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Fishing industry in Scotland

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Scottish fishing boats moored in Fraserburgh.
Scottish fishing boats moored in Fraserburgh.

The fishing industry in Scotland comprises a significant proportion of the United Kingdom fishing industry. A recent inquiry by the Royal Society of Edinburgh found fishing to be of much greater social, economic and cultural importance to Scotland than it is relative to the rest of the UK. Scotland has just 8.4 per cent of the UK population but lands at its ports over 60 per cent of the total catch in the UK.[1]

Many of these are ports in relatively remote communities such as Kinlochbervie and Lerwick, which are scattered along an extensive coastline and which, for centuries, have looked to fishing as the main source of employment. Restrictions imposed under the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) affect all European fishing fleets, but they have proved particularly severe in recent years for the demersal fish or whitefish sector (boats mainly fishing for cod, haddock and whiting) of the Scottish fishing industry.

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Fishing industry

Fishing industry

The fishing industry includes any industry or activity concerned with taking, culturing, processing, preserving, storing, transporting, marketing or selling fish or fish products. It is defined by the Food and Agriculture Organization as including recreational, subsistence and commercial fishing, and the related harvesting, processing, and marketing sectors. The commercial activity is aimed at the delivery of fish and other seafood products for human consumption or as input factors in other industrial processes. The livelihood of over 500 million people in developing countries depends directly or indirectly on fisheries and aquaculture.

Royal Society of Edinburgh

Royal Society of Edinburgh

The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was established in 1783. As of 2021, there are around 1,800 Fellows.

Port

Port

A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manchester and Duluth; these access the sea via rivers or canals. Because of their roles as ports of entry for immigrants as well as soldiers in wartime, many port cities have experienced dramatic multi-ethnic and multicultural changes throughout their histories.

Kinlochbervie

Kinlochbervie

Kinlochbervie is a scattered harbour village in the north west of Sutherland, in the Highland region of Scotland. It is the most northerly port on the west coast of Scotland.

Lerwick

Lerwick

Lerwick is the main town and port of the Shetland archipelago, Scotland. Shetland's only burgh, Lerwick had a population of about 7,000 residents in 2010.

Coast

Coast

The coast, also known as the coastline or seashore, is defined as the area where land meets the ocean, or as a line that forms the boundary between the land and the coastline. Shores are influenced by the topography of the surrounding landscape, as well as by water induced erosion, such as waves. The geological composition of rock and soil dictates the type of shore which is created. The Earth has around 620,000 kilometres (390,000 mi) of coastline. Coasts are important zones in natural ecosystems, often home to a wide range of biodiversity. On land, they harbor important ecosystems such as freshwater or estuarine wetlands, which are important for bird populations and other terrestrial animals. In wave-protected areas they harbor saltmarshes, mangroves or seagrasses, all of which can provide nursery habitat for finfish, shellfish, and other aquatic species. Rocky shores are usually found along exposed coasts and provide habitat for a wide range of sessile animals and various kinds of seaweeds. In physical oceanography, a shore is the wider fringe that is geologically modified by the action of the body of water past and present, while the beach is at the edge of the shore, representing the intertidal zone where there is one. Along tropical coasts with clear, nutrient-poor water, coral reefs can often be found between depths of 1–50 meters.

Employment

Employment

Employment is a relationship between two parties regulating the provision of paid labour services. Usually based on a contract, one party, the employer, which might be a corporation, a not-for-profit organization, a co-operative, or any other entity, pays the other, the employee, in return for carrying out assigned work. Employees work in return for wages, which can be paid on the basis of an hourly rate, by piecework or an annual salary, depending on the type of work an employee does, the prevailing conditions of the sector and the bargaining power between the parties. Employees in some sectors may receive gratuities, bonus payments or stock options. In some types of employment, employees may receive benefits in addition to payment. Benefits may include health insurance, housing, disability insurance. Employment is typically governed by employment laws, organisation or legal contracts.

Common Fisheries Policy

Common Fisheries Policy

The Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) is the fisheries policy of the European Union (EU). It sets quotas for which member states are allowed to catch each type of fish, as well as encouraging the fishing industry by various market interventions. In 2004 it had a budget of €931 million, approximately 0.75% of the EU budget.

Europe

Europe

Europe is a continent comprising the westernmost peninsulas of Eurasia, located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with both Africa and Asia. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east. Europe is commonly considered to be separated from Asia by the watershed of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Greater Caucasus, the Black Sea and the waterways of the Turkish Straits.

Demersal fish

Demersal fish

Demersal fish, also known as groundfish, live and feed on or near the bottom of seas or lakes. They occupy the sea floors and lake beds, which usually consist of mud, sand, gravel or rocks. In coastal waters they are found on or near the continental shelf, and in deep waters they are found on or near the continental slope or along the continental rise. They are not generally found in the deepest waters, such as abyssal depths or on the abyssal plain, but they can be found around seamounts and islands. The word demersal comes from the Latin demergere, which means to sink.

Cod

Cod

Cod is the common name for the demersal fish genus Gadus, belonging to the family Gadidae. Cod is also used as part of the common name for a number of other fish species, and one species that belongs to genus Gadus is commonly not called cod.

