Scampi or langoustine

In North Minch, scampi, often referred to as Nephrops or Norway lobster, is not overfished or subject to overfishing.Stock abundance in 2023 is estimated to be 1,489 million individuals. This is well above target levels (MSY BTrigger, 540 million). Therefore, the stock is not in an overfished state.The total catch in 2022 was 2,240 tonnes. This is equivalent to a harvest rate of 5.4% of the population (by number). It is below the level associated with Maximum Sustainable Yield (FMSY, 10.8%), 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 4,218 tonnes, assuming discard rates and fishery patterns don't change from recent years. This is an 11% increase from the previous year's advice, because of an increase in estimated stock abundance after the addition of new data.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 North Minch. Catch limits don't match the stock area, meaning there is a risk of overfishing, but current catches are within recommended limits.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 Western Waters 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 West of Scotland (subarea 6), encompassing 3 different stocks. This does not protect stocks from overfishing. Catches in Subarea 6 overall have been less than the TAC in recent years, as there has been a general decline in trawling fishing effort for Norway lobster. From 2017-2021, catches in FU11 have been below the advice, averaging 59% of recommended limits. The catch in 2021 (2,138 tonnes) was just 54% of the recommended limit (3,953 tonnes), which may have been an effect of low market prices as a result of the Covid pandemic.In addition to catch limits, there are requirements to use selective gear (e.g. square-meshed panels) to allow small Norway lobster and fish to escape the nets, with the aim of reducing bycatch. Scotland has established a network of regional Inshore Fisheries Groups (rIFGs). These non-statutory bodies aim to improve the management of Scotland's inshore fisheries out to six nautical miles, and to give commercial inshore fishermen a strong voice in wider marine management developments. Although no IFG proposals for management of Norway lobster fisheries have yet been adopted, some of the IFG management plans for the Scottish West Coast include spatial management and the introduction of creel limits. Overall effort by the creel fleet in terms of creel numbers is not known, and measures to control numbers are not in place. The combined effort from all forms of fishing should be taken into account when managing this stock.There is a Minimum Conservation Reference Size of 25mm in the Celtic Seas. 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 5% can be discarded from trawlers. Compliance with the LO is poor throughout European fisheries. However, discard rates in this fishery are low, averaging 5.8% from 2017-2019.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.Around 75% of catches of Norway lobster in North Minch, west of Scotland, are caught by trawlers. In this area, Norway lobster trawlers use a small net mesh (70-99mm), which can result in higher bycatch than the nets with larger mesh sizes, e.g. those used for species such as cod or haddock.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.Other bycatch could include skates, rays and sharks. A 2013 report indicated that elasmobranchs form around 10% of the Nephrops catch, and can include spurdog, which is endangered in Europe. 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.To reduce bycatch, there are requirements to use selective gear (e.g. square-meshed panels) to allow unwanted catch to escape the nets. The Gear Innovation and Technology Advisory Group (GITAG) was formed in 2015. Trials have been ongoing since then to test and develop mitigation measures for Norway lobster and other trawl fisheries n the North Sea and West of Scotland. Vessels which use these more selective nets can be rewarded by being given more quota.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.Within the North Minch functional unit, there are two Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) with fisheries management measures. In the Wester Ross Nature Conservation (NC) MPA, demersal gear is banned throughout for vessels over 500 kW in power, with additional bans in certain areas for vessels below 500 kWm. In the Loch Laxford Special Area of Conservation (SAC), demersal trawling is banned. These MPAs cover a small amount of the fishing ground for Norway lobster. 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 to 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).

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