Razor clam catch statistics and monitoring: EIR release

Information requested

Fisheries-dependent data & Licencing Decisions
1.What was the liveweight and value of razorfish landed (by fishing creek and district) for the years 2020,2021 & 2022?

2. What was the liveweight and value of razorfish caught by each trial area for years 2020,2021 & 2022?

3. What was the fishing effort (in hours) for each razorfish trial area?

4. What was the number of days fished for razorfish in 2020, 2021 & 2022?

5. What was the number of boardings by Compliance (at sea and in port) of razorfish in 2020,2021 & 2022?

6. What were the number of inspections and weight checks undertaken by Compliance of razorfish in 2020,2021 & 2022?

7. What were the number of incidents reported to Marine Scotland of suspected infringements relating to the razorfish fishery in 2020,2021 & 2022?

8. How many licences to fish have been issued under the ongoing razorfish trial, by each of the trial areas and how many vessels are, under those licences, allowed to operate in each of the trial areas?

Scientific Evidence & Monitoring
9. Please provide fishing effort charts for each razorclam trial area for 2022;

10. In its response to the razorclam consultation, Scottish Government stated at paragraph 14 that ‘Preparatory work is underway, with vital input from other public sector stakeholders, to develop the trial and the conditions in which it will operate. In due course, the Government will confirm one or possibly two trial areas where, following initial stock assessments, a limited number of fishing vessels will be permitted to harvest razor clams by electrofishing.’ How many of the more than 10 trail areas that were subsequently designated had initial stock assessments undertaken prior to designation?

11. What plans have been made for ongoing stock assessments for the razorclam trial areas for 2024 and in which trail areas will these assessments take place?

Response

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance an exception under regulation 10 (4)(d) of the EIRs (unfinished or incomplete information) applies to some of the information you have requested because it is material which is still in the course of completion. Fishing effort (question 3- effort in hours and 9- effort as charts) under the electrofishing for razor clam trial will be made available within the scientific report on the findings of the trial. This report is still within the drafting phase and will be available this year.

This exception is subject to the ‘public interest test’. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exception. We recognise that there is some public interest in release as part of open, transparent and accountable government, and this will be met by our planned publication this year. Data tables will be accessible through the Marine Data Portal Marine Scotland Data Portal | Marine Scotland Information. However, this is outweighed by the public interest in ensuring that unfinished or incomplete information which is still in being worked on or is under active consideration is not disclosed when it might misinform the public or give a misleading impression of the trial when not considered within wider context of the data collected under the scientific trial.

Some of the information you have requested is available from the Scottish Government Website. Question 6, information relating to the number of inspections and weight checks undertaken by Marine Operations within the electrofishing for razor clam trial are published in the electrofishing annual update reports:

• Update: Electrofishing for Razor Clams Trial 1 February 2018- 31 January 2019
• Update: Electrofishing for Razor Clams Trial 1 February 2019 - 31 January 2020
• Update: Electrofishing for Razor Clams Trial 1 February 2020- 31 January 2021
• Update: Electrofishing for Razor Clams Trial 1 February 2021- 31 January 2022

Under regulation 6(1)(b) of the EIRs, we are not requited to provide information which is already publicly available and easily accessible to you in another form or format. If, however, you do not have internet access to obtain this information from the website(s) listed, then please contact me again and I will send you a paper copy.

Under Regulation 9 of the EIR to provide advice and assistance, you may wish to consult the Scottish Sea Fisheries Statistics where this information is available and published yearly and includes data for razor clams: Sea fisheries statistics - gov.scot (www.gov.scot).

Fisheries-dependent data & Licencing Decisions

1. What was the liveweight and value of razorfish landed (by fishing creek and district) for the years 2020,2021 & 2022?

Please see PDF attachment provided.

2. What was the liveweight and value of razorfish caught by each trial area for years 2020,2021 & 2022?

Please see PDF attachment provided for results table.

3. What was the fishing effort (in hours) for each razorfish trial area?

See exception above.

4. What was the number of days fished for razorfish in 2020, 2021 & 2022?

From 1 February 2020 until 31 January 2021, a total of 1432 days at sea were used by authorised vessels in the electrofishing for razor clam scientific trial.

From 1 February 2021 until 31 January 2022, a total of 1982 days at sea were used by authorised razor vessels in the electrofishing for razor clam scientific trial.

From 1 February 2022 until 31 January 2023, a total of 1864 days at sea were used by authorised razor vessels in the electrofishing for razor clam scientific trial.

5. What was the number of boardings by Compliance (at sea and in port) of razorfish in 2020,2021 & 2022?

During 2020 there were 28 boardings by British Sea Fisheries Officers in Marine Operations at sea and in port on authorised vessels within the electrofishing for razor clam scientific trial.

During 2021 there were 33 boardings by British Sea Fisheries Officers in Marine Operations at sea and in port on authorised vessels within the electrofishing for razor clam scientific trial.

During 2022 there were 25 boardings by British Sea Fisheries Officers in Marine Operations at sea and in port on authorised vessels in the electrofishing for razor clam scientific trial.

6. What were the number of inspections and weight checks undertaken by Compliance of razorfish in 2020,2021 & 2022?

See exception above.

7. What were the number of incidents reported to Marine Scotland of suspected infringements relating to the razorfish fishery in 2020,2021 & 2022?