Haddock

Haddock

The haddock is a saltwater ray-finned fish from the family Gadidae, the true cods. It is the only species in the monotypic genus Melanogrammus. It is found in the North Atlantic Ocean and associated seas where it is an important species for fisheries, especially in northern Europe where it is marketed fresh, frozen and smoked; smoked varieties include the Finnan haddie and the Arbroath smokie.

Fishing areas

The main fishing areas are the North Sea and the seas west of Scotland.

Historical development

Fish have been recognised as a major food source from the earliest times. Fishing was important to the earliest settlers in Scotland, around 7000 BC. At this stage, fishing was a subsistence activity, undertaken only to feed the fisher and their immediate community. By the medieval period, salmon and herring were important resources and were exported to continental Europe, and the towns of the Hanseatic League in particular. As the industry developed, "fishertouns" and villages sprang up to supply the growing towns and fishing became more specialised. The many religious houses in Scotland acted as a spur to fisheries, granting exclusive fishing rights and demanding part of their tithes in fish.[1]

A medieval view of fishing, by Peter Brueghel the Elder (1556).
A medieval view of fishing, by Peter Brueghel the Elder (1556).

In the early 19th century, the British Government began to subsidise the catches of herring boats larger than 60 tons, plus an additional bounty on all herring sold abroad. This, coupled with the coming of the railways as a means of more rapid transport, gave an opportunity to Scottish fishermen to deliver their catches to markets much more quickly than in the past. Herring is considered a delicacy on the Continent and was caught relatively easily off the Coast of Scotland – off the East Coast during winter and spring, off the North Coast of Scotland and Shetland during the summer months and, in the autumn, off the Coast of East Anglia. At this time, there were as many as 30,000 vessels involved in herring fishing the East Coast, not to mention others in the Irish Sea.[1]

At the peak of the Herring Boom in 1907, 2,500,000 barrels of fish (227,000 tonnes) were cured and exported, the main markets being Germany, Eastern Europe and Russia. The traditional method used for catching herring was the drift net. A long net in the form of a curtain was suspended from corks floating on the surface. The fish were trapped by the gills as they swam against the net. In the sheltered waters around Loch Fyne in Argyll, ring-netting for herring developed. The method involved surrounding a shoal of herring with a net and then pulling the ring tight to trap them.

Before the 1880s, long-lining was the usual method used to catch white fish such as cod, halibut, saithe, ling and flat fish which live at the bottom of the sea. It was very labour-intensive but resulted in a high-quality catch. Small line fishing was a family affair with women and children responsible for preparing the equipment. This was a line, up to a mile in length, to which were attached snoods or shorter pieces of line which were baited with fish or shellfish. Great line fishing was similar to small line fishing but was undertaken in deeper waters, further out to sea. The lines could be up to 15 miles (24 km) in length and would be fitted with 5,000 hooks. The fishermen usually baited the lines on the boat. Because of the work involved in preparing and hauling the lines, new methods of catching white fish were sought. Trawling was introduced into Scotland from England in the late 19th century and, from the 1920s, seine-netting was introduced from Denmark.[2]

The First World War interrupted the growth of the industry with many fishermen enlisting the Royal Naval Reserve. They returned to a declining industry which was further interrupted by the Second World War in 1939. After 1945 much of the effort became concentrated on whitefish with an additional sector exploiting shellfish. Technical developments have concentrated fishing in the hands of fewer fishermen operating more efficient vessels and, although the annual value of catches continued to rise, the number of people working in the industry fell.[1]

The fishing industry in Scotland continued to decline up to the Second World War, in terms of the numbers employed in the industry, with commercial fishing virtually grinding to a halt during the war years. The post-war years saw the development of a fleet heavily based on otter trawling, less involved in distant-water fishing than the English fishing sector.

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Fish

Fish

Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of living fish species are ray-finned fish, belonging to the class Actinopterygii, with around 99% of those being teleosts.

Food

Food

Food is any substance consumed by an organism for nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or fungal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals. The substance is ingested by an organism and assimilated by the organism's cells to provide energy, maintain life, or stimulate growth. Different species of animals have different feeding behaviours that satisfy the needs of their metabolisms that have evolved to fill a specific ecological niche within specific geographical contexts.

Salmon

Salmon

Salmon is the common name for several commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the family Salmonidae, which are native to tributaries of the North Atlantic and North Pacific basin. Other closely related fish in the same family include trout, char, grayling, whitefish, lenok and taimen.

Herring

Herring

Herring are forage fish, mostly belonging to the family of Clupeidae.

Continental Europe

Continental Europe

Continental Europe or mainland Europe is the contiguous continent of Europe, excluding its surrounding islands. It can also be referred to ambiguously as the European continent, – which can conversely mean the whole of Europe – and, by some, simply as the Continent. When Eurasia is regarded as a single continent, Europe is treated as a subcontinent, and called as European subcontinent.

Hanseatic League

Hanseatic League

The Hanseatic League was a medieval commercial and defensive confederation of merchant guilds and market towns in Central and Northern Europe. Growing from a few North German towns in the late 12th century, the League between the 13th and 15th centuries ultimately encompassed nearly 200 settlements, across seven modern-day countries ranging from Estonia in the north and east to the Netherlands in the west and Kraków, Poland, in the south.

