Management Of The Scottish Inshore Fisheries; Assessing The Options For Change

An analysis of the impacts from different options for the management of the Scottish Inshore fisheries. In particular, the report provides an appraisal of scenarios related to restrictions on the use of mobile fishing gears within one and three nautical m


10 THE BASELINE: NORTH WEST IFG ( IFG 2)

10.1 Introduction to Area

The current North West IFG comprises the original North West IFG plus part of the former Small Isle and Mull IFG north of the sound of Mull. ).

Fig 10.1. North West IFG Area

Fig 10.1. North West IFG Area

The NW IFG area covers the coastal areas of Wester Ross, a small part of West Sutherland in the north, Skye and Lochaber and Knoydart, Arisaig and Ardnamurchan.

The area is sparsely populated, the major communities being Ullapool, Lochinver, Gairloch Portree and Mallaig. Section 20.3 of this report estimated the (notional) populations of the IFG areas by allocating data zones to the nearest IFG. The population of the North West IFG was estimated to be 40,850 which is 0.80% of the Scottish population. It is also relatively remote from the big centres of population and therefore only likely to attract the more specialist and committed sea anglers and divers who are willing to take longer trips. Because of the small population, Option Values and GPNUVs will be smaller.

Many of the small towns and villages in the area rely heavily on the locally based fishing fleet of relatively small boats and the associated industries. This dependency is analysed in Section 7. This coast is heavily indented by deep sea lochs which are highly variable in character.

In the Kinlochbervie district in the north the main inshore fishery centres on lobster, with smaller landings of Nephrops and velvet crab. Around Lochinver and Ullapool the inshore activity is dominated by Nephrops creeling. In common with practice in other IFG areas, Nephrops from the creel sector are landed live mainly for live export to European markets

The Portree area has the highest concentration of inshore fishing activity and is the most diverse. There is also a significant lobster fishery within the area with vessels also taking by catches of brown crab, velvet and green crab. There is also a small scale scallop fishery at times during the year which is prosecuted by visiting dredges and local.

Marine Scotland has a significant presence in the NW IFG area. There are 5 District Fishery Offices covering the main landing centres of Kinlochbervie, Lochinver, Ullapool Portree and Mallaig.

Table 10.1. North West IFG Fishery Offices and Their Administered Ports

Kinlochbervie ( FO*) Lochinver ( FO*) Mallaig ( FO*) Portree ( FO*) Ullapool ( FO*)
Eriboll Culkein Ardnamurchan Bracadale Achiltibuie
Kinlochbervie Drumbeg Arisaig Broadford Aultbea
Scourie Kylesku r Corpach Dunvegan Gairloch
Lochinver Glenuig Kyle Ullapool
Mallaig Portree
Salen Sleat
Snizort
Strathaird
Torridon

10.2 North West Active Vessels by District and Gear Type

The Table below summarises the North West fleet. The total fleet administered by the above districts was 316 vessels in 2012. Of these, 238 of these vessels were 10 m and under. Not unexpectedly, creel vessels dominate the 10 m and under segment.

Table 10.2. North West Active Vessels by District and Gear Type

10m & under Mallaig Portree Ullapool Lochinver Kinlochbervie Total
Nephrop Trawls 1 6 5 - 2 14
Creel fishing 24 102 61 11 13 211
Other 3 2 7 - 1 13
Total 28 110 73 11 16 238
Over 10 m Pelagic Purse seine - - - - - -
Pelagic trawl - - - - - -
Other - - - - - -
Total - - - - - -
Demersal Trawl 9 2 1 1 2 15
Seine 2 - 1 - - 3
Lines - - - - - -
Other - - - - - -
Total 11 2 2 1 2 18
Shellfish Nephrop trawls 10 10 12 - 2 34
Creel fishing 1 9 10 1 1 22
Other 1 - 3 - - 4
Total 12 19 25 1 3 60
Total Over 10 m 23 21 27 2 5 78
Total All Vessels 51 131 100 13 21 316

Source: Scottish Sea Fisheries Statistics, 2012 (Table 2.5)

