Marine Protected Areas in inshore waters: guidance for undertaking Socio-Economic Impact Assessments (SEIA)

Annex 1. How to use fishing data

The Scottish Government collects data on fishing vessel characteristics (length, tonnage, engine power etc), daily logbook estimates of catches at sea (voyage species, weight, ICES rectangle etc), landings data (actual weight landed), and sales information (first point of sale). This data can be used in conjunction with the methods set out in the step by step guidance, to add to the evidence base on potential impacts to fishers.

Description of the data

Spatial information is derived from two main sources:

• Self-reported location. All fishers must estimate on a daily basis the ICES rectangle (an administrative square approximately 30NM x 30NM^[19]) where the majority of the catch was taken. Additionally, the owners of Scottish vessels less than 12 metres in overall length are requested to record (on Fish1 forms or paper logbooks) the latitude and longitude to nearest minute (approx. 0.6NM x 1NM) where the majority of the catch was taken. (This information may not be available for all years).
• Vessel Monitoring System (VMS). Vessels over 12 metres in overall length are required to be fitted with a VMS device which transmits the vessel location, course, and speed every 2 hours.

Using this data, it should be possible to identify which vessels fished in MPAs before management measures were introduced, and to estimate how much fish was caught in the MPA.

Limitations of the data

• Self-reported location. It can be difficult to corroborate self-reported data from smaller vessels. A review of Fish1 data for 2017-2019 suggests that 11.5% of positions are invalid (null, on land, or too far offshore) and anecdotal information from fishers suggests that the position recorded may reflect the harbour rather than the fishing location (using an appropriate grid size can account for this partially). Whilst ICES rectangles are recorded by all vessels, they cover large areas. Again, anecdotal information suggests that some fishers record the same ICES rectangle regardless of where they fish.
• Vessel Monitoring System (VMS). VMS is only available for larger vessels, and it reports the position of the vessel rather than the gear used. The logbook-linked analysis is better suited to mobile gears (trawling or dredging) rather than static (creels, longlines, gillnets). Fishing activity is inferred from the recorded speed, but not all activity at slower speeds is fishing (vessels can be manoeuvring, dodging etc). The reporting frequency of 2 hours does not capture all activity, although assessing over longer periods can account for this.

Identifying relevant vessels

Assessing fishing activity by UK vessels with overall length of 12m or greater:

1. Filter VMS data to only retain locations at "fishing speeds" (<6kn).

2. Link the filtered VMS data to the logbook voyage using the voyage departure and return times and activity dates.

3. Identify which activity days had VMS activity at fishing speeds within an MPA boundary for the preceding 5 years.

4. Determine how many logbook days were spent within an MPA

Assessing fishing activity by Scottish vessels with overall length less than 12m:

1. Extract reported latitude and longitude on Fish1 or paper logbooks, aggregate into 0.05 decimal degree C-Square grid.

2. Identify activity dates where the grid cell intersects with an MPA boundary for the preceding 5 years, if available.

Assessing fishing activity by other UK vessels with overall length less than 12m (or Scottish vessels which have not provided locations over a sufficient period):

1. Calculate the area of the MPA as a percentage of the total sea area of an ICES rectangle

2. Identify activity dates where the ICES rectangle intersects within MPA boundary for the preceding 5 years

3. Use the percentage area value to proportion the value.

Estimating catch from MPAs

There are two potential methods that can be used to estimate the total weight and value caught in MPAs before management measures were introduced. Which method to use will depend on the quality of data available. If the logbook and VMS datasets can be linked without introducing errors, then Method 1 can be used. If these two datasets cannot be linked, then Method 2 should be used.

Method 1:

1. Categorise relevant vessels (identified in previous section) by gear type

2. Determine how much time these vessels spent fishing in the MPA and average this for the 5 year period

3. Further categorise these vessels by time spent 'fishing' in the MPA i.e. 25-50 hours, 50-75 hours etc.

4. For these vessels, for each journey where 'fishing' takes place within the MPA boundary, determine the proportion of time spent fishing in the MPA relative to outside of the MPA

5. Use this information to determine the proportion of the landed total catch, and value derived, comes from the MPA

6. This should indicate what might be lost due to fishing restrictions, and who may be worst affected

7. It will also be possible to determine where these vessels are registered and where they land their fish. This information will help to define the impact area and identify stakeholders i.e. port authorities and communities of interest.

Method 2:

1. Categorise relevant vessels (identified in previous section) by gear type

2. Analyse the landings or logbook data for these vessels looking at the amount and value of fish landed and the species targeted

3. For particular vessels e.g. those who have spent a lot of time 'fishing' in the MPA, it may be possible to look at the total number of hours spent fishing over the 3 years period and the proportion of that time spent 'fishing' within the MPA boundary. This should give an indication of the impact that the MPA might have.

4. With a narrowed down list of vessels, it will also be possible to determine where these vessels are registered and where they land their fish. This information will help to define the impact area and identify stakeholders i.e. port authorities and communities of interest.

Assessing impacts

Once the affected stakeholders have been identified the potential impact of the MPA can be estimated including:

• potential displacement
• impact on gear conflict
• impact on landings and value/volumes by gear type and in port district level
• number of vessels affected,
• income and employment impacts
• turnover and GVA

Other impacts to consider include:

• Fuel costs, if there is a need to travel further to access grounds
• Knock on effects on health, wellbeing and families e.g. stress related to reduced income, staying out on the boat longer to reduce travel time
• Knock on effects for other businesses e.g. seafood processing, fuel providers, tourism, chandlery etc.