2024 Scottish Quota Management Rules

4. Quota Allocation Groups

51. UK FAs may establish Quota Allocation Groups (‘QAGs’) which are only open to fishing vessels that they license.

4.1.1 Handline Mackerel

52. Marine Directorate has established four Scottish QAGs for the management of the North Sea (NS) mackerel stock allocated to the Scottish 10m and under group.

53. These QAGs are managed centrally by Marine Directorate, in consultation with stakeholders and do not have sectoral quota management responsibility. They comprise vessels fishing in the 10mu Pool licensed by Marine Directorate. These Quota Allocation Groups are:

m. Moray Firth;

n. Shetland;

o. Orkney; and

p. East Coast (formerly referred to as ‘IVb’)

54. Recording of landings are be defined by the vessels’ port of administration:

q. Moray Firth: Scrabster, Buckie, Fraserburgh and Peterhead and Ullapool administered vessels based in the following creeks: Inverness, Avoch, Cromarty, Portmahomack, Invergordon, Dornoch, Golspie, Brora, Helmsdale & Balintore

r. Shetland: Lerwick

s. Orkney: Kirkwall

t. East Coast: Aberdeen, Anstruther and Eyemouth

55. Marine Directorate will manage the handline mackerel QAGs in collaboration with interested parties. Quota distributed to each QAG is transferrable between QAGs where it appears to Marine Directorate that a QAG’s quota share will not be taken in full.

56. Marine Directorate retains the option to manage the four groups as a single, national pool in order to optimise catching opportunities across the coast.