Scottish Natural Capital Accounts: 2021

Annex A: Fish capture provisioning and sustainability

The sustainability of fish capture will be integrated into future UK and Scottish natural capital accounts. To maintain consistency with the UK 2020 accounts, this methodological improvement was not implemented for this account.

For all fish species across different areas in UK waters, we estimate whether fishing is sustainable using The International Council for the Exploration of the Sea stock assessments. This does not include wider externalities from fishing. For each stock we check that fishing pressure is at or below levels capable of producing maximum sustainable yield. We also check if each stock's spawning biomass is at or above the level capable of producing the maximum sustainable yield. Across the years in Scotland, we can determine stock sustainability for 88% of the fish capture tonnage, leaving 12% as unknown.

In Scotland, from 2015 to 2019, the percentage of sustainable fish capture increased from 37% to 62%. The percentage of fish caught where sustainability is unknown increased from 11% in 2015 to 15% in 2019. Within this time series, the largest year on year improvement on sustainable fishing occurred from 2015 to 2016, as a result of mackerel fishing becoming sustainable.

Percentage of Scottish fish capture that is sustainable, unsustainable and fish capture where sustainability is unknown, Scotland, 2015 to 2019

Source: Office for National Statistics, Marine Management Organisation, Seafish, Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries and The International Council for the Exploration of the Sea

In 2018, 78% of the value of fish capture from the Scottish EEZ was sustainable - around £188 million of £240 million. In 2018, 12% of Scottish landed fish value came from unsustainably sourced fish and 10% came from landed fish where sustainability is not known.

Value of landed Scottish sustainable fish, unsustainable fish, and fish with unknown sustainability, £ million, 2019 prices, Scotland, 2015 to 2018

Source: Office for National Statistics, Marine Management Organisation, Seafish, Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries and The International Council for the Exploration of the Sea