Draft Partial Island Communities Impact Assessment (ICIA) – Fisheries Management Measures within Scottish Offshore Marine Protected Areas (MPAs)

2. Step Two- Gather your data and identify your stakeholders

2.1 What data is available about the current situation in the islands?

Scotland's commercial fishing fleet and sea fisheries are significant contributors to Scotland's rural and coastal economies and the Scottish Islands are a key location for sea food production. The commercial fishing industry contributes significantly to Scotland's food and drink economic, in particular playing an important part in many remote and potential fragile communities.

All commercial fishing vessels are required to provide information on their fishing activities. This includes species caught, area of capture, type of fishing gear used, and port of landing. Given the number of vessels involved, this gives rise to a significant data set. Annex B contains data held in relation to landings by all vessels registered in selected island communities 2015-2019.

The fishing industry, across Scotland, generated £329 million Gross Value Added (GVA), accounting for 0.22% of the overall Scottish economy and 6.5% of the marine economy GVA, and provided employment for 4,886 people (headcount) in 2019³. Vessels registered in Aberdeenshire and Shetland Islands local authority areas were responsible for over 60% of the value of landings. Employment was attributed particularly to vessels registered in Aberdeenshire, Highlands, Shetland Islands, Argyll and Bute, Na h-Eileanan Siar and Orkney Islands (each over 5% of employment headcount).

Together with aquaculture production and imported fish, commercial fisheries provide inputs to the processing industry. The fish processing industry is important in Scotland, contributing £390 million (GVA) and employing 6,800 people (headcount) in 2019³. Whilst the majority of landings and fish processing occur in the Grampian region, the fishing and processing industries provide an important contribution to local economies in rural and island communities, particularly in Orkney, Shetland and the Western Isles.

In the Scottish fish processing industry, there were 127 businesses processing sea fish in 2020^[1]. Table 1 shows that processing activity is concentrated in the north-east of Scotland (Grampian) with more modest levels of processing activity in "Other Scotland" and in the Highlands and Islands (where processing is on a smaller scale). 40% of processing units are located in Grampian and together they account for over 46% of total employment in the fish processing industry in Scotland.

Source: SeaFish, 2021^[2]

2.2 Do you need to consult?

We engaged with sector stakeholders in the preparation of the policy (see paragraph 3.1). There will be a 8-week public consultation on the proposed fisheries management measures, where we invite the public and stakeholders to comment and response to these proposals. Within this consultation we will ask if this policy document appropriately reflects the impacts to island communities. This would therefore be the appropriate stage to carry out further engagement on how to ensure this policy may impact the needs of different island communities and then review this Islands Communities Impact Assessment (ICIA), if required.

2.3 How does any existing data differ between islands?

The data used in modelling is of the same standard for all islands.

2.4 Are there any existing design features or mitigations in place?

Extensive engagement with a full range of stakeholders has been undertaken through this work package, from the initial designation of MPAs to the development of the fisheries management measures referred to here. By developing measures with extensive stakeholder input, this helps to ensure the correct balance between achieving the conservation objectives of the sites and allowing sustainable fishing activities to continue where possible. The majority of proposals were developed between 2013-2017 with stakeholders, and underpinned by scientific and conservation advice provided by JNCC. Following this initial round of engagement, further scientific evidence became available for some sites in 2022 and measures were updated accordingly with stakeholder input.

Some proposed measures included a zonal management approach, where fishing is restricted in certain areas within the protected area enabling fishing to continue where there would be no impact, or the risk to features was minimal. In line with The Environmental Assessment of Plans and Programmes Regulations 2004^[3], a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) has been undertaken. In addition, a Socio-economic Impact Assessment (SEIA) has also been conducted.

All proposed fisheries measures are subject to public consultation. The consultation analysis report will be completed, and proposals will be reviewed accordingly where relevant.