Inner Sound of Skye inshore fisheries pilot: consultation

Annex B

Suggested Eligibility Criteria For Access To The Trawl Fishing Control Area

Based on the analysis of the Inner Sound Nephrops trawl fishery in Annex A, criteria for access to the 'trawl fishing control area' might be built around establishing that eligible vessels:

a) have fished in the Inner Sound in recent years;

b) have a pattern of regularity to their fishing activity in the area; and

c) meet or exceed the catch from the area as a percentage of the total catch from 1 April to 30 September (see Figure A.10).

Based on these conditions, eligibility criteria for access to the trawl fishing control area could be set as follows:

• at least 15% of a trawl vessel's Nephropscatch from 1 April to 30 September must come from the Inner Sound in two or more years during the three-year period 2015-17.

Applying the above criteria would mean that five vessels – out of 16 that fished in the Inner Sound during 2015-17 – would be eligible to access the control area. To illustrate the relative importance of the Inner Sound to these 16 vessels, the below chart compares the Nephrops catches of eligible and ineligible vessels.

Figure B.1: Comparison of Nephrops landed from Inner Sound and other areas by eligible and ineligible trawl vessels (2015-17)

For the five vessels that meet the suggested eligibility criteria above, Nephrops landed from the Inner Sound make up 42% of their total catch from 1 April to 30 September during 2015-17.

By contrast, Inner Sound Nephrops landed by ineligible vessels only make up 14% of their total Nephrops catch.