Policy paper

Fisheries management plan for whelk in English waters

Published 14 December 2023

Executive Summary

Context

Our sea fish and shellfish stocks are an important natural resource. We aim to work with the fishing sector and wider stakeholders to ensure these stocks are harvested sustainably and supported by a healthy marine environment so that they continue to provide benefits into the future. 

Fisheries management plans (FMPs) are a requirement of the Fisheries Act 2020 (‘the Act’) and the UK Joint Fisheries Statement. The delivery of FMPs is also one of the commitments in the Environmental Improvement Plan 2023 for England. FMPs will assess the status of relevant stocks. They must also set out policies to restore stocks to, or maintain them at, sustainable levels.

The whelk FMP has been prepared and published for the purpose of meeting the requirements set out in the Act. It was prepared in partnership with the Sea Fish Industry Authority (Seafish) in collaboration with the Whelk Management Group (WMG), which brings together stakeholders from industry, government, and science.

Defra undertook a public consultation on the draft FMP in July 2023 in accordance with the requirement set out in Schedule 1 Part 3 of the Act. This version 1 of the FMP has had regard for the representations received during that consultation.

What is an FMP?

An FMP is an evidence-based action plan that charts a course to sustainable fisheries. FMPs are long-term plans that must be reviewed and, if necessary, revised at least every 6 years. It will set out both a longer-term vision and goals for the fishery (or fisheries), together with the policies and management interventions necessary to achieve these goals in the shorter-term.

While having a primary focus on achieving sustainable stocks, Defra intends to use FMPs to tackle environmental, social and economic issues associated with our fisheries. FMPs will significantly enhance our ecosystem-based approach to fisheries management and help to secure the economic and cultural benefits of fish and fishing.

Plans will be regularly reviewed and updated in response to new evidence and practical experience, to ensure they remain effective.

Why an FMP for whelks?

The whelk industry recognised in 2019 that action was needed to better manage the stocks. With support from Seafish and Defra, the WMG was formed in 2020 to consider specific actions. This early work and engagement informed the decision to channel the work into an FMP.

Whelks have been prioritised for an FMP due to the stock’s vulnerability to over-exploitation, the economic value of the fishery, and a lack of evidence to properly assess and monitor the state of the stock.

Whelk fisheries contribute culturally, socially, and economically to coastal communities through employment and recreational fishing interests. Improved management action is therefore needed to protect whelks and secure their future and the future of the industry that depends on them. Feedback from the WMG and the wider sector, during stakeholder engagement events, has confirmed the need for better management of the whelk fishery in England.

Summary of the state of stocks

The FMP used the available evidence on whelk stocks and the whelk fishery around England to assess the status of the stock, to identify existing management measures and set out policies and actions to manage the whelk fishery.

Evidence on the status of whelk stocks is poor. There is insufficient available scientific evidence to assess the stock’s maximum sustainable yield (MSY) reference points in English waters. There is no delineation of stock boundaries, and no other measures to establish the health of the stocks or establish sustainable harvest rates for Whelk. Furthermore, in recent years there has been an increase in whelk fishing effort because of the expansion of export markets for whelks, alongside reduced fishing opportunities for other species.

Stocks are particularly vulnerable because whelk is a sedentary species with limited mobility and short larval dispersal. They are particularly susceptible to localised depletion because the life history and life cycle of the species means that stocks are unlikely to recover quickly from local overexploitation.

This FMP presents an opportunity to take a precautionary, proactive, and adaptive approach to long-term management to create sustainable English whelk fisheries.

Current management framework

Whelks are a non-quota stock, which means that fishing of these stocks is not currently subject to catch limits. Access to whelk fisheries is largely unrestricted and there are limited management measures in place to protect stocks from over exploitation. A minimum conservation reference size (MCRS) of 45mm applies in English offshore waters.

Within the 0 to 6 nautical mile zone, whelk fishing is regulated by the Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authorities (IFCAs). Several IFCA districts enforce additional whelk-specific management measures including larger MCRSs, permitting schemes, flexible byelaws with conditions, and pot limits. However, the overall lack of evidence on the state of the whelk stocks means there is no conclusive evidence on the effect of these measures. Consequently, much of the information that is required to develop a whelk harvest strategy is not yet available. A key action in this FMP is to improve the evidence base to establish sustainable harvest rates.

Key goals and proposed actions

Stakeholders noted that a ‘one size fits all’ approach to management is not appropriate for a fishery characterised by local stocks and fleet variation. So, regional or local based management is needed, with harmonisation across jurisdictional boundaries where appropriate, together with better species and fishery data, to ensure the long-term sustainability of these important fisheries.

The FMP sets out whelk-specific objectives to address the requirement to manage the whelk fisheries in English waters. Specifically, the FMP sets out the following actions.