Tithe

Tithe

A tithe is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Today, tithes are normally voluntary and paid in cash or cheques or more recently via online giving, whereas historically tithes were required and paid in kind, such as agricultural produce. After the separation of church and state, church tax linked to the tax system are instead used in many countries to support their national church. Donations to the church beyond what is owed in the tithe, or by those attending a congregation who are not members or adherents, are known as offerings, and often are designated for specific purposes such as a building program, debt retirement, or mission work.

Loch Fyne

Loch Fyne

Loch Fyne, is a sea loch off the Firth of Clyde and forms part of the coast of the Cowal peninsula. Located on the west coast of Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It extends 65 kilometres (40 mi) inland from the Sound of Bute, making it the longest of the sea lochs in Scotland. It is connected to the Sound of Jura by the Crinan Canal. Although there is no evidence that grapes have grown there, the title is probably honorific, indicating that the river, Abhainn Fìne, was a well-respected river.

Argyll

Argyll

Argyll, sometimes called Argyllshire, is a historic county and registration county of western Scotland.

Royal Naval Reserve

Royal Naval Reserve

The Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) is one of the two volunteer reserve forces of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom. Together with the Royal Marines Reserve, they form the Maritime Reserve. The present RNR was formed by merging the original Royal Naval Reserve, created in 1859, and the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (RNVR), created in 1903. The Royal Naval Reserve has seen action in World War I, World War II, the Iraq War, and War in Afghanistan.

Bottom trawling

Bottom trawling

Bottom trawling is trawling along the seafloor. It is also referred to as "dragging". The scientific community divides bottom trawling into benthic trawling and demersal trawling. Benthic trawling is towing a net at the very bottom of the ocean and demersal trawling is towing a net just above the benthic zone. Bottom trawling can be contrasted with midwater trawling, where a net is towed higher in the water column. Midwater trawling catches pelagic fish such as anchovies and mackerel, whereas bottom trawling targets both bottom-living fish (groundfish) and semi-pelagic species such as cod, squid, shrimp, and rockfish.

History of national waters

The concept of "freedom of the seas" has endured since the seventeenth century, when the Dutch merchant and politician, Hugo Grotius, defended the Dutch Republic's trading in the Indian Ocean, with the argument of "mare librum", based on the idea that fish stocks were so abundant that there could be no possible benefit obtained by claiming national jurisdiction over large areas of sea.[3] His arguments prevailed, and freedom of the seas became synonymous with the freedom to fish.[4] Countries such as Scotland had claimed exclusive rights to fishing in inshore waters as early as the fifteenth century, but there was no formal consensus as to how far off shore these areas extended. This ad hoc situation was codified by legislation in the 1930 Hague Convention on International Law. However, only Chile and Peru claimed more than a few miles of territorial waters. This system endured until the 1970s, when it became apparent to nations with large fishery resources that "their" stocks were being overexploited by non-local fishermen. The 1973 UN Conference on Law of the Sea allowed 200-nautical-mile (370 km) national limits, which were immediately claimed by a number of countries.

Trends in landings of Cod, Haddock, Whiting and Norway Pout from the North Sea (1961-2004).
Trends in landings of Cod, Haddock, Whiting and Norway Pout from the North Sea (1961-2004).

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Scottish Adjacent Waters Boundaries Order 1999

Scottish Adjacent Waters Boundaries Order 1999

The Scottish Adjacent Waters Boundaries Order 1999 is a statutory instrument of the United Kingdom government, defining the boundaries of internal waters, territorial sea, and British Fishing Limits adjacent to Scotland. It was introduced in accordance with the Scotland Act 1998, which established the devolved Scottish Parliament.

Hugo Grotius

Hugo Grotius

Hugo Grotius, also known as Huig de Groot and Hugo de Groot, was a Dutch humanist, diplomat, lawyer, theologian, jurist, poet and playwright. A teenage prodigy, he was born in Delft and studied at Leiden University. He was imprisoned in Loevestein Castle for his involvement in the intra-Calvinist disputes of the Dutch Republic, but escaped hidden in a chest of books that was transported to Gorinchem. Grotius wrote most of his major works in exile in France.

Dutch Republic

Dutch Republic

The United Provinces of the Netherlands, officially the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands, and commonly referred to in historiography as the Dutch Republic, was a confederation that existed from 1579 until the Batavian Revolution in 1795. It was a predecessor state of the present-day Netherlands. The republic was established after seven Dutch provinces in the Spanish Netherlands revolted against Spanish rule, forming a mutual alliance against Spain in 1579 and declaring their independence in 1581. It comprised Groningen, Frisia, Overijssel, Guelders, Utrecht, Holland and Zeeland.

Indian Ocean

Indian Ocean

The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering 70,560,000 km2 (27,240,000 sq mi) or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by the Southern Ocean or Antarctica, depending on the definition in use. Along its core, the Indian Ocean has some large marginal or regional seas such as the Arabian Sea, Laccadive Sea, Bay of Bengal, and Andaman Sea.

Jurisdiction

Jurisdiction

Jurisdiction is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United States, areas of jurisdiction apply to local, state, and federal levels.