10.3 North West Employment by District

Table 10.3. North West IFG Catching Sector Employment

District Regularly Employed Irregularly Employed Crofters Total
Kinlochbervie 39 - 1 40
Lochinver 19 2 2 23
Mallaig 92 7 - 99
Portree 152 34 34 220
Ullapool 124 36 - 160
Total 426 79 37 542

Source Scottish Sea Fisheries Statistics 2012

This area has the highest proportion of crofters working in fishing. Indeed, there is only one other Fishery District which reports any crofters catching fish for a living (Stornoway)

10.4 North West Landings

Table 10.4. North West Landings (£'000) by District by All Vessels and Scottish Vessels

All Vessels Scottish Vessels
District Total demersal Total pelagic Total shellfish Total landings Total Landings
Kinlochbervie £11,344 £10 £2,578 £13,932 £13,538
Lochinver £28,859 £0 £3,082 £31,940 £6,307
Mallaig £2,543 £372 £9,883 £12,798 £12,063
Portree £11 £4 £7,931 £7,946 £7,901
Ullapool £8,366 £48 £6,473 £14,887 £11,895
Total £51,123 £434 £29,947 £81,503 £51,704

Source Scottish Sea Fisheries Statistics 2012 , Tables 1.6 and 1.7

There is a substantial difference between total landings and the landing by Scottish vessels. This is explained by demersal landings by non-Scottish foreign vessels at Lochinver. Pelagic landings are insignificant.

10.5 MPAs and Legislation & Regulations specific to the IFG Area

There are five MPAs within the IFG area. In the table below we have estimated the area of both the 0-1 NM and 0-3 NM that would be covered by an MPA site.

Table 10.5.1 IFG 1: MPAs in the North West IFG in 0-1 NM and 0-3 NM zones

MPA Area (KM) within 0-1 NM Area (KM) within 0-3 NM
Lochs Duich, Long and Alsh 35.7 35.7
Loch Sunart 46.9 46.9
Wester Ross 323.2 487.0
Loch Sunart to the Sound of Jura 135.1 139.4
Small Isles 173.1 557.7
Total 713.9 1266.6

Specific Legislation and Regulations:

AREA CLOSURE TIME
North of Rona Creels All Year
Loch Torridon and the Northern Inner Sound Mobile or Active Gear All Year
Southern Inner Sound Mobile or Active Gear 1 October – 31 March
Loch Gairloch Mobile or Active Gear All Year
Enard Bay Mobile or Active Gear 1 October – 31 March
Eddrachilis Bay Mobile or Active Gear 1 October – 31 March
Loch Laxford Mobile or Active Gear 1 October – 31 March
Rubh na Fearn to Inner Sound Dredging (but not suction dredging) 1 April – 30 September

The next section reports the catch value estimates derived through our manipulation of VMS and Scotmap data

10.6 North West Baseline Catch Estimates ( IFG 2)

10.6.1 North West Zone 0-1 nm

Table 10.6.1 IFG 2: Catch Value by Gear Type by Vessels 15m or Under in 0-1 NM zone

NORTH WEST 1 NM DEMERSAL PELAGIC NEPHROPS SCALLOPS OTHER SHELLFISH TOTAL
Demersal Trawl Val £0 £0 £0 £0 £0 £0
Nephrops Trawl Val £0 £0 £908,603 £0 £0 £908,603
Pelagic Lines Val £0 £11,756 £0 £0 £0 £11,756
Dredge Val £0 £0 £0 £24,229 £0 £24,229
Pots Val £0 £0 £4,169,059 £0 £1,303,053 £5,472,112
Hand Dive Val £0 £0 £0 £291,617 £0 £291,617
Total Val £0 £11,756 £5,077,662 £315,846 £1,303,053 £6,708,317

Table 10.6.2 IFG 2: Catch Value and Volume by Gear Type by Vessels Over 15m in 0-1 NM zone

