Spotted ray

Spotted ray in this area is data limited, with low resilience to fishing pressure. However, there is currently no concern for fishing pressure or biomass.Route 2 (data limited) scoring has been applied to this rating due to the lack of reference points. The most recent assessment was published in 2024 by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES), with the next one due in 2026.Spotted ray has a low resilience to fishing pressure. Currently, fishing pressure is equal to the FMSY proxy. However, as landings have been decreasing since 2012, and remain below the scientific advice by ICES, there is currently no concern for fishing pressure. Stock size is monitored using a biomass index (Itrigger). Although biomass has fluctuated since the timeseries began in 1993, it most recently fell below Itrigger (0.2) in 2008 but has remained above this threshold since. In recent years, biomass indices indicate a slight increase: Index A (mean of 2022–2023) is 0.52 compared with Index B (mean of 2019 and 2021) at 0.51. As the stock has slightly increased and remains above Itrigger, there is currently no concern for biomass.ICES advice on landings follows the MSY approach. It is determined from the most recent advised landings (from 2023-2024), adjusted by several factors: the ratio of Index A to Index B, the ratio of observed mean catch length to target mean catch length, a biomass safeguard, and a precautionary multiplier. As a result, advised landings decreased by 7% from 814 tonnes to 757 tonnes for 2025 and 2026. Discard rates remain unquantified.

There is no management plan for skates and rays and the joint TAC has been deemed an unsuitable method for protecting individual species. However, in this area, the North Devon Fishermen's Association have implemented some management measures to help conserve stocks.There is no direct management plan for skates and rays in these waters. They are usually caught as bycatch in otter and beam trawl fisheries, which target finfish (including flatfish and gadoids).Skates and rays are managed under five regional quotas (called TACs) which are applied to a group of species, rather than individual skate and ray species. This includes cuckoo ray, thornback ray, blonde ray, spotted ray, and small-eyed ray (undulate ray has a separate TAC). This has been deemed as an unsuitable method for protecting individual species, but species-specific quotas may increase discarding. Alternatives to the current TAC system are being explored, which may include the possible introduction of individual TACs for key stocks.A high-survivability exemption to the Landings Obligation was provided for skates and rays in the Celtic Seas ecoregion. Any skates and rays that are discarded are required to be released immediately and below the sea surface.Other management methods being considered are fishing gear modifications, education, conservation measures (such as closed seasons during spawning times). Some protected areas have been designated in these waters but offshore areas are not sufficiently managed. There are no official minimum landing sizes except for some IFCAs, which, mandate a minimum landing size (40-45 cm disc width) in inshore waters in England and Wales.In the Bristol Channel, the North Devon Fishermen's Association (NDFA) are ensuring fishing methods are up date, and are introducing new and innovative methods of sustainably catching fish. In 2005, over 300 square km north of Lundy Island prohibited mobile fishing (trawling) for six months of the years. Known locally as the 'ray box', this area was developed to protect juvenile ray and other breeding stocks. The NDFA also introduced a voluntary minimum landing size, which was initially set at 38cm across the wingtips, which was then increased to 45cm to assist growth and spawning. A local fisherman has also been helping tag blonde and thornback rays to collect more data to help inform management decisions.Whilst some of these measures may be effective at protecting the species, minimum size restrictions may be limited in their efficacy as some skate and ray species are not mature at this size e.g. a 45cm disc width for blonde ray correspond to 63.6cm long, yet around 50% of blonde rays only mature at 78.2cm and 85.6cm for males and females respectively. All rays below the minimum size are handled with care and returned immediately to the sea in order to increase its chance of survival.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 quota fish 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. UK administrations are in the process of replacing the landing obligation with country-specific Catching Policies.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). FMPs are currently in development, but the scope of them remains unclear. They 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 publicly available 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 met, based on the best available scientific evidenceTimeframes for stock recoveryImproved data collection, transparency and accountability, supported by technologies such as Remote Electronic Monitoring (REM)Consideration of wider environmental impacts of the fishery

Gillnets in this area can encounter bycatch of non-target fish, mammals and birds. This includes the harbour porpoise which is vulnerable in Europe.Spotted rays are a shelf species. They are often caught as bycatch in trawl and gillnet fisheries, particularly in mixed demersal fisheries which retain groundfish or species of the skate complex. The spotted rays are one of the smaller and less valuable species found in the skate complex and are often discarded.Gillnets and fixed nets can be very size selective, but can bycatch species such as sharks, cetaceans and other marine mammals. In particular, there is concern about bycatch of harbour porpoise. The IUCN lists harbour porpoise as being of least concern globally, but vulnerable in Europe. OSPAR has included the species on its List of Threatened and / or Declining Species and Habitats for the Greater North Sea and Celtic Seas, owing to evidence of a decline in populations, their sensitivity and the threat of incidental capture and drowning in fishing nets. They are also classified as a priority species in UK and EU law, under which there are explicit bycatch requirements. To comply with this, the UK recently designated five Special Areas for Conservation for harbour porpoises, but these areas are not yet managed. The UK Dolphin and Porpoise Conservation Strategy lists harbour porpoise as having 'medium' vulnerability to gillnetting for the UK as a whole. This is based on the species having a high sensitivity to gillnetting and medium exposure.The area of most concern is in the Celtic Seas, southwest of the UK, where most of the UK's gillnetting activity takes place. Exposure to gillnetting is high. A review of activities in the Bristol Channel Approaches Harbour Porpoise SAC lists "commercial fisheries with bycatch (predominantly static nets)" as a high risk, and a strandings report by Cornwall Wildlife Trust also shows that common dolphin bycatch is very high in this area.There is also bycatch of elasmobranch species which may be threatened or endangered. Porbeagle sharks are being caught as bycatch in gillnets but as they are a prohibited species, there is no official data on the numbers being caught and discarded. The National Evaluation of Populations of Threatened and Uncertain Elasmobranchs (NEPTUNE) highlighted continued problems of spurdog bycatch and despite a supposed real time avoidance programme being implemented, 50 tonnes were still landed in Cornish ports in 2019.There is a relative lack of knowledge on the overall impact of fishing on seabird populations in Europe. Increasing evidence over the last decade has shown that seabirds are suffering mortality from bycatch, particularly in gillnets. Bycatch of seabirds in gillnet fisheries alone is estimated to kill around 400,000 birds globally each year. Diving seabirds, such as guillemots and cormorants, are generally more vulnerable to bycatch in gillnets than surface feeding seabirds. Most of the UK’s gillnetting takes place in the Celtic Seas, southwest of the UK and therefore there is concern for seabird populations here. In particular, species of concern include the razorbill (listed as Near Threatened in Europe by IUCN), puffin (listed as Endangered in Europe by IUCN) and the herring gull, arctic skua and roseate tern which are all classified in the UK as Red under the Birds of Conservation Concern 4: the Red List for Birds (2015).Some pilot projects are underway to improve reporting of bycatch and find ways to reduce it. This includes trialling various types of 'pingers' that would discourage cetaceans from approaching the nets. Pingers have been very effective at reducing porpoise and dolphin bycatch in some fisheries, but haven't been adopted on a large enough scale to significantly tackle the issue. Testing and trials are crucial and may need to be supported by other measures such as seasonal closures.Because of gillnets' durability (they are made of nylon), if lost, they can continue to fish for several weeks before becoming tangled and bundled up, a phenomenon known as 'ghost fishing'. However, static nets, as with all gear, represent an investment by fishermen, and therefore there are incentives to avoid losing or damaging gear.

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