UK Scallops

The UK King Scallop FIP was launched in 2019. It brought together representatives of the scallop fishing industry and seafood supply chain in the North Sea, West of Scotland, and Irish Sea. The Steering Group benefited from the time and expertise of 95 individuals, representing 49 different UK and European organisations.

Summary

The ambitious Action Plan written for this fishery to work towards MSC certification identified 15 different actions to address over the five-year duration of the FIP. Highlights During these five years, the FIP has made significant contributions to science and research for scallop fisheries across the UK. This has included building understanding of the impacts of dredge gear on the seabed and a global review of scallop management measures to compare the different approaches.

Overall, while progress has not occurred at the rate at which the FIP had hoped for, the key representatives from the Group remain committed to making future improvements and continuing to work towards MSC assessment.

Next steps

The UK King Scallop FIP Action Plan was ambitious, covering three distinct and geographically complex areas across the North Sea, West of Scotland, and Irish Sea. In the lifetime of this FIP, a significant amount of work has gone into building the knowledge base on which management decisions can be made.

There has been a commitment from members of this FIP to continue working towards MSC certification. For this chapter of fisheries improvements, Seafish will facilitate the new FIP, a Steering Group will drive the work of the FIP, a new Working Group has been established and work is underway to formulate the next steps. For a full list of the remaining actions, milestones, and MSC scoring indicators, please see the Year 5 Annual Review by Poseidon Aquatic Resource Management.

The UK scallop FIP is supported by dedicated experts representing a range of stakeholder organisations.

Participants

Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI) • Anglo North Irish Fish Producers Organisation (ANIFPO) • Centre for Environmental & Fisheries Science (Cefas) • Co-op • Communities Inshore Fisheries Alliance • Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (Daera) • Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) • Flatfish Ltd • Fyfe Producer Organisation • Heriot-Watt University • Isle of Man Government • Macduff Shellfish • Marine Scotland • Marine Scotland Science • Marks and Spencer • Natural England • NatureScot • New England Seafood International • Northern Ireland Fish Producers Organisation (NIFPO) • Northern Ireland Gear Trials • Poseidon • Scottish Fishermen's Organisation (SFO) • Scottish Fishermen’s Federation • Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) • Scottish Seafood Association (SSA) • Seafish • Scottish White Fish Producers Association • South West Fish Producers Organisation • Tesco • Waitrose • West Coast Products • WWF • University of York • Young’s Seafood •