NORTH WEST 1 NM DEMERSAL PELAGIC NEPHROPS KING SCALLOPS QUEEN SCALLOPS OTHER SHELLFISH TOTAL
Demersal
Trawl
Val £245,998 £397 £245,114 £0 £0 £8,956 £500,466
Vol 161 1 75 0 0 3 240
Nephrops
Trawl
Val £17,064 £24 £789,139 £0 £0 £823 £807,050
Vol 12 0 253 0 0 0 265
Pelagic
Trawl
Val £0 £30,371 £0 £0 £0 £0 £30,371
Vol 0 134 0 0 0 0 134
Other
Trawl
Val £0 £0 £2,370 £0 £0 £0 £2,370
Vol 0 0 1 0 0 0 1
Dredge Val £0 £0 £0 £366,127 £0 £0 £366,127
Vol 0 0 0 186 0 0 186
Pots Val £0 £0 £307 £0 £0 £24,808 £25,115
Vol 0 0 0 0 0 16 16
Total Val £263,063 £30,792 £1,036,931 £366,127 £0 £34,587 £1,731,500
Vol 172 135 329 186 0 19 842

Table 10.6.3 IFG 2: Catch Value by Gear Type by all Vessels in 0-1 NM zone

NORTH WEST 1nm DEMERSAL PELAGIC NEPHROPS SCALLOPS OTHER SHELLFISH TOTAL
Demersal Trawl Val £245,998 £397 £245,114 £0 £8,956 £500,466
Nephrops Trawl Val £17,064 £24 £1,697,742 £0 £823 £1,715,653
Pelagic Trawl Val £0 £30,371 £0 £0 £0 £30,371
Pelagic Lines Val £0 £11,756 £0 £0 £0 £11,756
Other Trawl Val £0 £0 £2,370 £0 £0 £2,370
Dredge Val £0 £0 £0 £390,357 £0 £390,357
Pots Val £0 £0 £4,169,367 £0 £1,327,860 £5,497,227
Hand Dive Val £0 £0 £0 £291,617 £0 £291,617
Total Val £263,063 £42,548 £6,114,593 £681,973 £1,337,640 £8,439,816

10.6.2 North West Zone 0-3 nm

Table 10.6.4 IFG 2: Catch Value by Gear Type by Vessels 15m or Under in 0-3 NM zone

NORTH WEST 3 NM DEMERSAL PELAGIC NEPHROPS SCALLOPS OTHER SHELLFISH TOTAL
Demersal Trawl Val £0 £0 £0 £0 £0 £0
Nephrops Trawl Val £0 £0 £2,061,308 £0 £0 £2,061,308
Pelagic Lines Val £0 £16,582 £0 £0 £0 £16,582
Dredge Val £0 £0 £0 £81,234 £0 £81,234
Pots Val £0 £0 £7,155,524 £0 £1,843,662 £8,999,185
Hand Dive Val £0 £0 £0 £359,727 £0 £359,727
Total Val £0 £16,582 £9,216,832 £440,962 £1,843,662 £11,518,037

Table 10.6.5 IFG 2: Catch Value and Volume by Gear Type by Vessels Over 15m in 0-3 NM zone

NORTH WEST 3 NM DEMERSAL PELAGIC NEPHROPS KING SCALLOPS QUEEN SCALLOPS OTHER SHELLFISH TOTAL
Demersal
Trawl
Val £274,172 £514 £558,437 £0 £0 £10,156 £843,280
Vol 178 1 172 0 0 3 354
Nephrops
Trawl
Val £27,666 £53 £1,989,607 £0 £0 £1,196 £2,018,521
Vol 20 0 655 0 0 0 676
Pelagic
Trawl
Val £0 £38,616 £0 £0 £0 £0 £38,616
Vol 0 170 0 0 0 0 170
Other
Trawl
Val £0 £0 £6,285 £0 £0 £0 £6,285
Vol 0 0 2 0 0 0 2
Dredge Val £0 £0 £0 £594,536 £0 £0 £594,536
Vol 0 0 0 302 0 0 302
Pots Val £0 £0 £338 £0 £0 £39,488 £39,827
Vol 0 0 0 0 0 24 24
Total Val £301,837 £39,184 £2,554,667 £594,536 £0 £50,840 £3,541,065
Vol 198 171 829 302 0 28 1,528

