Scottish sea fisheries statistics: technical manual

Glossary of terms

Many of the terms used in the annual Scottish Sea Fisheries Statistics publication are not in common usage so a glossary of terms is included to aid understanding.

Active Vessel

Active Vessel is a fishing vessel that is registered and licensed to fish and marked as ‘active’ in the MS database. Fishers can request to be marked as ‘inactive’ if they do not intend to do any fishing. However, this does not mean that all vessels marked ‘active’ do any fishing in a given year.

Administration Port

Administration Port is a vessel’s ‘home’, the port that is responsible for administration of the vessel, including its licence. A vessel can be registered to any port but will be administered from a port with a local Fisheries Administration office. This publication gives details of vessels and landings down to the level of port districts, or groups of ports that have one Marine Scotland office to administer the ports in that district.

Demersal

Demersal fish live close to the seabed e.g. cod, haddock, monkfish. Pelagic fish live close to the surface, within the water column between above the seabed and below the surface.

e-Log or electronic logbooks

e-Log or electronic logbooks are mandatory for vessels of 12 metres long or over, though under-12 metres vessels may also choose to use e-logs. A fisher has to record their fishing activity in a logbook and submit it to their fisheries administration.

Engine Power

Engine Power is a measure of the power of a fishing vessel’s engine in kilowatts (kW). This helps to provide a more complete picture of vessel capacity than the number of vessels alone would. Where an engine has been permanently de-rated and this has been declared to the Register of Shipping and Seamen (RSS), this is the de-rated engine power; otherwise, it is the maximum continuous engine power (MCEP) declared to the RSS. Where neither of these is available, the registered engine power is used.

FISH1 forms

FISH1 forms are similar to logbooks but for ten metre and under vessels. Under Scottish legislation, these vessels have to submit electronic or paper FISH1 forms to Marine Scotland offices for entry into the database. As the other parts of the UK do not have legislation that enforces this, other Fisheries Administrations in the UK provide statistics on 10 metres and under vessels on a sample instead of full coverage basis.

Fishers Employed

Fishers Employed is defined as people working at sea on a commercial fishing vessel, classified as “Regular” or “Irregular” according to whether commercial fishing is their main occupation or not. Irregular was previously called part time. Crofters who gain some part of their living from fishing are also included.

Fishing Areas

Fishing Areas are defined by an international convention. The immediate waters around the UK are subdivided into ICES Sub-areas: IV (North Sea), VI (West of Scotland) and VII. VII is further divided into Western Approaches, VIIg,h; the Irish Sea, VIIa; and the English Channel, VIId,e. Each fishing area is also broken down into ICES rectangles.

Fish Producer Organisations

Fish Producer Organisations (POs) are institutions set up in accordance with EC regulations to improve the market for their members' catches. POs may also be granted responsibility by Fisheries Administrations for the management of fish quotas in addition to this function.

Gross Tonnage

Gross Tonnage is a volumetric measurement of vessel capacity, or the amount of space inside the vessel, under the rules of the ITC69 (International Tonnage Convention).

International Council for the Exploration of the Sea

ICES or the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea coordinates and promotes marine research on oceanography, the marine environment, the marine ecosystem, and on living marine resources in the North Atlantic. They provide

impartial scientific advice on setting fishing quotas.

ICES Rectangles

ICES Rectangles are areas of the sea defined by ICES (see above) that are 30 nautical miles (nm) by 30 nm. They have codes based on a grid reference e.g. ‘41E7’. A set of rectangles come together to form an ICES fishing area e.g. IVa Northern North Sea (see fishing areas above).The landings data in this publication and data on fishing effort are also available by individual ICES rectangles in Scottish waters on the Scottish Government website.

Inshore fishing

Inshore fishing is within 12 (nm) of the coast. Only vessels registered to that country can fish within that area. Between 12 and 200 nm, called the offshore zone, all European Union member state vessels can fish in any EU member state’s waters.

