Marine / New lobster ban aims to protect spawning stock
SCOTLAND’s first ban on landing egg-bearing lobsters is being introduced in Shetland.
The move, driven by local fishermen and agreed by the Shetland Shellfish Management Organisation (SSMO), outlaws the practice of boats keeping so-called berried lobsters, which carry thousands of eggs.
Preventing the removal of these lobsters will help protect the spawning stock needed for a sustainable fishery.
Around 30,000 lobsters have been landed annually in Shetland in recent years – four times as many as in 2005, which saw the smallest catch this century.
SSMO inshore coordinator John Robertson said: “This ban is seen by many fishermen as a positive way they can boost stocks in the absence of a lobster hatchery in Shetland.
“It is going to hit their income from creel fishing significantly in the short term but hopefully it’s a sacrifice that will reap rewards for them, and the buyers, in years to come.
“It was the fishermen who called for the ban and they backed it in a vote conducted last year by the SSMO.
“Marine Scotland supports the change which the SSMO is able to impose under its own regulatory powers.”
A voluntary ban was introduced from 1 August ahead of the measure becoming mandatory from 20 September.
Some Shetland fishermen chose to return berried lobsters to the sea anyway, cutting a v-notch in their tail which makes them illegal to land under Scots law. In England, landing berried lobsters is already outlawed.
Breaching the SSMO ban could see a shellfish licence holder suspended from fishing for anything up to eight weeks.
The trade in live lobsters is monitored by officers from Marine Scotland’s compliance team, which checks catches on boats or when shellfish is being sold for live export from Shetland.
The SSMO exercises powers devolved from the Scottish Government to manage sustainable shellfish fisheries within the six-mile zone around Shetland, restricting licences to 106 mainly small boats.
This keeps out large, industrial-scale fishing fleets which operate elsewhere in Scottish waters.
The SSMO seeks to prevent overfishing and to promote policies which protect sensitive seabed habitats. It works in partnership with UHI Shetland on research and stock assessments, largely funded by Shetland Islands Council.
In August Shetland News reported that the council had approved support funding worth almost £180,000 – due to be administered by the SSMO – in a private meeting earlier in the summer.
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