Improving the evidence base

Whelk stocks are currently classed as data limited because there is insufficient scientific information available to assess stock abundance. The FMP sets out the steps to create a strong data-gathering system to assess abundance and health of the stocks, and to make informed interventions.

A draft whelk evidence and research plan was published with the public consultation in July 2023 setting out the available science and evidence. It highlighted where knowledge and evidence gaps existed, and what was required to fill those gaps to provide the necessary protection for stocks now and in the long term. The FMP summarises the steps to be taken during the first cycle of the Whelk FMP to improve our evidence base. These steps include the development of data collection programmes, defining stock boundaries and developing stock assessments.

Defra will maintain a research plan to document existing research and data for whelks so that management is driven by a comprehensive harvest strategy, reliable stock assessments and a consistent ongoing data collection and research programme.

Initial management measures

These measures are designed to address immediate sustainability concerns, in line with the Fisheries Act’s precautionary objective.

The key proposal is the introduction of a permit scheme or licence entitlement with conditions. The purpose of this scheme is to allow adaptive management to reflect the local characteristics of whelk stocks and fleets, with the aim of controlling effort in whelk fisheries over the long term.

MCRS variations, pot limits and seasonal closures are some of the interventions under consideration that will be developed in collaboration with the WMG and relevant partners.

Longer-term measures

Over time, as both the evidence base and monitoring of management effectiveness improves, the process of implementing more targeted measures will be developed through the lifetime of this FMP, and future iterations of the plan. The FMP proposes an adaptive, iterative management approach in which management decisions are implemented, reviewed, and refined with new data, to deliver long-term sustainability.

Future measures will focus on ensuring stocks are not excessively targeted. Gear design measures and catch limits are some of the interventions under consideration that will be developed in collaboration with the WMG and relevant partners.

Wider issues and environmental impacts

All FMPs are subject to legal obligations for environmental protection arising from the Habitats Regulations, Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009, Marine Strategy Regulations 2010 and the Environment Act 2021. These requirements are in addition to the FMP contributing to the environmental objectives of the Fisheries Act 2020.

The whelk FMP will contribute to commitments to improve our marine ecosystem set out in the Environmental Improvement Plan 2023 for England and the UK Marine Strategy.

The FMP includes objectives that will improve our understanding and seek to mitigate the environmental impacts associated with whelk fishing. The whelk pot fishery poses 2 potential environmental risks:

1. bycatch of endangered, threatened and protected (ETP) species and unwanted marine species
2. marine litter from abandoned, lost and discarded fishing gear

Both risks are currently considered low in the whelk fishery, based on available evidence. Where whelk pot fisheries are considered to have an adverse impact on the marine environment, the FMP sets out commitments to taking action to avoid, remedy or mitigate such impact.

Implementation and monitoring

The actions and measures contained within the whelk FMP will undergo an implementation phase, where appropriate mechanisms will be required to deliver them. Such mechanisms could include:

• voluntary measures
• licence conditions
• national and regional byelaws
• statutory instrument

The whelk FMP must be reviewed when appropriate, and at least every six years. This formal review will assess how the FMP has performed in terms of delivering against the objectives of the Act. 

Conclusion

The whelk FMP has been prepared for the purpose of meeting the requirements set out in the Fisheries Act 2020. This statement and the contents of the plan meet the obligation set out in section 6 of the Act.

The whelk FMP has collated existing management measures and available science and evidence to assess the status of whelk stocks around England in 2023, and to determine a sustainable level of exploitation.

At the time of publication, there is insufficient evidence to determine a maximum sustainable yield for the whelk fishery around England. The FMP sets out the policies and proposed steps to build the evidence base while maintaining or increasing stock levels.

The FMP highlights where knowledge and evidence gaps may be preventing the establishment of sustainable whelk fisheries. The management objectives and associated evidence and research plan guide those seeking to fill those gaps over time. The proposed management interventions apply a precautionary approach to managing harvesting while our evidence improves.

The whelk FMP aims to deliver significant progress towards the long-term sustainable management of whelk fisheries in English waters.

Responsibility for delivery of the objectives set out in the FMP will sit across working industry groups, fisheries authorities and governments and is further detailed in the Joint Fisheries Statement (JFS) published in November 2022.

Foreword

The whelk fisheries management plan (FMP) sets out the roadmap to achieve long-term sustainable management of whelk fisheries in English waters, in line with the objectives in the Fisheries Act 2020 (‘the Act’).

The FMP has been developed with Seafish and the Whelk Management Group (WMG), a collaborative forum that brings together industry, academia and government regulators and policy makers. The WMG is part of the overarching Shellfish Industry Advisory Group (SIAG). Seafish, on behalf of the WMG, engaged more widely with coastal communities, supply chain businesses, NGOs, and other government bodies, including the UK’s Statutory Nature Conservation Bodies (SNCBs), on the development of the management objectives detailed in this FMP.

