Scampi or langoustine

In the eastern Irish Sea, scampi, often referred to as Nephrops or Norway lobster, is data limited. There is concern for the biomass, and no concern for fishing pressure.Route 2 scoring has been applied to this rating owing to the lack of reference points for biomass and fishing pressure. Norway lobster is considered to have medium resilience to fishing pressure.Stock abundance in 2023 is estimated to be 191 million individuals. This is a large decline from the previous year, which was 386 million. It is now below target levels (MSY BTrigger, 350 million) and as there as no other reference points available for biomass (Bpa, Blim), there is concern for the biomass.The total catch in 2022 was 274 tonnes. This is equivalent to a harvest rate of 2.8% of the population (by number). It is below the level associated with Maximum Sustainable Yield (FMSY, 11%), indicating that the stock is not subject to overfishing and there is no concern for fishing pressure.ICES advises that when the MSY approach is applied, catches in 2024 should be no more than 222 tonnes, assuming discard rates and fishery patterns don't change from recent years. This is a substantial decrease from the previous years advice (71.9%) as a result of the lower estimated stock abundance and the decrease in harvest rate used for the advice.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 Irish Sea East. 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. This advice is not being followed.This stock is mainly fished by the UK. 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 Celtic Seas surrounding Ireland and southwest England (subarea 7), encompassing 8 different stocks. This does not protect stocks from overfishing. However, catches in Subarea 7 overall have been less than the TAC in recent years, as there has been a general decline in trawling fishing effort for Norway lobster. Total catches for Irish Sea East have been somewhat below the advised limits, averaging just 34% of the advice from 2018-2022.There is a Minimum Conservation Reference Size of 20mm for UK and Irish trawlers in the Irish Sea. Below this size, Norway lobster must be landed but can't be sold for human consumption, and so have a lower value. This is smaller than the rest of subarea 7, where it is 25mm, and for French trawlers, where it is 35mm. It may also be below the size of maturity (23mm), meaning juveniles are not protected. 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.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. In this area, bycatch of Irish Sea cod and whiting is also of significant concern.Norway lobster from Irish Sea East is 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.This fishery has a bycatch of Irish Sea cod and whiting, which are highly depleted. Whiting has a zero-catch recommendation. In 2022, Norway lobster trawling was responsible for around 91% of Irish Sea whiting catches, totalling around 936 tonnes. Highly selective gears to reduce finfish catch by the Norway lobster fishery have been mandatory since 2013, but whiting catch has not decreased since then, so this does not appear to have been effective. Almost all of the catch is discarded, and is mostly juveniles, caught before they can spawn. Under these circumstances, it is likely that the Norway lobster fisheries in the Irish Sea are contributing to the poor status of whiting, and preventing it from recovering.Other bycatch could include skates, rays and sharks, including 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 of 120mm, sorting grids) to allow unwanted catch to escape the nets. Parts of the east cost of Ireland and Northern Ireland are closed from 14 February - 30 April each year to protect spawning cod, but trawling is allowed if highly selective gear is being used. Around 55% of Irish vessels use separator trawls and 45% have opted to use Swedish grids to reduce bycatch. To further increase selectivity in the fishery, the Irish fishery is conducting gear trials through a Fishery Improvement Project. There have also been decommissioning schemes to reduce fishing effort.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.Part of the Irish Sea East functional unit overlaps with West of Walney Marine Conservation Zone (MCZ), although the majority of fishing effort takes place outside of this MCZ. It was designated in to protect sea pens and mud and sand habitats, among other things. However, no management measures are in place to control fishing in this area. Given the important role that Marine Protected Areas (including MCZs) 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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