Question reference: S5W-30656
- Date lodged: 13 July 2020
-
Current status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 27 July 2020
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what measures it will be taking to recover west coast cod and whiting stocks, in light of the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) advice that they remain below safe biological limits.
Answer
The Scottish Government is committed to the sustainability of our seas, contributing to our communities’ economy and its environment. During the summer, Marine Scotland officials will work closely with industry and NGO stakeholders to develop co-management responses to these challenges and inform our negotiating priorities and positions for this year’s end year negotiations on fishing opportunities.
We have already taken positive steps to support the recovery of the west coast cod and whiting stocks, using technical gear, spatial management and quota management solutions, coupled with smart technology to support our fishing fleet to avoid unwanted catches as far as possible. We will continue to explore management options for 2021 in partnership with our stakeholders.
Despite these measures the number of young cod entering the adult stock each year remains low, which appears to be largely related to low adult stock size. Fishing on these stocks is not the largest contributor to mortality and as such fisheries measures can only have partial impact. Recovery may also be affected by environmental conditions and seal predation which is referenced in ICES advice. The number of young whiting has shown improvement in recent years, and the prognosis for that stock is looking better.
West of Scotland cod and whiting are not targeted fisheries and are both operated as a bycatch fishery to aid recovery and we will continue with this approach for as long as is necessary.
We have made a significant contribution to the North West Waters bycatch reduction plan, and the increase in size of the square mesh panel for the Nephrops fleet in the west of Scotland will help reduce whitefish bycatch significantly. These measures are only just being implemented, in accordance with EU law, and their impact will take some time to be realised.
The Scottish industry is currently piloting a Real Time Reporting project which will help whitefish vessels to avoid areas of cod and whiting abundance and will also help us to better track areas of known aggregations.