Nephrops fleet - optimisation modelling: policy brief

Background to Scotland’s Nephrops Fishing Fleet

From the two key gear types (trawl and creel) referred to previously, Nephrops tend to either be landed whole, sometimes live, or tailed. Some primary processing occurs on-board the vessel when only the tails of the Nephrops are landed. These two broad categories of landing tend to serve different markets in different countries. Whole fresh and live Nephrops are mostly exported to EU markets, while tailed Nephrops tend to go to the domestic scampi market.

Of the 18,000 tonnes (liveweight) of Nephrops landed by Scottish vessels in 2018, the breakdown by gear type and whole or tailed are:

• 1,300 tonnes (liveweight) was landed whole by creel, worth around £9 million, priced at around £6,900 per tonne. 
• 6,800 tonnes (liveweight) was landed whole by trawl, worth around £34 million, priced at around £5,100 per tonne. 
• 9,800 tonnes (liveweight) was landed tailed by trawl, worth around £17 million, priced at around £1,800 per tonne.