King scallop
What to check for
Location
Scotland (West coast)
Technical location
Atlantic, Northeast, Irish Sea, West of Scotland
Caught by
Hand-gathering (diving)
Rating summary
Information about Scottish West Coast king scallops is limited. There is not enough information to determine whether the population is at a healthy size, although it appears to be growing. Fishing effort has recently decreased, so there is not currently concern for fishing pressure. Some appropriate management measures are in place to control the scallop dive fishery in the west coast of Scotland. Improvements are needed to improve understanding of the stock and the fishery. Hand-diving for scallops is a very low impact fishing method, with no unwanted bycatch of other animals and very little impact on habitats.Rating last updated December 2023
Technical consultation summary
Information about Scottish West Coast king scallops is limited. The most recent stock assessments for scallops in Scottish waters were carried out in 2016. Annual scallop surveys have been carried out since then, but no stock assessments have been made available. Route 2 (data limited) scoring has been applied to this rating owing to the lack of a recent stock assessment. King scallops are considered to have high resilience to fishing pressure. From 2017-2021, fishing effort for scallops in Scotland in general declined, and scallop landings per unit of effort (kW Days) increased. This suggests that scallop stocks have been able to grow under current levels of fishing pressure. Therefore, we consider there to be no concern for fishing pressure. However, there is no stock-specific data to indicate how effort or LPUE has changed for the West Coast stocks, and no benchmark to indicate what a healthy stock size would be. As a result of these data limitations, we remain concerned for the biomass until stock assessments can be provided. Some appropriate management measures are in place to control the scallop dive fishery in the west coast of Scotland. Improvements are needed to better understand the stock and the fishery. There is currently no Fishery Management Plan, harvest strategy, or quota. There are also no recent stock assessments to inform management. Management cannot therefore be responsive to changes in stock, and does not adequately ensure that fishing is controlled to protect the species. The main measure that is relevant to the dive fishery is a minimum landing size (MLS) of 105mm to protect the breeding stock. There are no controls on catches or effort, although a license is required for commercial fishing. There are currently no requirements for vessels under 12m, which is the majority of dive vessels, to carry tracking devices. The fishery is therefore not well understood or monitored. However, diving accounts for a relatively small proportion of total catches within the stock (11%), and is a very low impact fishing method. Therefore, while improvements are needed, it does not require the same level of management as the dredge fishery. Hand-diving for scallops is a very low impact fishing method, with no unwanted bycatch of other animals and very little impact on habitats.
