Advice
Management considerationsTo protect the stock in this Functional Unit, management is required to be implemented at the Functional Unit level.
The advised landings for 2010 imply a reduction of 37% relative to the 2008 landings (2 500 t). ICES advice is for F
max instead of F
0.1 because increased landings in earlier years have coincided with an increase in stock implying perhaps that the present level of exploitation could be sustainable. Even though in the longer term the differences in total catch are expected to be small, the move to F
0.1 as a target would imply significant initial reductions in catch. In this case a stepwise approach could be considered. A reduction of the catch corresponding to F
max could be an intermediate step toward F
0.1 (as a proxy for F
msy). Alternatively, a constraint on the year to year change in catches as is typical of management plans and the Communication on Fishing Opportunities for 2010 [COM (2009) 224] might be considered.
Nephrops discard rates in this Functional Unit are high and there is a need to reduce these and to improve the exploitation pattern. An additional reason for suggesting improved selectivity in this area relates to bycatch. It is important that efforts are made to ensure that other fish are not taken as unwanted bycatch in this fishery which uses 80mm mesh. Larger square mesh panels implemented as part of the Scottish Conservation Credits scheme should help to improve the exploitation pattern for some species such as haddock and whiting.