates from recent years do not appear to have adversely affected the stock, they have exceeded FMSY. ICES advises that it would be unwise to allow effort to increase in this FU.In addition to catch limits, the EU and UK have controls on what fishing gear can be used for North Sea Norway lobster trawling. These measures relate to the size and structure of trawl nets. Recent measures to reduce whitefish bycatch (e.g. cod) required vessels in the northern North Sea using mesh size of below 100mm to employ highly selective gears (HSG), e.g. Gamrie Bay Trawl or Faithlie Cod Avoidance Panel. In 2012 most vessels operating in the northern North Sea and the Farn Deeps fished exclusively with specified highly selective gears (reducing cod catches by 60% by weight) or had installed 200 mm square mesh panels. Even so, improved selectivity is needed in this area because most vessels are using a small mesh in their nets (80mm), which can have high levels of bycatch.There is a Minimum Conservation Reference Size of 25mm in the North Sea. Below this size, Norway lobster must be landed but can't be sold for human consumption, and so have a lower value. Under the EU Landings Obligation (LO) and UK law, it is illegal to discard unwanted (e.g. undersized or over-quota) Norway lobster at sea. However, there are exemptions in this area, because this species survives well after being discarded, even from trawlers. Discarding is still allowed in all creel fisheries and up to 2% can be discarded from trawlers. Compliance with the LO is poor throughout European fisheries. Scientific observers have observed below-MCRS Norway lobster being caught in this area, which is common here, owing to the small mesh size of the nets (80-95mm) and generally smaller size of the animals. However, none were recorded in landings data in 2020. This indicates that illegal or unreported discarding is taking place. Discarding of this Norway lobster is higher than in other areas, ranging from 7%-55% of the total catch by number between 2011 and 2021. The average rate in that time is 20%, and scientific recommendations are to reduce it.Project UK is implementing Fishery Improvement Projects (FIPs) on twelve UK fisheries that are important to the UK market. This includes nephrops caught by trawl or creel around the UK. The FIP began in 2019 and has an end date of April 2024, at which point it should be ready to undergo MSC certification.The FIP has been successful in tackling some issues, including providing research into habitat impacts and developing advice for potential approaches to a harvest strategy. These outcomes are not inconsiderable. However, there has been very little change to the footprint of the nephrops fishery, and requirements are not being met for outcomes for endangered, threatened and protected (ETP) species, despite research by the FIP indicating that trawling poses a significant risk to them. The advice on harvest strategy has also not resulted in any changes to management. Therefore, we do not consider the FIP to have addressed all key environmental issues in this fishery, and it does not meet GFG guidelines for application of a FIP Improver score.The FIP lists Fishery Management Plans (FMPs) as a delivery mechanism for improvements. The FMPs for Nephrops are expected in 2024 but have not yet been published for consultation. Given that the FIP will end on April 2024, and no FMPs will be delivering harvest strategies by that point, we not consider it possible for this key issue to be addressed within the FIP timescale.More information is available here and here.The UK Fisheries Act came into force in January 2021. The Act requires the development of Fisheries Management Plans (FMPs) (replacing EU Multi-Annual Plans) but there are no details yet on how and when these will be developed. FMPs have the potential to be very important tools for managing UK fisheries, although data limitations may delay them for some stocks. MCS is keen to see FMPs for all commercially exploited stocks, especially where stocks are depleted, that include:Targets for fishing pressure and biomass, and additional management when those targets are not being metTimeframes for stock recoveryTechnologies such as Remote Electronic Monitoring (REM) to support data collection and improve transparency and accountabilityConsideration of wider environmental impacts of the fishery

Trawling for Norway lobster can have an impact on seabed habitats, particularly on mud which is subjected to high disturbance by fishing. Bycatch may also be of concern.Norway lobster in the Firth of Forth, off the cost of Scotland, are all caught by trawling. In general, Norway lobster trawlers use a small net mesh (70-99mm), which can result in higher bycatch than the nets used to trawl for species such as cod or haddock. In the Firth of Forth, most nets have a small mesh size of 80mm.Norway lobster are caught as part of a mixed demersal fishery, so bycatch can include cod, haddock, whiting, saithe, plaice and sole. There may be a high number of juvenile cod in this area, and efforts are being made to avoid cod capture. In Scotland this includes improved selectivity measures in gears which target Norway lobster (e.g. Gamrie Bay Trawl or Faithlie Cod Avoidance Panel). The UK introduced a national cod avoidance plan in 2020, which includes area closures to protect spawning cod and real-time closures when too many cod are being caught. In 2022, Nephrops trawls accounted for approximately 7.5% of all North Sea, West of Scotland, eastern English Channel and Skagerrak cod catches.As well as cod, juveniles of many other demersal fish species occasionally aggregate in the area, and small pelagics (sprat and juvenile herring) are seasonally abundant. Important seabird colonies also occur in the area, and the 'Wee Bankie' gravel area, important for sandeels, is located further offshore to the north and east of the Firth. The small mesh of this fishery and importance for other species make bycatch and the need for improved selectivity of particular concern here.Other bycatch could include skates, rays and sharks. These species are relatively hardy, and can survive when they are discarded, but their survival rates largely depend on how they were caught and handled. Mortality rates in otter trawls are shown to vary between 10-65%, depending on fishing and handling methods. Those vessels which employ codes of conduct on skate and ray handling and/or reduce the risk of their capture, will improve their survival rates, though many of these methods aren't implemented over whole functional unit or regional levels.Norway lobster are mainly found in soft mud, and therefore trawling for this species takes place primarily on mud habitats. Mud habitats feature on the OSPAR list of threatened and declining species due to the burrowing megafauna, which provide a complex habitat with deep oxygen penetration. Species that live in these habitats include the long-lived and slow-growing ocean quahog, polychaetae worms, soft corals and tall sea-pens. Mud is very disturbed by fishing specifically. A 2023 OSPAR report showed that 87% of offshore circalittoral mud has been subjected to high disturbance, suggesting that this habitat has not been suitably protected. Disturbance from trawl gear on the seabed, especially over long periods of time, is likely to affect the structure, species composition, and biodiversity of the burrowed mud community.There are Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in this Functional Unit, some of which are designated to protect seabed features from damaging activities. This fishery overlaps with parts of these MPAs, but the proportion of the catch coming from these areas is expected to be relatively low in relation to the unit of assessment (i.e. less than 20% of the catch), and so these impacts have not been assessed within the scale of this rating. Given the important role that MPAs have in recovering the health and function of our seas, MCS encourages the supply chain to identify if their specific sources are being caught from within MPAs. If sources are suspected of coming from within designated and managed MPAs, MCS advises businesses to establish if the fishing activity is operating legally inside a designated and managed MPA, and request evidence from the fishery or managing authority to demonstrate that the activity is not damaging to protected features or a threat to the conservation objectives of the site(s).