National Marine Plan - EU exit: interpretive guidance

4. References to the Common Fisheries Policy

4.1. The National Marine Plan contains references to the "EU Common Fisheries Policy" (CFP).^[26] The CFP comprised around 100 EU Regulations that were directly applicable in the UK. As a consequence of EU exit, those EU Regulations have been incorporated into domestic law and amended so that they work appropriately following EU exit, or in some cases, revoked. References to the "EU Common Fisheries Policy" or "the Common Fisheries Policy" should be read as references to those fisheries Regulations that have been incorporated into domestic law. The exception to this general rule is the reference to the CFP in footnote 65. Part 1 of Chapter 6 of the Plan should be read as if that footnote were omitted.

4.2. The Plan references "the EU's obligation to land all catches of quota stocks",^[27] a policy implemented under the CFP. The obligation to land all catches of quota stocks still exists, therefore this sentence should be read as if "EU's" were omitted.

4.3. Paragraph 6.43, contains references to existing spatial management measures, such as areas closed to fishing to protect vulnerable marine ecosystems on the Rockall Bank and Darwin Mounds, which "are managed at an EU level or through the North East Atlantic Fisheries Commission (NEAFC)". These existing measures remain in effect but are either instead managed by the Scottish Ministers or, as previously, through NEAFC. In the same paragraph, the Plan states that "National measures can be put in place by Scottish Ministers but outside the 6-mile zone other EU Member States are not obliged to observe these closures". As a result of EU exit, EU Member State vessels are now obliged to observe all closures up to 200 nautical miles. Paragraph 6.43 should be read accordingly.