Table 10.6.5 IFG 2: Catch Value by Gear Type by all Vessels in 0-3 NM zone

NORTH WEST 3nm DEMERSAL PELAGIC NEPHROPS SCALLOPS OTHER SHELLFISH TOTAL
Demersal Trawl Val £274,172 £514 £558,437 £0 £10,156 £843,280
Nephrops Trawl Val £27,666 £53 £4,050,915 £0 £1,196 £4,079,830
Pelagic Trawl Val £0 £38,616 £0 £0 £0 £38,616
Pelagic Lines Val £0 £16,582 £0 £0 £0 £16,582
Other Trawl Val £0 £0 £6,285 £0 £0 £6,285
Dredge Val £0 £0 £0 £675,770 £0 £675,770
Pots Val £0 £0 £7,155,862 £0 £1,883,150 £9,039,012
Hand Dive Val £0 £0 £0 £359,727 £0 £359,727
Total Val £301,837 £55,766 £11,771,499 £1,035,497 £1,894,502 £15,059,102

10.6.3 North West Zone 0-6 nm

Table 10.6.7 IFG 2: Catch Value by Gear Type by Vessels 15m or under in 0-6 NM zone

NORTH WEST 6 NM DEMERSAL PELAGIC NEPHROPS SCALLOPS OTHER SHELLFISH TOTAL
Demersal Trawl Val £0 £0 £0 £0 £0 £0
Nephrops Trawl Val £0 £0 £2,733,183 £0 £0 £2,733,183
Pelagic Lines Val £0 £17,455 £0 £0 £0 £17,455
Dredge Val £0 £0 £0 £107,656 £0 £107,656
Pots Val £0 £0 £8,402,514 £0 £2,226,886 £10,629,400
Hand Dive Val £0 £0 £0 £403,740 £9,099 £412,839
Total Val £0 £17,455 £11,135,696 £511,396 £2,235,985 £13,900,532

Table 10.6.8 IFG 8: Catch Value and Volume by Gear Type by Vessels Over 15m in 0-6 NM zone

NORTH WEST 6nm DEMERSAL PELAGIC NEPHROPS KING SCALLOPS QUEEN SCALLOPS OTHER SHELLFISH TOTAL
Demersal Val £299,267 £514 £699,591 £0 £0 £12,904 £1,012,276
Trawl Vol 191 1 215 0 0 4 411
Nephrops Val £47,607 £201 £2,874,404 £0 £0 £1,810 £2,924,021
Trawl Vol 35 0 939 0 0 1 976
Pelagic Val £38,616 £0 £0 £0 £0 £0 £38,616
Trawl Vol 0 170 0 0 0 0 170
Other Val £0 £0 £6,285 £0 £0 £0 £6,285
Trawl Vol 0 0 2 0 0 0 2
Dredge Val £0 £0 £0 £710,494 £0 £0 £710,494
0 Vol 0 0 0 366 0 0 366
Pots Val £0 £0 £338 £0 £0 £43,029 £43,367
0 Vol 0 0 0 0 0 27 27
Total Val £385,490 £715 £3,580,617 £710,494 £0 £57,743 £4,735,059
0 Vol 227 172 1,156 366 0 32 1,951

Table 10.6.9 IFG 2: Catch Value by Gear Type by all Vessels in 0-6 NM zone

NORTH WEST 6nm DEMERSAL PELAGIC NEPHROPS SCALLOPS OTHER SHELLFISH TOTAL
Demersal Trawl Val £299,267 £514 £699,591 £0 £12,904 £1,012,276
Nephrops Trawl Val £47,607 £201 £5,607,586 £0 £1,810 £5,657,204
Pelagic Trawl Val £38,616 £0 £0 £0 £0 £38,616
Pelagic Lines Val £0 £17,455 £0 £0 £0 £17,455
Other Trawl Val £0 £0 £6,285 £0 £0 £6,285
Dredge Val £0 £0 £0 £818,150 £0 £818,150
Pots Val £0 £0 £8,402,852 £0 £2,269,914 £10,672,766
Hand Dive Val £0 £0 £0 £403,740 £9,099 £412,839
Total Val £385,490 £18,170 £14,716,314 £1,221,890 £2,293,728 £18,635,591