Chile

Chile

Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country located in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes Mountains and the Pacific Ocean. With an area of 756,096 square kilometers (291,930 sq mi) and a population of 17.5 million as of 2017, Chile shares borders with Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage to the south. The country also controls several Pacific islands, including Juan Fernández, Isla Salas y Gómez, Desventuradas, and Easter Island, and claims about 1,250,000 square kilometers (480,000 sq mi) of Antarctica as the Chilean Antarctic Territory. The capital and largest city of Chile is Santiago, and the national language is Spanish.

Peru

Peru

Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pacific Ocean. Peru is a megadiverse country with habitats ranging from the arid plains of the Pacific coastal region in the west to the peaks of the Andes mountains extending from the north to the southeast of the country to the tropical Amazon basin rainforest in the east with the Amazon River. Peru has a population of over 32 million, and its capital and largest city is Lima. At 1,285,216 km2, Peru is the 19th largest country in the world, and the third largest in South America.

Trisopterus esmarkii

Trisopterus esmarkii

Trisopterus esmarkii, the Norway pout, is a species of fish in the cod family. It is found in the Barents Sea, North Sea, Baltic Sea, off the coasts of Norway, Iceland, the British Isles and elsewhere in the northeast Atlantic Ocean. It prefers depths between 100 and 200 m (330–660 ft), but occurs from 50 to 300 m (160–980 ft). Norway pout can reach 35 cm (14 in), but are more common at around 19 cm (7.5 in).

Gadoid outburst and Common Fisheries Policy

Fisheries are mentioned briefly in the Treaty of Rome.

"The Common Market shall extend to agriculture and trade in agricultural products. ‘Agricultural products’ means the products of the soil, of stockfarming and of fisheries and products of first stage processing directly related to these products."

Fisheries policy was seen, therefore, as an extension of the arrangements for agriculture, and the European Commission interpreted this as requiring a common policy dealing with fisheries. In 1968 the first proposals were put to the Council of Ministers for a Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). Implementation of the CFP was delayed by the difficulty in member states reaching agreement on the provisions of the legislation required. An agreement on the two regulations which make up the CFP was eventually reached on the night of 30 June 1970 - the day that negotiations were due to start for the accession of the UK, Ireland, Denmark and Norway. The six existing members were keen that a CFP should be in place before negotiations began and should therefore become part of the acquis communautaire, which new members would have to accept as settled policy.[1]

The late 1960s and early 1970s were characterised by a sudden and unexplained increase in the abundance of a number of gadoid species (cod, haddock, whiting, etc.), the gadoid outburst. In this period the gadoid species in Scottish waters all produced a series of exceptionally strong year classes which have not been seen repeated in the intervening period. This great abundance, coupled with the price support system that subsidised fishermen when prices fell, contained in the CFP, lead to heavy investment in new boats, equipment and processing capacity in the Scottish whitefish fleet.[5]

Britain's negotiating position was complicated by the conflicting interest of the inshore and distant water fishermen. The Scottish fleet had a strong interest in seeing the exclusive 12 mile (22.2 km) limit retained; but the UK Government was also pressed by the distant water fleet, mainly, but not solely based on the east coast of England, which wanted to continue fishing off Iceland, Norway and the Faroe Islands. The distant water fishermen were, of course, strongly opposed to any extension of territorial waters of any country, including the UK. The drama of the cod war with Iceland was still to come, with Britain's attempt to protect the interests of its distant water fleet. Compromise was reached when it was agreed that the applicant countries would retain their 6-mile (11 km) exclusive limits, and their 12-mile (19 km) limits subject to existing historical rights, for substantial parts of their coastline, preventing continental European vessels fishing in much of the Scottish west coast, including all of the Minch and Irish Sea. These limits have been renewed in legislation on two occasions, and although these rights are not a permanent feature of the policy, it is unlikely now that they will ever be extinguished, especially in the light of the need to conserve fish stocks.[1]

In January 1977, at the behest of the EEC, the UK and other member states extended their Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs) to 200 miles (370.4 km) or to the median line with other countries. This followed the extension of exclusive fisheries limits by Iceland, Norway, the United States and Canada to 200 miles (320 km). By this time Norway had decided by referendum not to join the EEC, as had the Faroe Islands, which, as a Danish dependency, had the option to join but did not do so. The 12-200 mile zone around Scotland, has never, therefore, been fished solely by the Scottish fishing industry, but is a direct consequence of the adoption of the CFP into British law.

The outcome of the negotiations was considered by fishermen's representative bodies at the time to be a success. The extension of the 12-mile (19 km) limit to the whole coastline (including St Kilda and North Rona and enclosing the Minch) gave Scotland one of the largest areas of inshore fishing in Europe, and the same limits as before entry to the EEC.

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Treaty of Rome

Treaty of Rome

The Treaty of Rome, or EEC Treaty, brought about the creation of the European Economic Community (EEC), the best known of the European Communities (EC). The treaty was signed on 25 March 1957 by Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and West Germany, and it came into force on 1 January 1958. Originally the "Treaty establishing the European Economic Community", and now continuing under the name "Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union", it remains one of the two most important treaties in what is now the European Union (EU).

Agriculture

Agriculture

Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, fisheries and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to live in cities. While humans started gathering grains at least 105,000 years ago, nascent farmers only began planting them around 11,500 years ago. Sheep, goats, pigs and cattle were domesticated around 10,000 years ago. Plants were independently cultivated in at least 11 regions of the world. In the twentieth century, industrial agriculture based on large-scale monocultures came to dominate agricultural output.