Intelligence reports consist of sanitised information provided by a wider range of sources. The number of intelligence reports submitted to the Marine Directorate of suspected infringements relating to the razor clam fishery in 2020 was 29. Due to record retention policy the content of these reports could not be accessed to determine breakdown for razor vessels within or out with the trial.

The number of intelligence reports submitted to Marine Directorate of suspected infringements relating to the razor fishery in 2021 was 22. Six of these reports relate to authorised derogated vessels within the trial. Sixteen of these reports were related to non-derogated fishing vessels out-with the trial.

The number of intelligence reports submitted to Marine Directorate of suspected infringements relating to the razor fishery in 2022 was 15. Six reports relate to authorised derogated vessels within the trial. Nine reports related to non-derogated fishing vessels out-with the trial.

8. How many licences to fish have been issued under the ongoing razorfish trial, by each of the trial areas and how many vessels are, under those licences, allowed to operate in each of the trial areas?

The electrofishing for razor clam trial launched on 1 February 2018 at ten defined sites around the Scottish coast. Twenty-eight vessels were invited to participate following an application process concerned with vessel safety, economic impact, the safety of diving operations and experience in scientific research.

Vessels taking part in the trial are authorised to do so by a bespoke derogation, which they are unable to transfer to other vessels. During the course of the trial, nine of the original authorised vessels have been replaced as owners have upgraded their vessels on safety grounds. Derogations were removed from the original vessel and issued to the replacement vessel. At no point did the original vessel and the replacement vessel simultaneously hold a derogation to participate in the trial.

To ensure a distribution of vessels throughout the trial areas, the derogations issued limit where each vessel is authorised to operate, please see table:

Trial Area (s)	Number of Authorised Vessels
Firth of Forth (No. 11)	4
Outer Hebrides (No. 1,2,3)	3
West Coast North West (No. 5,6,7)	8
West Coast South West (No. 8,9,10)	12

Scientific Evidence & Monitoring

9. Please provide fishing effort charts for each razorclam trial area for 2022.

See exception above.

10. In its response to the razorclam consultation, Scottish Government stated at paragraph 14 that ‘Preparatory work is underway, with vital input from other public sector stakeholders, to develop the trial and the conditions in which it will operate. In due course, the Government will confirm one or possibly two trial areas where, following initial stock assessments, a limited number of fishing vessels will be permitted to harvest razor clams by electrofishing.’

How many of the more than 10 trail areas that were subsequently designated had initial stock assessments undertaken prior to designation?

There are various approaches to stock assessment, and they utilise different models or modelling approaches and have different data needs. This trial was established to collect the data required for some of the stock assessment approaches and to also supplement stock survey work. Initial survey work was completed and reported as part of the collaborative work with the Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS) in the Outer Hebrides (Fox, 2017), Sound of Harris and Clyde (Fox, 2018; Fox, 2019). Further survey work undertaken as part of the trial includes the Firth of Forth (Fox, 2021), Tarbert Bank (2023), Clyde (to be published shortly). Prior to the trial; work on razor clams had also been undertaken in East Fife, Loch Nevis and the Clyde sea area around the Isle of Cumbrae (Murray et al., 2014; 2016). Please see Annex A for full references.

11. What plans have been made for ongoing stock assessments for the razorclam trial areas for 2024 and in which trail areas will these assessments take place?

In 2024, a progress report on the biological and ecological goals of the electrofishery for razor clams trial is due to be published and this will detail the methods and results of analytical stock assessments completed for the Firth of Forth and Clyde trial areas. Further work is planned in 2024 with alternative options for stock assessments (likely to be length based) undertaken as part of an on-going PhD study in collaboration with SAMS. Further surveys will be undertaken in the Wigtown Bay trial area.

Annex A – References
Fox C.J. 2017. To develop the methodology to undertake stock assessments on razor fish using combinations of video monitoring and electrofishing gear. Final report for Fishing Industry Science Alliance (FISA) Project 09/15. Scottish Marine and Freshwater Science 6, 8, Aberdeen, 97 pp.

Fox, C. J. 2018. Report on razor clam surveys in the Sound of Harris and the Ayrshire coast of the Clyde (Girvan to North Bay). Scottish Marine and Freshwater Science Report Vol 9 No 3.

Fox, C.J., McLay, A and Dickens, S. 2019. Development and application of electrofishing with towed video as a new survey method for razor clams (Ensis spp.). Journal of Fisheries Research 214: 76-84.

Fox, C. J. 2021. Report on razor clam surveys in Largo Bay (Firth of Forth). Scottish Association for Marine Science. Report on razor clam surveys in Largo Bay (Firth of Forth). Scottish Marine and Freshwater Science (SMFS) Vol 12 No 10_ Report on razor clam surveys in Largo Bay (Firth of Forth).pdf

Fox, C. J. 2023. Report on razor clam surveys in Tarbert Bank. Scottish Association for Marine Science. Report on razor clam surveys on Tarbert Bank - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Murray, F, Copland, P, Boulcott, P, Robertson, M & Bailey, N. 2014. Electrofishing for Razor Clams (Ensis siliqua and E. arquatus): Effects on Survival and Recovery of Target and Non-Target Species. Scottish Marine and Freshwater Science, no. 14, vol. 5, Scottish Government.

Murray, F., Copland, P., Boulcott, P., Robertson, M. & Bailey, N. 2016. Impacts of electrofishing for razor clams (Ensis spp.) on benthic fauna. Fisheries Research, 174, 40-46.

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EIR 202400392588 - Information Released - Tables for Questions 1 and 2

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