Scampi or langoustine

Off Horn's Reef, scampi, often referred to as Nephrops or Norway lobster, is data limited. There is concern for both fishing pressure and biomass.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.In 2017 underwater TV (UWTV) surveys were used for the first time to estimate abundance. In 2017, abundance was 728 million individuals. This declined to 427 million in 2018 and 417 in 2019. No survey was carried out in 2020 and in 2021, abundance increased to 1,279 million individuals. In 2023, it decreased again to 481 million individuals. This decrease indicates a concern for the biomass.Average catches from 2014-2023 equate to a harvest rate of 9.4%. This is above sustainable levels (FMSY proxy is 7.5%). Therefore, there is concern for fishing pressure.Off Horn's Reef, scampi, often referred to as Nephrops or Norway lobster, is data limited. There is a lack of reference points available for biomass and fishing pressure. There concern for biomass, as the abundance index has increased from 417 million individuals in 2019, to 1,279 million in 2021, and decreased again to 481 million in 2023. Average catches from 2014-2023 equate to a harvest rate of 9.4%. This is above sustainable levels (FMSY proxy is 7.5%). Therefore, there is also concern for fishing pressure. Some management measures are in place, but catch limits don't match the stock area, and catches have been too high in recent years. Trawling for Norway lobster can have an impact on seabed habitats, particularly on mud which is subjected to high disturbance by fishing. 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 in this fishery. 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. Bycatch in trawls may also be of concern.ICES advises that when the precautionary approach is applied, landings in 2025 and 2026 should be no more than 972 tonnes per year. As discard rates are unknown, ICES cannot quantify the corresponding total catches.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 off Horn's Reef. Catch limits don't match the stock area, meaning there is a risk of overfishing. Catches have been too high in recent years.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 mainly fished by Denmark, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands and the UK. It is covered by the EU's North Sea Multi Annual management Plan (MAP), but the UK is not signed up to the MAP and there is no UK management plan for it. Management of this stock is not well informed as there is not enough data about the stock size or fishing pressure.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 North Sea, encompassing 7 different stocks. This does not protect stocks from overfishing. In recent years, catches have been variable, fluctuating around recommended limits. However, landings from 2016, 2017 and 2019 are the three highest on record.In addition to catch limits, the EU and UK have controls on what fishing gear can be used for North Sea Norway lobster trawling. These measures relate to the size and structure of trawl nets. Recent measures to reduce whitefish bycatch (e.g. cod) required vessels in the northern North Sea using mesh size of below 100mm to employ highly selective gears (HSG), e.g. Gamrie Bay Trawl or Faithlie Cod Avoidance Panel. In 2012 most vessels operating in the northern North Sea and the Farn Deeps fished exclusively with specified highly selective gears (reducing cod catches by 60% by weight) or had installed 200 mm square mesh panels.There is a Minimum Conservation Reference Size of 25mm in the North Sea. 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 2% can be discarded from trawlers. Compliance with the LO is poor throughout European fisheries. Discards are known to take place in this fishery, but they are poorly documented. Estimates are only available from the Netherlands and Denmark, where large differences in discard rates are observed - and where 2 different MCRS apply. These data are not believed to be representative for the entire 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.Norway lobster off Horn's Reef, in the northern North Sea, are mainly caught by trawling. In general, Norway lobster trawlers use a small net mesh (70-99mm), which can result in higher bycatch than the nets used to trawl 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.Bycatch of endangered, threatened or protected species could include skates, rays and sharks. 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.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.There are Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in this Functional Unit, some of which are designated to protect seabed features from damaging activities. This Norway lobster 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), 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 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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