10.6.4 North West Zone 0-12 nm

Table 10.6.10 IFG 2: Catch Value by Gear Type by Vessels 15m or under in 0-12 NM zone

NORTH WEST 12nm DEMERSAL PELAGIC NEPHROPS SCALLOPS OTHER SHELLFISH TOTAL
Demersal Trawl Val £0 £0 £0 £0 £0 £0
Nephrops Trawl Val £0 £0 £3,290,759 £0 £0 £3,290,759
Pelagic Lines Val £0 £18,254 £0 £0 £0 £18,254
Dredge Val £0 £0 £0 £134,632 £0 £134,632
Pots Val £0 £0 £8,585,370 £0 £2,344,831 £10,930,201
Hand Dive Val £0 £0 £0 £403,740 £9,099 £412,839
Total Val £0 £18,254 £11,876,129 £538,372 £2,353,930 £14,786,685

Table 10.6.11 IFG 2: Catch Value and Volume by Gear Type by Vessels Over 15m in 0-12 NM zone

NORTH WEST 12nm DEMERSAL PELAGIC NEPHROPS KING SCALLOPS QUEEN SCALLOPS OTHER SHELLFISH TOTAL
Demersal
Trawl
Val £315,034 £514 £856,371 £0 £0 £13,527 £1,185,445
Vol 200 1 265 0 0 4 470
Nephrops
Trawl
Val £71,116 £425 £4,049,072 £0 £0 £3,049 £4,123,662
Vol 55 1 1,310 0 0 1 1,367
Pelagic
Trawl
Val £0 £115,748 £0 £0 £0 £0 £115,748
Vol 0 316 0 0 0 0 316
Other
Trawl
Val £0 £0 £6,285 £0 £0 £0 £6,285
Vol 0 0 2 0 0 0 2
Dredge Val £0 £0 £0 £723,649 £0 £0 £723,649
Vol 0 0 0 371 0 0 371
Pots Val £0 £0 £338 £0 £0 £145,980 £146,318
Vol 0 0 0 0 0 95 95
Total Val £386,149 £116,688 £4,912,066 £723,649 £0 £162,555 £6,301,108
Vol 254 317 1,577 371 0 101 2,621

Table 10.6.12 IFG 2: Catch Value by Gear Type by all Vessels in 0-12 NM zone

NORTH WEST 12nm DEMERSAL PELAGIC NEPHROPS SCALLOPS OTHER SHELLFISH TOTAL
Demersal Trawl Val £315,034 £514 £856,371 £0 £13,527 £1,185,445
Nephrops Trawl Val £71,116 £425 £7,339,831 £0 £3,049 £7,414,421
Pelagic Trawl Val £0 £115,748 £0 £0 £0 £115,748
Pelagic Lines Val £0 £18,254 £0 £0 £0 £18,254
Other Trawl Val £0 £0 £6,285 £0 £0 £6,285
Dredge Val £0 £0 £0 £858,281 £0 £858,281
Pots Val £0 £0 £8,585,708 £0 £2,490,811 £11,076,519
Hand Dive Val £0 £0 £0 £403,740 £9,099 £412,839
Total Val £386,149 £134,942 £16,788,195 £1,262,021 £2,516,485 £21,087,793

10.6.5 North West Summary Tables

Table 10.6.13 IFG 2: Catch Value by Gear Type From Shore to Zones Outer Limits

NORTH WEST 1nm % 3nm % 6nm % 12nm %
Demersal Trawl £500,466 5.9% £843,280 5.6% £1,012,276 5.4% £1,185,445 5.6%
Nephrops Trawl £1,715,653 20.3% £4,079,830 27.1% £5,657,204 30.4% £7,414,421 35.2%
Pelagic Trawl £30,371 0.4% £38,616 0.3% £38,616 0.2% £115,748 0.5%
Pelagic Lines £11,756 0.1% £16,582 0.1% £17,455 0.1% £18,254 0.1%
Other Trawl £2,370 0.0% £6,285 0.0% £6,285 0.0% £6,285 0.0%
Dredge £390,357 4.6% £675,770 4.5% £818,150 4.4% £858,281 4.1%
Pots £5,497,227 65.1% £9,039,012 60.0% £10,672,766 57.3% £11,076,519 52.5%
Hand Dive £291,617 3.5% £359,727 2.4% £412,839 2.2% £412,839 2.0%
Total £8,439,816 100.0% £15,059,102 100.0% £18,635,591 100.0% £21,087,793 100.0%
% 40.0% 71.4% 88.4% 100.0%

