Fleet threatened by quota cuts based on uncertain advice
The financial viability of Shetland’s fishing fleet is under threat as crews face quota cuts to their most valuable catch, based on advice that scientists have admitted is uncertain.
The International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) is recommending a swingeing 30% cut to monkfish quotas for 2023. If accepted by politicians, this would mean a cut of around 70% in monkfish quotas compared to 2019.
Yet - in their note accompanying the advice - the ICES scientists acknowledge that their assessment is riddled with uncertainties, as stock survey work was hampered by COVID-19 and vessel breakdown.
Also known as anglerfish, monkfish was the most valuable species landed by Shetland’s whitefish fleet in 2021, worth £6 million, a fifth of their total income.
ICES, which collates scientific assessments and offers management advice to governments, has listed monkfish as a “data deficient” stock for several years – leading to a series of precautionary quota cuts in the absence of dependable stock assessments.
Shetland Fishermen’s Association Executive Officer Daniel Lawson said: “The fishing fleet simply could not, and would not, land the quantities of monkfish we are seeing on the markets if the stock was in the sort of crisis implied by the ICES quota advice of recent years.
“Shetland crews operate family-owned vessels and recognise that it is in their interest to protect sustainable fish stocks for the following generation. However, they do not see any justification for an additional 30% cut to North Sea monkfish quotas when the species is evidently in good health.
“ICES alleging that monkfish stocks have decreased, while at the same time casting doubt on the certainty of their own stock assessment, makes it difficult for fishermen to have any faith in that advice – especially when it contrasts so starkly with what crews are finding at sea.”
The SFA has commissioned a report (view here) from the University of the Highlands and Islands into the level of local monkfish catches and landings.
This report – collating and analysing the monkfish catch per unit effort of local vessels – shows that some crews have caught significantly higher catches of monkfish throughout 2022 compared to the same period of the previous year. No vessels were found to be catching any less monkfish, and in fact have recorded similar catch levels despite reduced fishing efforts during 2022.
UHI Shetland’s Dr Ian Napier, who helped conduct the analysis, concluded that monkfish abundance is at least the same (and certainly no lower) than it was during 2021 – showing no justification for a further 30% cut in quotas.
SFA chairman James Anderson, skipper of whitefish vessel Alison Kay (LK57), said this new data helped quantify the anecdotal evidence constantly reported by local crews.
“Shetland’s fleet has had concerns for many years with mismatched quota advice which causes needless economic harm to an essential part of our island economy, and a mental strain on fishing crews - who are left unable to catch important species despite an obvious abundance of stocks around Shetland.
“Fishermen are willing and ready to help scientists and governments work towards more comprehensive stock assessments and surveys, as evidenced by this new monkfish report.
“The situation we are in as a fishing nation – when our most valuable whitefish species is labelled as ‘data deficient’ and hasn’t been properly assessed by our governments – is a sad indication of resources and priorities.”
The ICES advice can be viewed here: https://bit.ly/3sCFUzs