Clyde landing obligations and application: EIR release

Information requested

1. Does Marine Scotland have another figure (estimate) for Clyde cod (nephrops trawl) discards?

2. Can you please supply the figures for Clyde cod landed via the landings obligation? 

3. Can you account for any discrepancy between those datasets? 

4. What figures do Marine Scotland have regarding Clyde cod discards/Bycatch in nephrops trawl?

5. If the [nephrops trawl/cod bycatch] figure turns out to be somewhere between 500 and 1500 ton for the Scottish west coast inshore trawl bycatch of cod, is it still reasonable to consider this negligible, at what point would Marine Scotland consider those figures non negligible? 

6. What figures {do Marine Scotland} have for the west of Scotland inshore more generally and what % of the estimated cod biomass that yearly bycatch figure represents?

7. Do Marine Scotland agree that this figure is an accurate reflection of the scale of cod discarding in the Clyde?

8. Are cod below MLS counted as part of the landings obligation (or otherwise counted against quota)?

9. Given that 100 ton was estimated to be 2/3 out of every cod in the Clyde and that bycatches of this % are estimated to have a dramatic population level impact, on what basis is the claim "catches of fish in the Clyde Nephrop trawl fishery are negligible", being qualified?

10. Do Marine Scotland recognise/agree with the 2/3 of all Clyde cod being caught as nephrops bycatch in each year and do you have any plans/proposals to address this concerning issue?

Response

As the information you have requested is ‘environmental information’ for the purposes of the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (EIRs), we are required to deal with your request under those Regulations. We are applying the exemption at section 39 (2) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA), so that we do not also have to deal with your request under FOISA.

This exemption 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 exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption, because there is no public interest in dealing with the same request under two different regimes. This is essentially a technical point and has no material effect on the outcome of your request.

Turning to each of your queries, the following questions have been considered under the EIRs.

For questions number 1-5 below, we do not hold any information on these, and have provided an explanation for this beneath each question.

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested. Therefore we are refusing your request under the exception at regulation 10(4)(a) of the EIRs. Under the terms of the exception at regulation 10(4)(a) of the EIRs (information not held), the Scottish Government is not required to provide information which it does not have.

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 have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exception. While we recognise that there may be some public interest in information relating to this subject, clearly we cannot provide information which we do not hold.

For some additional context in relation to questions 1 to 5 below and our responses, there is a fundamental issue in that we cannot distinguish between ‘Clyde cod’ and other cod in the landings data that we hold. Cod landed into Clyde ports may or may not be from the Clyde area, and similarly there may be Clyde cod landed into ports away from the Clyde.

1. Does Marine Scotland have another figure (estimate) for Clyde cod (nephrops trawl) discards?

The Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested because we do not calculate estimates of unwanted fish bycatch specifically for the Clyde. Estimates for the area of the West of Scotland are provided to the ICES Working Group WGCSE for the assessment for the West of Scotland cod stock.

2. Can you please supply the figures for Clyde cod landed via the landings obligation?

The Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested because we do not collate figures of landed fish specifically for the Clyde. In addition, to note that there is not a separate category of landings for ‘fish landed under the landing obligation’, the landing obligation is a requirement to land all species of quota fish unless subject to a specific exemption as provided for under the relevant legislation.

3. Can you account for any discrepancy between those datasets?

The Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested above specifically for the Clyde, and therefore cannot account for any discrepancy, if one exists, between the datasets.

4. What figures do Marine Scotland have regarding Clyde cod discards/Bycatch in nephrops trawl?

The Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested because we do not collate discards/bycatch figures specifically for the Clyde.

5. If the [nephrops trawl/cod bycatch] figure turns out to be somewhere between 500 and 1500 ton for the Scottish west coast inshore trawl bycatch of cod, is it still reasonable to consider this negligible, at what point would Marine Scotland consider those figures non negligible?

The Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested because we do not calculate estimates or record bycatch figures specifically for the Clyde.

6. What figures {do Marine Scotland} have for the west of Scotland inshore more generally and what % of the estimated cod biomass that yearly bycatch figure represents?

You may find it useful to note the below figures comparing cod bycatch in the Nephrops trawl fishery and West of Scotland cod Total Stock Biomass (TSB) as shown in Table 1 below and indicate the bycatch is around 2-3% of the total stock biomass.
 

Year	TR2 cod bycatch estimates (t)	TSB (t)	%age caught
2012	137.62	5813	2.37%
2013	331.74	6582	5.04%
2014	98.91	8237	1.20%
2015	200.10	9541	2.10%
2016	250.16	9292	2.69%
2017	233.90	7854	2.98%
2018	72.00	5489	1.31%
2019	87.62	4064	2.16%
2020	96.82	3987	2.43%

Table 1: Estimates of cod bycatch from Scottish Nephrops trawlers (TR2 cod bycatch) in tonnes for the West of Scotland cod stock, total stock biomass (TSB) in tonnes (ICES, 2021), and the percentage of TSB bycaught by Scottish Nephrops trawlers for the years 2012-2020.