Table 10.6.14 IFG 2: Catch Value by Gear Type For Each Zone

NORTH WEST 0-1nm % 1-3nm % 3-6nm % 6-12nm %
Demersal Trawl £500,466 5.9% £342,814 5.2% £168,997 4.7% £173,169 7.1%
Nephrops Trawl £1,715,653 20.3% £2,364,177 35.7% £1,577,374 44.1% £1,757,217 71.7%
Pelagic Trawl £30,371 0.4% £8,245 0.1% £0 0.0% £77,132 3.1%
Pelagic Lines £11,756 0.1% £4,826 0.1% £873 0.0% £799 0.0%
Other Trawl £2,370 0.0% £3,915 0.1% £0 0.0% £0 0.0%
Dredge £390,357 4.6% £285,414 4.3% £142,380 4.0% £40,131 1.6%
Pots £5,497,227 65.1% £3,541,785 53.5% £1,633,754 45.7% £403,753 16.5%
Hand Dive £291,617 3.5% £68,110 1.0% £53,112 1.5% £0 0.0%
Total £8,439,816 100.0% £6,619,286 100.0% £3,576,489 100.0% £2,452,202 100.0%

Table 10.6.15 IFG 2: Catch Value by Gear Type From Shore to Zones Outer Limits

NORTH WEST 1nm % 3nm % 6nm % 12nm %
Fixed £5,497,227 65.1% £9,039,012 60.0% £10,672,766 57.3% £11,076,519 52.5%
Mobile £2,639,217 31.3% £5,643,781 37.5% £7,532,531 40.4% £9,580,180 45.4%
Other £303,373 3.6% £376,309 2.5% £430,294 2.3% £431,093 2.0%
Total £8,439,816 100.0% £15,059,102 100.0% £18,635,591 100.0% £21,087,793 100.0%

Table 10.6.16 IFG 2: Catch Value by Vessel Size From Shore to Zones Outer Limits

NORTH WEST 1nm % 3nm % 6nm % 12nm %
Small £6,708,317 79.5% £11,518,037 76.5% £13,900,532 74.6% £14,786,685 70.1%
Large £1,731,500 20.5% £3,541,065 23.5% £4,735,059 25.4% £6,301,108 29.9%
Total £8,439,816 100.0% £15,059,102 100.0% £18,635,591 100.0% £21,087,793 100.0%

Table 10.6.17 IFG 2: Catch Value by Fin Fish and Shellfish From Shore to Zones Outer Limits

NORTH WEST 1nm % 3nm % 6nm % 12nm %
Finfish £305,610 3.6% £357,603 2.4% £789,865 4.2% £1,023,929 4.9%
Shellfish £8,134,206 96.4% £14,701,499 97.6% £17,845,726 95.8% £20,063,864 95.1%
Total £8,439,816 100.0% £15,059,102 100.0% £18,635,591 100.0% £21,087,793 100.0%

From the above tables, it is estimated that value of landings in 2011 in the IFG water (i.e. 0-6 nm) by Scottish vessels is £18,6 m of which 45.2% is caught within 1 NM and 80% within 0-3nm. The relatively small contribution of 3 – 6 NM is a very similar profile to the South West IFG area's catch. The is probably explained by the similar coastal topography of large lochs indenting the coast and offshore islands lying close to or within 3 NM, which results in a smaller proportion of the IFG territory lying within 3-6 NM from the coast.

The big difference between the South West and North West is that in the NW of the 15 m and under vessels and static gears take the biggest proportion of the catch by value.

Contact

Back to top