Landing Declarations

Landing Declarations provide information on the species, weight and presentationof landed fish. Under EU legislation, Scottish vessels landing into the UK are required to submit their log sheets to the authorities within 48 hours of landing for paper logbooks or 24 hours if provided electronically. Scottish vessels landing abroad are required to dispatch copies of their landings declaration to the vessels home port within 48 hours for paper logs or 24 hours for electronic submissions.

Live Weight Equivalent

Live Weight Equivalent is the weight of fish when first removed from the water before it is processed aboard the vessel (for example by gutting). Where, for example, fishers report the gutted weight, the live weight is calculated by using a standard conversion factor based on the species and the presentation of the fish when it is landed. The conversion factors are worked out by scientific research.

Logbook

Logbook entries provide details on fishing activities and voyages. Logbooks also detail the fishing gear used and net mesh size. The locations of catches are recorded in logbooks by ICES statistical rectangles and areas. Catch information for each fishing operation include details of the species caught. Scottish vessels landing into the UK are required to submit their log sheets to the UK authorities within 24 hours of landing, while those that land at foreign ports must dispatch copies of their log sheets to the vessels administration port within 24 hours.

Main Fishing Method

Main Fishing Methodis determined by calculating which fishing gear is used to catch the majority of the vessel’s landings (by value). Prior to 2020 this referred to the most common method of fishing a vessel intends to use, as specified by the vessel owner on their licence application. The actual fishing gear used by the vessel in any one activity may not be the same as that for the declared main fishing method.

Nephrops

Nephrops (Nephrops norvegicus) are also known as Norway lobster, langoustine, Dublin Bay prawns or scampi. Not to be confused with other species that can also commonly be called ‘prawns’.

Pelagic species

Pelagic species are found mainly in shoals in midwater or near the surface of the sea e.g. herring and mackerel. Demersal species live near the seabed.

Port Districts

Port Districts are collections of individual ports that come together to form one unit for fisheries administration. Each port district is responsible for managing the vessels, fisheries and data reporting in their area. In Scotland, there are eighteen port districts.

Quota Fish

Quota Fish are species that subject to international quotas. Quotas are the tonnage of fish of different species that may be legally landed from defined sea areas by individual countries. The U.K. Quotas are divided up and allocated to Fish Producer Organisations according to the number of Fixed Quota Allocation units held by the Producer Organisation and their member vessels. National quotas are negotiated as a share of the Total Allowable Catch (see below).

Register of Buyers and Sellers

Register of Buyers and Sellers is a scheme of registration for Buyers and Sellers of first sale of fish and designation of fish auction sites. This requires RegisteredBuyers and Sellers to submit sales notes that show the details of the fish being bought and the price paid for it. Sales notes should be submitted within 24 hours of sale by the registered buyer of the fish, except at designated auction sites where the seller has the responsibility for submitting sale notes. Registered Buyers and Sellers with an annual turnover of £175,000 in first sale of fish are required to submit their sales notes electronically. See https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/buyers-and-sellers-of-first-sale-fish-and-submission-of-sales-notes/buyers-and-sellers-of-first-sale-fish.

Scottish Government Marine Directorate

Marine Scotland is a Fisheries Administration that enforces sea fisheries protection viaCompliance and manages Scotland’s seas.

Seining (seine net)

Seining (seine net) is a method for catching fish where the net is set on very long ropes designed to herd or contain the fish into the middle of the net. After the fish have been surrounded by the net, it is slowly hauled back to the vessel.

Shellfish

Shellfish in this publication covers all crustaceans, molluscs and cephalopods (like octopus).

Total Allowable Catch (TAC)

Total Allowable Catch (TAC) is the maximum permitted tonnage of a given species in a defined area that can be caught by vessels of any country. TACs are set at the December Council negotiations between the EU Member States and other Coastal States (Norway, Faroe Islands, Russia, and Iceland).

Trawling

Trawling is when a vessel or two vessels (pair trawling) tow a net through the sea. Different net designs allow fishers to fish for pelagic fish, demersal fish or Nephrops.