UK Fisheries Audit: Report for Oceana

• Main Authors: Heidi Guille, Caitlin Gilmour, Edward Willsteed, MacAlister Elliott & Partners, Oceana
• Format: Report
• Language: unknown
• Published: 2021
• Subjects: Life Sciences; Marine Biology; United Kingdom; Europe; Fisheries; North Sea; Oceana; North East Atlantic
• Online Access: https://zenodo.org/record/4384177; https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4384177

The UK’s decision to leave the EU and to regain control of its waters has enormous implications for the management of North East Atlantic Fisheries. The results derived from the implementation of new UK domestic regulations and international fisheries agreements will have a direct impact on the status of fish stocks and the socio-economic performance of fishing fleets. There is an opportunity and a responsibility for the UK, as an independent coastal state for the first time in over 40 years, to lead the way in achieving sustainable fisheries. The key objective of this report is to provide an evidence-based snapshot of the status of UK fish stocks and the UK fishing sector’s recent exploitation history of those stocks, by the time the UK abandons the EU fisheries policies. In doing so, the report provides a baseline for future evaluations of the UK’s progress and/or setbacks in sustainable fisheries management. The turnover of UK fisheries in 2019 was about £1 billion with the majority derived from over 24m vessels operating from Scotland. The majority of UK fisheries landings from the North East Atlantic in 2019 (618,000 t) came from UK waters (81% by live weight or around 500,000t and 87% by value). Around 27% of EU catches in the North East Atlantic were also typically taken from UK waters between 2012 and 2016, amounting to approximately 700,000 tonnes[1]. Stocks critical to UK fisheries include quota and non-quota species, with the latter not subject to EU Total Allowable Catches (TACs) – the primary management mechanism for North East Atlantic fisheries. Pelagic quota species such as mackerel and herring caught by over 10m vessels dominate UK landings by volume (54%). Non-quota shellfish such as scallops and crab are also key contributors (21%), with the remaining 25% comprised of demersal species. Smaller inshore vessels (10m and under) which dominate the UK fleet by number (74%), rely on non-quota species (shellfish comprise >80% of landings by volume and value). Of the 104 UK stocks audited, 82 of ...