European Commission

European Commission

The European Commission (EC) is part of the executive of the European Union (EU), together with the European Council. It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission headed by a President. It includes an administrative body of about 32,000 European civil servants. The Commission is divided into departments known as Directorates-General (DGs) that can be likened to departments or ministries each headed by a Director-General who is responsible to a Commissioner.

Common Fisheries Policy

Common Fisheries Policy

The Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) is the fisheries policy of the European Union (EU). It sets quotas for which member states are allowed to catch each type of fish, as well as encouraging the fishing industry by various market interventions. In 2004 it had a budget of €931 million, approximately 0.75% of the EU budget.

Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the second-largest island of the British Isles, the third-largest in Europe, and the twentieth-largest in the world.

Denmark

Denmark

Denmark is a Nordic constituent country in Northern Europe. It is the most populous and politically central constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the autonomous territories of the Faroe Islands and Greenland in the North Atlantic Ocean. Metropolitan Denmark is the southernmost of the Scandinavian countries, lying south-west and south of Sweden, south of Norway, and north of Germany, with which it shares a short land border, its only land border.

Norway

Norway

Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of Norway. Bouvet Island, located in the Subantarctic, is a dependency of Norway; it also lays claims to the Antarctic territories of Peter I Island and Queen Maud Land. The capital and largest city in Norway is Oslo.

Acquis communautaire

Acquis communautaire

The Community acquis or acquis communautaire, sometimes called the EU acquis and often shortened to acquis, is the accumulated legislation, legal acts and court decisions that constitute the body of European Union law that came into being since 1993. The term is French: acquis meaning "that which has been acquired or obtained", and communautaire meaning "of the community".

Faroe Islands

Faroe Islands

The Faroe Islands, or simply the Faroes, are a North Atlantic island group and an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark.

Territorial waters

Territorial waters

The term territorial waters is sometimes used informally to refer to any area of water over which a sovereign state has jurisdiction, including internal waters, the territorial sea, the contiguous zone, the exclusive economic zone, and potentially the extended continental shelf. In a narrower sense, the term is used as a synonym for the territorial sea.

Irish Sea

Irish Sea

The Irish Sea is an extensive body of water that separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is linked to the Celtic Sea in the south by St George's Channel and to the Inner Seas off the West Coast of Scotland in the north by the North Channel. Anglesey, North Wales, is the largest island in the Irish Sea, followed by the Isle of Man. The term Manx Sea may occasionally be encountered.

North Rona

North Rona

Rona is a remote, uninhabited Scottish island in the North Atlantic. Rona is often referred to as North Rona to distinguish it from South Rona. It has an area of 109 hectares and a maximum elevation of 108 metres (354 ft). It is included within the historic county of Ross-shire.

Current status

Updated statistics from the UK's Marine Management Organisation on the UK fishing sector show that UK vessels landed 724 thousand tonnes of sea fish in 2017, with a value of £980 million. Scottish vessels accounted for 64 per cent of the quantity of landings by the UK fleet while English vessels accounted for 28 per cent. [6] The current status of the fishing industry in Scotland is best considered on a sector-by-sector basis, as each faces different problems and opportunities.

Demersal fleet

The Scottish demersal fleet has been facing economically difficult times for several years due to the decline of cod and haddock in the North Sea, which were the mainstay of catches. The fleet has declined from around 800 vessels in 1992 to just over 400 in 2004. This sector catches a diverse range of species and, although cod and haddock are important components, together accounting for 40% of the total landings, in absolute value they represent only a modest turnover of £55m.[1] Commercial performance of the sector has been dominated by the difficulties over cod, particularly in recent years with the implementation of the European "Cod Recovery Plan", but have also been affected by a scarcity of haddock and other demersal species. In recent years much of the demersal industry has been supported by the abundant 1999 year-class of haddock.[7]

Nephrops fleet

Nephrops norvegicus
Nephrops norvegicus
A small Nephrops trawler leaving Ullapool harbour
A small Nephrops trawler leaving Ullapool harbour

Nephrops norvegicus is a small crustacean better known as langoustine or scampi, and, by value, is the single most economically important species caught by the Scottish fishing industry, with landings in 2005 worth £38.5m, as compared to £22.4m for haddock, the next most significant species.[8] The Nephrops fleet is varied in its makeup, with larger trawlers fishing in the central North Sea, and smaller vessels trawling in coastal waters, and significant landings coming from vessels fishing with creels or lobster pots, particularly on the west coast. Nephrops lives on patches of soft mud, in which it excavates burrow systems. The distribution of the species is therefore limited by the extent of these mud patches, which are found in the Firth of Forth, Moray Firth, the North and South Minches, the Clyde estuary, and the Fladen ground, in the centre of the North Sea. Juveniles and females spend most of their time inside these burrows, with males venturing out more frequently. This difference in behaviour, coupled with the inherent problem in measuring the age of crustaceans, means that standard stock assessment techniques cannot be used. Nephrops stocks are assessed by surveying their habitat with TV cameras to count the number of burrows. This is then used to calculate an average population density, and from their to calculate a biomass for a particular area. The total allowable catch is set as a proportion of this biomass.[7] Nephrops stocks in the North Minch have decreased considerably in recent years (ICES). The creel fishery in Loch Torridon was first certified as sustainable in 2003 by the Marine Stewardship Council but the certificate was suspended on 11 January 2011.[9][10]

