Fisheries Management Plans (FMPs) will enhance food security, support economic growth in coastal communities and restore and protect nature.
Today, we are publishing a package of FMP material:
- Consultations on the next five Defra-led draft FMPs (open till 23:59 on Sunday 19 January 2025)
- A consultation on amending the deadlines for publishing the remaining FMPs and making some technical changes to some of the FMPs (open till 23:59 on Thursday 21 November 2024)
- The finalised Southern North Sea and Eastern Channel mixed flatfish FMP (consulted on last year) and government response.
We want your views on the consultations now and as we start to implement the flatfish FMP there will be opportunities to engage.
The consultations on the next five draft FMPs
The FMPs were developed collaboratively over several months. They gather evidence of what we know about the state of the stocks, the management and set out short, medium and long term actions to restore or maintain the stocks at sustainable levels.
Read the consultation documents and share your views here:
- Cockle https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/cockle-proposed-fisheries-management-plan-consultation
- Queen scallop https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/queen-scallop-proposed-fisheries-management-plan-consultation
- Skates and rays https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/southern-north-sea-and-channel-skates-and-rays-proposed-fisheries-management-plan-consultation
- Southern North Sea demersal non-quota species https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/southern-north-sea-demersal-non-quota-species-proposed-fisheries-management-plan-consultation
You can submit your consultation response through an online questionnaire, or by email or post.
We will also be running coastal and online events to discuss these plans in more detail. You can also feed your views into the consultations this way.
Dates and locations will be announced on the blog very soon!
Technical changes to FMPs
Experience has shown that we need more time to produce the remaining FMPs.
We therefore propose to amend the deadlines for publication of the remaining FMPs as set out in the Joint Fisheries Statement.
There are also a number of technical changes proposed:
- For Welsh Government no longer to be a joint authority for plans which do not cover their waters. They will remain as a joint authority for the three plans led by the Scottish Government that extend in to Welsh waters.
- To add a periwinkle FMP for Northern Ireland.
- To add species to three FMPs to better reflect stocks.
- To amend the geographic scope of three FMPs to better align with the stocks.
- To merge two cod plans to better align with the biological stock.
Read the consultation document and share your views here: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/joint-fisheries-statement-proposed-amendments-to-annex-a
Publication of the Southern North Sea and Eastern Channel mixed flatfish FMP
This was consulted on last year. The published plan, summary of responses and government response can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/southern-north-sea-and-eastern-channel-mixed-flatfish-fisheries-management-plan-fmp
Key elements of the published plan are:
- Improving the evidence base for stocks that are data poor.
- Setting total allowable catches in line with ICES Maximum Sustainable Yield advice, while also taking into consideration environmental, social and economic factors.
- The implementation of minimum conservation reference sizes (MCRS) for three stocks in the Eastern Channel.
- Proposals to increase the MCRS and explore implementation of gear restrictions, including gathering evidence on potential viable options for towed gear management and mesh size changes in the Eastern Channel.
We will now start to implement the plan and want to do so collaboratively with interested parties.
Make sure to subscribe to the blog for the latest updates on these and more!
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