Megrim

Biomass is at a healthy level and it is harvested sustainably.No reference points are defined for this stock in terms of absolute values. The SPiCT estimated values of the ratios F/FMSY and B/BMSY are used to estimate stock status relative to the MSY reference points.The stock size indicator shows relative biomass (B) has been at a steady, high level since 2016, which has been above the proxy for MSY Btrigger (0.5) since 2010. In 2023, the relative biomass is 1.42.Fishing pressure (F) has been below the proxy FMSY reference point since 2008 and in 2022 was 0.40.ICES advises that when the MSY approach is applied, catches in 2024 should be no more than 1115 tonnes. There is a mismatch between management and assessment area, and as a result there is a potential for catches to exceed advice.The advice is given for two species of megrim (Lepidorhombus spp.) combined, as they are caught together: L. wiffiagonis and L. boscii. Available information indicates that L. boscii constitute to a negligible proportion of catches.The Scottish and Irish Anglerfish and Megrim Industry Science Survey was unable to sample Division 6b in 2022 as a result of vessel breakdown, so no value for the index is available (or in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic). Sensitivity analyses showed the assessment to be robust to missing survey data to the current extent. The survey was successfully completed in 2023.

Some, but not all, appropriate management measures are in place but management is not following scientific advice.Megrim species (Lepidorhombus spp.) are not separated within landings data and Total Allowable Catch (TAC) limits apply to megrim species (L. wiffiagonis and L. boscii) combined. Stock structure and even species identification/differentiation in landings is problematic for Megrim. The management of megrim catches under a combined TAC, prevents the effective control of single-species exploitation rates and could lead to overexploitation of individual species (L. wiffiagonis and L. boscii).A single Total Allowable Catch (TAC) covers Division 5b (EC) (Faroes) and subareas 6 (West of Scotland), 12 (North of Azores) and 14 (East of Greenland), whereas the stock assessment only covers Division 6b (Rockall). ICES notes that the mismatch between management and assessment area could result in catches potentially exceeding scientific advice. Whilst the TAC in 6 has not been fully utilised, ICES advises that management for megrim in Division 6b should be implemented at the scale of this stock unit, to ensure that fishing opportunities are in line with the scale of the resource.From 2017-2021, landings exceeded scientific catch advice, leading to concern that the management is not following scientific advice. Since 2022, the scientific advice has significantly increased and landings are now below advice. Discarding in 2023 was at 4%. Male megrim grow to a smaller maximum size than females, consequently the majority of males in the catch are discarded and the bulk of fish landed is comprised of females (around 90%).Beyond TACs, the fishery is managed by an EU minimum landing size (known as Minimum Conservation Reference Size) of 20cm (25cm in Skagerrak/Kattegat) for megrim, which is smaller than the average length of maturity for the species. Dependent on distribution, length at first maturity ranges between 19 and 28 cm, but is on average 26 cm. Consequently, megrim can be caught before they have had chance to reproduce.Megrim is a bycatch species and benefits from management that is applied to other stocks. Management measures for other species have constrained the fishery, reducing effort and fishing mortality on megrim since the early 2000s, and may have contributed to the increase in biomass. The general increase in mesh size in subarea 6 since 2010 has also benefited the stock.Megrim is considered to be a choke species under the Landing Obligation in the UK, and therefore more measures are required to protect the stock in the Landing Obligation.Both the EU and UK have fishery management measures in place, which can include catch limits, targets for population sizes and fishing mortality, and controls on what fishing gear can be used and where. In the EU, compliance with regulations has been variable, and there are ongoing challenges with implementing some of them. There was a target for fishing to be at Maximum Sustainable Yield by 2020, but this was not achieved. The Landing Obligation (LO), an EU law that the UK has kept after Brexit, requires all quota fish to be landed, even if they are unwanted (over-quota or below minimum size). It aims to promote more selective fishing methods, reduce bycatch, and improve recording of everything that is caught, not just what is wanted. Compliance with the LO is generally poor and actual levels of discards are difficult to quantify using the current fisheries observer programme. UK administrations are in the process of replacing the landing obligation with country-specific Catching Policies.In the UK, it is too early to tell how effective management is, as the Fisheries Act only came into force in January 2021. The Act requires the development of Fisheries Management Plans (FMPs) (replacing EU Multi-Annual Plans). FMPs are currently in development, but the scope of them remains unclear. They 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 publicly available 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 met, based on the best available scientific evidenceTimeframes for stock recoveryImproved data collection, transparency and accountability, supported by technologies such as Remote Electronic Monitoring (REM)Consideration of wider environmental impacts of the fishery

Otter trawling is likely to cause some damage to the seabed. Bycatch is moderate and may include vulnerable species.Megrim in Rockall are mostly caught by demersal otter trawls. They are predominantly taken as a bycatch species by vessels targeting gadoids (e.g. haddock, saithe, and whiting) and anglerfish.Demersal otter trawls have the potential to take relatively high quantities of bycatch. In the Northeast Atlantic there are reported catches of demersal elasmobranchs and endangered, threatened and protected (ETP) species (e.g. sharks, rays and marine mammals). Bycatch data is limited in many UK and EU fisheries as they are generally not well monitored. However, a proportion of the haddock fishery in Rockall is Marine Stewardship Council-certified and records bycatch. MCS assumes these records would also represent bycatch concerns in the uncertified components. Bycatch in the certified fishery is mainly anglerfish, but it can also include cod and whiting, all of which are at very low levels. Endangered, threatened or protected species include the Critically Endangered common skate complex (blue skate and flapper skate).Trawling is associated with discarding of unwanted fish, i.e. undersized, non-quota and/or over-quota species. Since 2010, EC regulation 43/2009 has effectively prohibited the use of mesh sizes <120 mm for vessels targeting fish, which had been used particularly by the Irish fleet up to that point. The increase in mesh size (from 100 to 120 mm) has impacted on the retention length of megrim, increasing L50 from 28 cm to 42 cm, an increase of almost 50%, which has reduced the bycatch of juveniles.Demersal trawls have contact with the seabed resulting in penetration and abrasion of habitat features. The impact of trawling on the seabed depends on the location and scale in which trawling occurs. For example, areas that are used to natural disturbance through tides and waves, are less sensitive to habitat impacts. Areas not used to mobile towed gears are typically more sensitive to trawling. This can include deeper waters such as those where the Rockall fishery takes place, where there are Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems (VMEs) like corals, sponges and sea pens.There are a number of closed areas on the Rockall and Hatton Banks and the Darwin Mounds to protect cold-water corals. Large areas near the Wyville-Thompson ridge are also closed to demersal trawling which affords protection for corals in these areas. In subarea 6b, fishing is closed in multiple areas around the Rockall Bank including the northwest and southwest Rockall Bank area and the Haddock Box. The former two are closed to protect Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems (VMEs) and the latter to protect haddock stocks.There are Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in this area, 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 or effort), 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).To improve monitoring and reporting of fishing activity, MCS would like to see remote electronic monitoring (REM) with cameras implemented, used and enforced. To reduce the impacts of fishing on the marine environment we would like to see a just transition to the complete removal of bottom towed gear from offshore Marine Protected Areas designated to protect the seabed. We also want to see reduction and mitigation of environmental impacts including emissions and blue carbon habitat damage.

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