As the following questions are not requests for recorded information, we have provided a response outwith the EIRs. You may find it helpful to consider the advice from the Office of the Scottish Information Commissioner which outlines what can be asked for under an FoI or EIR request.

7. Do Marine Scotland agree that this figure is an accurate reflection of the scale of cod discarding in the Clyde?

We can confirm that Professor Heath has calculated the estimate of 100 tonnes in the West of Scotland using preliminary estimates (of mean weight per trip of unwanted catch by species) for 2011-2017 calculated by MSS in 2018. These estimates were calculated using data collected by MSS & SFF scientific observers on Nephrops vessels fishing in the Clyde. The observers take measurements of bycaught fish that the fishers do not want to land for commercial sales “unwanted catch” but do not record the destination of these fish.

MSS do not calculate estimates of unwanted fish bycatch specifically for the Clyde but can confirm Prof Heath’s calculations of bycatch weight appear to be correct. We note that these estimates will have high variability and will vary substantially from year to year.

8. Are cod below MLS counted as part of the landings obligation (or otherwise counted against quota)?

The landing obligation applies to all fish subject to available quota, regardless of size, unless covered by an appropriate exemption. There are a number of de minimis exemptions in place across different species, sea areas and fleet segments, which permit the discarding of small fish below the Minimum Conservation Reference Size (MCRS – previously known as Minimum Landing Size).

A certain percentage of catches of species subject to the landing obligation are permitted to be discarded in accordance with the de minimis exemption. This exemption is used in the following cases where:
a) scientific evidence shows further improvements in selectivity is difficult to achieve, for example beyond those measures already applied – please see our published landing obligation guidance on selectivity measures.
b) there is disproportionate cost to fishermen in handling unwanted catches.

As a general rule, all fish that are caught should be appropriately recorded and counted against quota (if subject to quota management rules). All cod caught must be recorded in the fishing vessel’s logbook even if it is permitted to be discarded under an exemption and therefore should be recorded in the COMPASS database.

9. Given that 100 ton was estimated to be 2/3 out of every cod in the Clyde and that bycatches of this % are estimated to have a dramatic population level impact, on what basis is the claim "catches of fish in the Clyde Nephrop trawl fishery are negligible", being qualified?

For clarity, the original response is implying that catches of cod are negligible compared to catches of Nephrops. It does not say they are negligible compared to the size of the cod stock.

10. Do Marine Scotland recognise/agree with the 2/3 of all Clyde cod being caught as nephrops bycatch in each year and do you have any plans/proposals to address this concerning issue?

The estimate of 2/3 of the Clyde cod population being taken as bycatch in the Nephrops trawl fishery is based on the bycatch estimate mentioned above for 2011- 2017 and an estimate of total population size of 3.5 million for 2018-2021.

Prof Heath stated: “The average size of the fish that are caught in the bycatch is 15cm, and on average they weigh about 46g, so 100 tonnes equates to 2 million fish.” (RAINE committee report Official Report (parliament.scot)). However preliminary results from observer data indicate that the mean size of the fish in the bycatch are more likely to be around 25 cm, with mean weight of around 200g, indicating that the number of bycaught fish is more likely to be in the region of 500,000 fish, approximately ¼ of Prof Heath’s estimate.

The estimate of population size appears to be based on analysis of limited survey data and is described as a very rough estimate by Prof Heath. There is no published assessment of population size for Clyde cod (it is currently considered as part of the wider 6a cod assessment by ICES) and data are extremely limited. Without further details of how the value has been calculated it is difficult to comment on its reliability. Furthermore, given the paucity of both survey data and discard samples, estimates of both bycatch and population size are likely to be highly uncertain. In addition, this estimate of population size pertains to 2018-2021, whereas an estimate for the years to which the discard estimates pertain (2011-2017) would likely be approx. three times higher, (Figure 2 in the RAINE response from MASTS Response 247263922 to Sea Fish (Prohibition on Fishing) (Firth of Clyde) (No. 2) Order 2022 (SSI 2022/35) - Scottish Parliament - Citizen Space).

Thus it would seem that the estimate that 2/3 cod are bycaught could be based on a flawed approach. Firstly the assumed size of the bycaught fish is very small, and leads to too high an estimate of number of fish. Secondly the bycatch estimate for 2011-17 is compared to a population estimate for 2018-21, rather than an estimate of the equivalent population during the same time frame (2011-17) which was substantially larger. This results in a bycatch estimate that is potentially too high being compared to a population estimate that is potentially too low.

Marine Scotland therefore conclude that the estimate that 2/3 Clyde cod is bycaught is likely to be too high. However we re-iterate the statement above, that without further details of how these estimates have been calculated it is difficult to comment on their reliability. MSS are currently considering research proposals looking at estimation of bycatch and stock assessment for demersal fish in the Clyde using MSS fishery sampling and survey data.

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