There is no management plan in place for this stock and management requires significant improvement. This stock is also data limited which limits the effectiveness of management.For the last 4 years, scientific catch advice for this stock has been for 0 tonnes and in 2020 and 2021, the Total Allowable Catch (TAC) has been set at 67 tonnes. However, in 2022, catch advice has increased to 114 tonnes due to a change in the method used to provide advice and a change in perception of the stock.Discards are significant, at 44% of the catch. Plaice are taken as a minor bycatch species in a mixed fishery. Restricting the landings by TAC is unlikely to reduce the catches, and effort restrictions and discard reduction would be more effective. The recently introduced square mesh panels will be unlikely to effect on catches of undersized plaice. An increase in mesh size could improve selection, but will also affect the catches of marketable fish.There are some survivability exemptions in place. According to the Western Waters Multiannual Plan (MAP), bycatch species should be managed under the precautionary approach if scientific information is not available. The target is a less-than 5% probability of the stock falling below its lower limit (Blim) - which this stock is already thought to be well below and has been for years. Despite that, there is no recovery plan for this stock.Technical measures in place for this fishery are:Minimum Conservation Reference Size (MCRS) of 27cmThe Celtic Sea Protection Zone (CSPZ) also has restrictions on fishing gearFor vessels fishing with demersal trawls and seines operating in the outer CSPZ within UK waters, the baseline mesh size is 100mm codend with a 100mm square mesh panel (not required within UK waters east of 5 degrees west).For vessels fishing with demersal trawls and seines in the outer EU CSPZ (outside UK waters), demersal trawlers and seines must operate using a 100mm codend within ICES divisions 7f-k and in the area west if longitude 5 degrees west in 7e.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 fish and shellfish 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.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) 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