Pelagic sector

The commercial performance of this sector suffered a near terminal setback during the 1970s, when the herring fisheries in the North Sea and west of Scotland collapsed and had to be closed. As stocks recovered and as it became possible to separate the catching of herring and mackerel, the sector recovered. It became apparent that the domestic market for herring had disappeared, and mackerel became the dominant source of earnings. These trends encouraged a number of enterprising fishermen to set about investing in the modernisation of the fleet through the commissioning of new, state-of-the-art vessels. The pelagic fleet is now highly centralised, based in Shetland and north east Scotland, with a fleet of 27 vessels generating gross earnings of £98M.[1] The general view is that substantial profit and excellent returns on investment are being achieved by this sector. 2006 raids by the Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency (SFPA) on a number of fish processors revealed large-scale misreporting of landings by pelagic vessels.[11] This led to the Scottish component of pelagic quotas being reduced for several years to "repay" this over-exploitation.

Fish processing industry

The Scottish fish processing industry accounts for 49 per cent of the turnover of UK fish processing industry.[1] Geographical distribution of the turnover of the Scottish industry is 77 % around Aberdeen; 24% in central and southern Scotland; and 11 per cent in the Highlands and Islands.[1] The industry forms an integral part of the fishing-based economy. It accounts for more jobs than the catching industry and aquaculture combined, with the added significance that it provides employment for women in otherwise male-dominated labour markets. Two distinct sub-sectors make up the processing industry: the primary processors involved in the filleting and freezing of fresh fish for onward distribution to fresh fish retail and catering outlets, and the secondary processors producing chilled, frozen and canned products for the retail and catering trades.[1] The current situation of the processing sector reflects the fortunes of the catching industry. Those involved in processing pelagic fishes and shellfish (together with farmed fish) are expanding their operations, while those engaged in whitefish processing are in difficulty.[1] One of the major problems facing the processing sector is the scarcity of labour in isolated rural communities. Difficulties in attracting local labour reflect the low pay, the seasonal or casual nature of employment and the poor work environment compared with office or supermarket jobs. The high turnover of labour and high levels of absenteeism experienced in some plants adds significantly to labour costs. As a result, firms are now turning increasingly to agency labour and the employment of unskilled (and occasionally illegal[12]) immigrant workers.[1]

Discover more about Current status related topics

Marine Management Organisation

Marine Management Organisation

The Marine Management Organisation (MMO) is an executive non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom established under the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009, with responsibility for English waters. The MMO exists to make a significant contribution to sustainable development in the marine area, and to promote the UK government's vision for clean, healthy, safe, productive and biologically diverse oceans and seas. The MMO aims to focus all of its activities and resources to meet its mission of enabling sustainable growth in the UK's marine area through 5 strategic outcomes:1. Marine businesses support sustainable growth in the UK economy 2. The marine environment is protected for current and future generations 3. Coastal communities are thriving and engaged 4. Our decisions are trusted 5. Be a highly effective public body

Fishing industry in England

Fishing industry in England

The fishing industry in England covers the fish processing industry and fishing trawler companies that fish around England.

Nephrops norvegicus

Nephrops norvegicus

Nephrops norvegicus, known variously as the Norway lobster, Dublin Bay prawn, shlobster (shrimp-lobster), langoustine or scampi, is a slim, coral colored lobster which grows up to 25 cm (10 in) long, and is "the most important commercial crustacean in Europe". It is now the only extant species in the genus Nephrops, after several other species were moved to the closely related genus Metanephrops. It lives in the north-eastern Atlantic Ocean, and parts of the Mediterranean Sea, but is absent from the Baltic Sea and Black Sea. Adults emerge from their burrows at night to feed on worms and fish.

Creel (basket)

Creel (basket)

A creel is a wicker basket usually used for carrying fish or blocks of peat. It is also the cage used to catch lobsters and other crustaceans.

Firth of Forth

Firth of Forth

The Firth of Forth is the estuary, or firth, of several Scottish rivers including the River Forth. It meets the North Sea with Fife on the north coast and Lothian on the south.

Moray Firth

Moray Firth

The Moray Firth is a roughly triangular inlet of the North Sea, north and east of Inverness, which is in the Highland council area of north of Scotland. It is the largest firth in Scotland, stretching from Duncansby Head in the north, in the Highland council area, and Fraserburgh in the east, in the Aberdeenshire council area, to Inverness and the Beauly Firth in the west. Therefore, three council areas have Moray Firth coastline: Highland to the west and north of the Moray Firth and Highland, Moray and Aberdeenshire to the south. The firth has more than 800 kilometres of coastline, much of which is cliff.

River Clyde

River Clyde

The River Clyde is a river that flows into the Firth of Clyde in Scotland. It is the ninth-longest river in the United Kingdom, and the third-longest in Scotland. It runs through the major city of Glasgow. Historically, it was important to the British Empire because of its role in shipbuilding and trade. To the Romans, it was Clota, and in the early medieval Cumbric language, it was known as Clud or Clut. It was central to the Kingdom of Strathclyde.

