Sustainable Fishing
Harvesting a self-renewing resource that requires few inputs, marine fisheries have sustainable qualities that in many ways favour them over other forms of food production. We, nonetheless, have a responsibility to strive to manage our environmental pressures and do so in many ways, including:
- Working with scientists to improve the extent and quality of data used to assess the status of stocks.
- Trialling and adopting new techniques to minimise wildlife bycatch.
- Participating in management schemes and adopting selectivity measures to help in the minimisation of discards.
As well as safeguarding the environment, sustainability is also about maintaining the vitality and prosperity of coastal fishing communities. The status of stocks naturally fluctuate and a whole range of management objectives including maximising yield, minimising discards and managing the economic effects of changes are legitimate objectives that must be balanced and managed.
Our fisheries certified as sustainable
Several of our main stocks are certified as sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council. These include North Sea haddock, saithe (coley), hake whiting and plaice under the SFSAG Northern Demersal Stocks unit of assessment.
Haddock
Saithe (Coley)
Hake
Whiting
Plaice
Managing mixed fisheries
Things would be simpler if it was possible to catch a single target species at a time, but especially for fisheries close to or at the seabed, the reality is that fish populations are mixed. The biological status of individual stocks in the mix will always vary relative to one another and the availability of quota for different stocks also varies across different fishing fleets. Given imperfect scientific knowledge on the status and structure of stocks, under a management system that seeks to minimise discards, this can generate severe management tensions that risks fleets being unable to catch quotas for one stock due to restrictions on others, a situation known as a choke.
Our trawl and pair seine vessels have been on the forefront of trialling management schemes on cod avoidance in support of its recovery and employ larger mesh gears as standard. We work to see that we have a management system that rightly accounts for and aims to minimise discards within a system of scientific advice and annual decisions on total allowable catches that properly balance choke risks alongside achieving high yield fisheries.
In the news…
Cod Blights North Sea Advice
11/07/2024
For the North Sea, the ICES advice paints an overall mixed picture this year. The fundamentals for the demersal stocks remain buoyant, but changes in the scientific perception of stocks have resulted in changes to headline advice. This is most dramatically seen in big upward swings of 211% and 177% respectively in the monk and […]
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TAC setting science must change if discards are to become manageable
27/02/2024
Last December, fisheries managers at the annual UK/Norway/EU trilateral negotiations set the total allowable catches (TACs) for 2024. When they did, they made the deliberate decision to diverge from the 2024 ICES Northern cod advice. Against the background of widespread increasing stock biomass, the ICES MSY-based assessment through a novel precautionary procedure would have cut […]
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Cod: Precautionary Conundrum
06/10/2023
With the much anticipated Northern cod advice now out showing increasing biomass on the northern fishing grounds including West of Scotland and a recovery trajectory in the southern North Sea, it should be a time for jubilation. Regrettably, with an overall implied 17% reduction in TAC it is anything but. Despite an improvement in the […]
Read moreBycatch minimisation
Unwanted wildlife bycatch is undesirable for any fishing business. While such incidents may occur at a low level for an individual vessel, cumulatively they may pose a risk to a vulnerable species. It is important therefore for the industry to work collaboratively with scientists, technologists and others to develop and employ solutions that keep bycatch to a minimum. Our members are doing just that and have for more than a decade worked on trials and techniques to minimise bird bycatch in line and net fisheries.
Scarecrow lines deter seabirds from baited long lines
Spatial squeeze
Changes in the use of marine space in our sees are at unprecedented and growing levels. An extensive network of marine protected areas and the deployment of offshore wind farms increasingly impose on traditional fishing grounds. These are legitimate marine uses but must be in balance with our other needs including the provision of sustainable fisheries that contribute to the nation’s food security and support the vitality of our coastal communities. It has been estimated that at current trajectories spatial squeeze on the fishing industry could result in the loss of access to 50% of the UK seas by 2050.
Effective marine policy must prioritise coexistence. We also need to find solutions to environmental problems that do not pit one sector against another. This should aim to support human activities to reduce environmental pressures and improve sustainability, not excluding them from taking place.