Scampi or langoustine

In the Norwegian Deep, 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.Relative exploitable biomass (B/BMSY) in 2024 is 0.151, this is below MSY Btrigger (0.5). Values for Blim and Bpa are nor available and therefore there is concern for biomass. Relative fishing pressure (F/FMSY) is 2.3, this is above sustainable limits (FMSY, 1). Therefore, there is concern for fishing pressure. ICES advises that when the precautionary approach is applied, catches in 2025 should be no more than 38 tonnes. This is a decline from previous years due to a change in perception of the stock.There is uncertainty in the data for this sock. Most of the data is based on catches by the Danish trawl fleet, which only takes 25-48% of catches and covers only the western and southern part of the unit. Much of the remaining catch is by Norwegian creelers below 15m, which don't have electronic logbook data for analysis. A reference creel fleet has now been set up to improve an estimation of Catch per unit of effort from the fishery. The abundance survey covers the whole unit but there are few observations. The ICES working group consider the assessment to be inconclusive.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 the Norwegian Deep. Historically, catch limits have not been following scientific advice, but actual catches have been below 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. In general, management units broadly overlap with the functional units, but not very effectively. However, in this area, the stock unit and management unit match.This stock is mainly fished by Denmark and Norway, with a very small amount of catches by 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 agreed between Norway and the EU for this stock. TACs have historically been set well above the scientifically recommended limits, however, in 2021 they were reduced from 600 to 200 tonnes, below the advice set (381 tonnes). Actual catches have been low and in 2021 were 216 tonnes, below the advice but above the TAC.In addition to catch limits, the EU and Norway have controls on what fishing gear can be used for Norway lobster fishing. These regulations, controlling which fishing gear can be used and how much time can be spent fishing, do appear to have had an effect on catches of the stock. There are also rebuilding plans for overfished species, protection of spawning grounds and juveniles, and area closures to protect sensitive environments. The minimum mesh sizes of the mixed trawls and in the prawn fishery is 120mm. When fishing for shrimps, Nephrops must not exceed 50% of the total weight caught. Much of the management measures applied to the whitefish mixed fishery were directed at protecting cod stocks. The Cod Management Plan mandated effort limits in this fishery, which likely afforded some protection to the Nephrops stocks until 2017, when the days-at-sea restrictions were repealed.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. In Norway, Norway lobster in FU 32 was included in the Norwegian discard ban since 1st January 2022.

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 in the Norwegian Deep, 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. However, in this area, the minimum mesh size of the nets is 120mm, meaning that bycatch is of less concern.This species is caught as part of a mixed demersal fishery, where vessels are usually targeting monkfish or cod. Therefore, the Norway lobster is considered bycatch and the rating does not assess impacts on whitefish such as cod.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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