Loch Torridon

Loch Torridon

Loch Torridon is a sea loch on the west coast of Scotland in the Northwest Highlands. The loch was created by glacial processes and is in total around 15 miles (25 km) long. It has two sections: Upper Loch Torridon to landward, east of Rubha na h-Airde Ghlaise, at which point it joins Loch Sheildaig; and the main western section of Loch Torridon proper. Loch a' Chracaich and Loch Beag are small inlets on the southern shores of the outer Loch, which joins the Inner Sound between the headlands of Rubha na Fearna to the south and Red Point to the north.

Marine Stewardship Council

Marine Stewardship Council

The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) is a non-profit organization which aims to set standards for sustainable fishing. Fisheries that wish to demonstrate they are well-managed and sustainable compared to the MSC's standards are assessed by a team of Conformity Assessment Bodies (CABs).

Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency

Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency

The Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency (SFPA) was an Executive Agency of the Scottish Government. On 1 April 2009, the Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency and Fisheries Research Services were merged with the Scottish Government Marine Directorate to form Marine Scotland, part of the core Scottish Government.

Aquaculture

Aquaculture

Aquaculture, also known as aquafarming, is the controlled cultivation ("farming") of aquatic organisms such as fish, crustaceans, mollusks, algae and other organisms of value such as aquatic plants. Aquaculture involves cultivating freshwater, brackish water and saltwater populations under controlled or semi-natural conditions, and can be contrasted with commercial fishing, which is the harvesting of wild fish. Mariculture, commonly known as marine farming, refers specifically to aquaculture practiced in seawater habitats and lagoons, as opposed to freshwater aquaculture. Pisciculture is a type of aquaculture that consists of fish farming to obtain fish products as food.

Pelagic fish

Pelagic fish

Pelagic fish live in the pelagic zone of ocean or lake waters—being neither close to the bottom nor near the shore—in contrast with demersal fish that do live on or near the bottom, and reef fish that are associated with coral reefs.

Associated organisations

The fishing industry in Scotland is supported by a number of governmental and non-governmental organisations.

Fisheries research in Scotland

Fisheries research in Scotland dates back to the foundation of the Scottish Marine Station, near Oban and the Gatty Marine Laboratory at St Andrews in 1884. Government involvement in fisheries research began in 1899 with the foundation of the Aberdeen Marine Laboratory, now part of Marine Scotland. Marine Scotland operates two research vessels, the ocean-going MRV Scotia and the smaller inshore vessel MRV Alba Na Mara.

Non-governmental fisheries research is carried out at a number of Scottish universities and institutes, including deep-sea research at the University of Aberdeen's Oceanlab at Newburgh, marine mammal research at the University of St Andrews, research on the Clyde estuary ecosystem at the Millport Biological Station on the Isle of Cumbrae, and fisheries research at the Scottish Association of Marine Science (SAMS) near Oban, and the North Atlantic Fisheries College at Scalloway in Shetland, both part of the University of the Highlands and Islands project.

Industry organisations

There are numerous organisations representing different sectors of the industry, including the Scottish Fishermen's Federation (SFF), which was formed in 1973 from eight constituent local fishermen's organisations. The SFF lobbies for the interests of Scottish fishermen at national and international levels in Edinburgh, London and Brussels. The Federation also plays a role in fisheries science by coordinating industry cooperation with scientific partners. The different industrial sectors each have representative organisations, such as the Scottish Whitefish Producers Organisation or the Scottish Seafood Processors Federation.

In 2017 the Communities Inshore Fisheries Alliance was established to respond to common needs throughout the mobile, static, diving and landline fisheries and onshore fishing businesses in Scotland, currently its members include the Clyde Fishermen's Association, Western Isles Fishermen's Association, West Coast Scallop Association, Dunbar Fishermen's Association, Orkney Fishermen's Association, Galloway Static Gear Association and a range of fishing businesses and scientists representatives such as SAMS.

The SCFF is an organisation representing static creel, hand-line and dive fishing. (around 85 per cent of the Scottish inshore fleet are thought to be creel boats).[13]

The promotion of fish and fish products along with economic analysis of fisheries is carried out by Sea Fish Industry Authority (Seafish) – a non-departmental public body funded by a levy on fish sales – and their Scottish partner organisation, Seafood Scotland.

Regulation and enforcement

The Marine Scotland patrol vessel MV Jura
The Marine Scotland patrol vessel MV Jura

Whilst the international aspect of European fisheries negotiation, such as the setting of quotas, remain a reserved power, the implementation of fisheries regulations is devolved to the Scottish Parliament and is administered and enforced by Marine Scotland.

Discover more about Associated organisations related topics

Scottish Association for Marine Science

Scottish Association for Marine Science

The Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS) is one of Europe's leading marine science research organisations, one of the oldest oceanographic organisations in the world and is Scotland's largest and oldest independent marine science organisation.

Oban

Oban

Oban is a resort town within the Argyll and Bute council area of Scotland. Despite its small size, it is the largest town between Helensburgh and Fort William. During the tourist season, the town can have a temporary population of up to over 24,000 people. Oban occupies a setting in the Firth of Lorn. The bay forms a near perfect horseshoe, protected by the island of Kerrera; and beyond Kerrera, the Isle of Mull. To the north, is the long low island of Lismore and the mountains of Morvern and Ardgour.

Marine Scotland

Marine Scotland

The Marine Scotland Directorate is a directorate of the Scottish Government. Marine Scotland manages Scotland's seas and freshwater fisheries along with delivery partners NatureScot and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency.

Research vessel

Research vessel

A research vessel is a ship or boat designed, modified, or equipped to carry out research at sea. Research vessels carry out a number of roles. Some of these roles can be combined into a single vessel but others require a dedicated vessel. Due to the demanding nature of the work, research vessels may be constructed around an icebreaker hull, allowing them to operate in polar waters.

MRV Alba-Na-Mara

MRV Alba-Na-Mara

Marine Research Vessel (MRV) Alba-Na-Mara is a small marine and fisheries research vessel, operated by the Marine Scotland directorate of the Scottish Government.

Newburgh, Aberdeenshire

Newburgh, Aberdeenshire

Newburgh is a coastal village in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The village dates to 1261 AD, when Lord Sinclair wanted to establish a chapel in the area. Originally built as a school, somewhat later the chapel of Holy Rood was established.

Marine mammal

Marine mammal

Marine mammals are aquatic mammals that rely on the ocean and other marine ecosystems for their existence. They include animals such as seals, whales, manatees, sea otters and polar bears. They are an informal group, unified only by their reliance on marine environments for feeding and survival.

River Clyde

River Clyde

The River Clyde is a river that flows into the Firth of Clyde in Scotland. It is the ninth-longest river in the United Kingdom, and the third-longest in Scotland. It runs through the major city of Glasgow. Historically, it was important to the British Empire because of its role in shipbuilding and trade. To the Romans, it was Clota, and in the early medieval Cumbric language, it was known as Clud or Clut. It was central to the Kingdom of Strathclyde.

Scalloway

Scalloway

Scalloway is the largest settlement on the west coast of the Mainland, the largest island of the Shetland Islands, Scotland. The village had a population of roughly 900, at the 2011 census. Now a fishing port, until 1708 it was the capital of the Shetland Islands.

Shetland

Shetland

Shetland, also called the Shetland Islands and formerly Zetland, is a subarctic archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the Faroe Islands, and Norway. It is the northernmost region of the United Kingdom.

Edinburgh

Edinburgh

Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. The city was historically part of the county of Midlothian, but was administered separately from the surrounding county from 1482. It is located in Lothian on the southern shore of the Firth of Forth. Edinburgh is Scotland's second-most populous city, after Glasgow, and the seventh-most populous city in the United Kingdom.

London

London

London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a 50-mile (80 km) estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major settlement for two millennia. The City of London, its ancient core and financial centre, was founded by the Romans as Londinium and retains its medieval boundaries. The City of Westminster, to the west of the City of London, has for centuries hosted the national government and parliament. Since the 19th century, the name "London" has also referred to the metropolis around this core, historically split between the counties of Middlesex, Essex, Surrey, Kent, and Hertfordshire, which since 1965 has largely comprised Greater London, which is governed by 33 local authorities and the Greater London Authority.

Source: "Fishing industry in Scotland", Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, (2023, January 31st), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fishing_industry_in_Scotland.

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Notes
  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Royal Society of Edinburgh, 2004
  2. ^ Pitcher et al, 1982
  3. ^ Jennings et al, 2001
  4. ^ FAO
  5. ^ Hislop, 1996
  6. ^ Marine Management Organisation (27 September 2018). "Fishing industry in 2017 statistics published". gov.uk. Retrieved 16 October 2018.
  7. ^ a b WGNSSK
  8. ^ Sea Fisheries Scottish Government. Retrieved 22 June 2009.
  9. ^ Loch Torridon nephrops creel fishery Marine Stewardship Council. Retrieved 6 April 2011.
  10. ^ Certificate suspension Loch Torridon Nephrops creel Fishery January 2011.
  11. ^ "Raid on fish processing factory". 11 May 2006 – via news.bbc.co.uk.
  12. ^ 'Gangmaster' raids on north east BBC News, 25 March 2004.
  13. ^ "Scottish Creel Fishermen's Federation || About SCFF". www.scottishcreelfishermensfederation.co.uk.
References
  • Hislop J.R.G. (1996) Changes in North Sea gadoid stocks. ICES Journal of Marine Science, Volume 53, Number 6, pp. 1146–1156(11)
  • Jennings, S., Kaiser, M.J. & Reynolds, J.D. (2001) Marine Fisheries Ecology. Blackwell Publishing ltd., Oxford. 417pp.
  • Payne, A.I.L., O'Brien, C.M. & Rogers, S.I. (2004) Management of Shared Fish Stocks. Blackwell Publishing ltd., Oxford. 367pp.
  • Pitcher, T.J. & Hart, P.J.B. (1982) Fishies Ecology. Chapman & Hall, London. 414pp.
  • Report of the ICES Working Group on the North Sea and Skagerrak.
  • Royal Society of Edinburgh (2004) Inquiry into the future of the Scottish fishing industry Archived 7 October 2016 at the Wayback Machine 128pp.
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