Defra completed a public consultation that included stakeholder engagement events around the coast and online.

The whelk FMP sets out to move whelk fisheries in English waters to a position where management is driven by a comprehensive harvest strategy underpinned by a reliable stock assessment methodology supported by a consistent data collection and research programme. The management objectives detailed in this FMP describe the key stages on that journey and set out the shared commitment that industry and government have for these important fisheries, over the next six years.

A core principle driving the implementation of the FMP objectives will be adaptive management to reflect that, as the evidence base improves, management interventions will be more responsive.

The WMG and SIAG were very keen to establish both shared shellfish principles and whelk-specific fishery objectives. They are presented in two parts: shared shellfish principles common to all fisheries, and whelk specific objectives for this FMP.

Structure of the whelk FMP

In terms of navigating this FMP, the key sections are as follows:

• scope of the whelk FMP and status of whelk fishery – this section describes the history of the whelk fishery and current management.
• management objectives for whelk fisheries in English waters - this section sets out the overarching shared shellfish principles and whelk-specific objectives and how these correspond to the eight overarching fishery objectives in the Act.
• future fishery management strategy – this section describes the fishery management strategy for whelk fisheries in English waters, including how the harvest standard specification (HSS) will be applied and the adaptive approach to ensure appropriate management of fishing effort. This section also details the priority management interventions for this fishery; some of these will be regulatory but, where appropriate, non-regulatory measures will also apply.
• meeting environmental considerations details how environmental considerations will be addressed.
• implementing, monitoring, and reviewing the FMP – this section details how we will measure the effectiveness of the FMP through monitoring delivery of the plan and how the state of the fishery has improved because of the activities undertaken.

The whelk FMP is designed to be a stand-alone document providing all the necessary information for readers to understand how the English whelk fisheries will be managed over the coming years. The plan summarises relevant information rather than providing all the underlying detail. The public consultation in July 2023 published much of the detailed information available that was used to prepare the draft plan. Relevant information has been summarised in this FMP rather than including or annexing all the underlying detail. Defra will continue to collate and make available relevant information that underpins the implementation of the FMP over subsequent years.

For reference, there were six accompanying documents published as a collated Annex for the public consultation in 2023. The information remains available on Citizen Space, Defra’s online consultation tool.

• Evidence Statement – details the current available information on whelk fisheries in English waters
• Evidence and Research Plan – details the approach to secure the evidence required to support the plan and deliver on FMP objectives
• Stakeholder Engagement Report by Seafish – presents a summary of the stakeholder feedback collected during engagement events, held in late 2022, to inform the development of the plan
• Shared Shellfish Principles – provides full details of the Shared Shellfish Principles developed by the SIAG. These are high-level principles to guide management common to all shellfish fisheries
• Legislative requirements for FMPs under the Fisheries Act 2020 and Governance – describes the legislative context that applies to the development and implementation of the whelk FMP and gives details about the roles and responsibilities of the Whelk Management Group in relation to the whelk FMP
• Environmental considerations – details the government’s environmental obligations covering FMPs

This FMP has been prepared and published to comply with requirements in the Joint Fisheries Statement and in section 6 of the Fisheries Act 2020. The preparation process had regard for the prevailing Marine Plans (as required by section 58(3) of the the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009) and the Environmental Principles (as required by sections 17(5)(a-e) and 19(1) of the Environment Act 2021).

Introduction

The whelk FMP will manage the whelk fishery to ensure the long-term sustainability of the whelk stocks. It also aims to deliver social and economic benefits to coastal communities from a productive and profitable fishery, while maintaining public confidence in the management of this important resource. This FMP applies to English waters.

The FMP collates all available information on the biological, socio-economic, and environmental status of the whelk fishery. It establishes a roadmap to move whelk fisheries in English waters to a position where management is driven by a comprehensive harvest strategy underpinned by a reliable stock assessment methodology, which in turn is supported by a consistent data collection and research programme. 

Achieving sustainable whelk stocks, profitable whelk fisheries and a healthy marine environment is likely to bring changes to how and where whelk fishing occurs (input controls^{[footnote 1]}), and the amount of whelk that can be caught from one year to the next (output controls^{[footnote 2]}).

The purpose of the FMP is to ensure that the most appropriate management measures, based on the best available science and evidence are developed, in collaboration with the WMG, and implemented in consultation with wider stakeholders.

Context

The whelk FMP has been prepared and published for the purpose of meeting the requirements for FMPs set out in the Fisheries Act 2020.

The 2018 Fisheries White Paper: Sustainable fisheries for future generations set a clear ambition for sustainable stewardship and management of UK fisheries that committed to deliver ‘a more competitive, profitable and sustainable fishing industry across the whole of the UK, setting a gold standard for sustainable fishing around the world’.

The Act requires each FMP to set out policies designed to restore the stock(s) to, or maintain them at, sustainable levels.

The Joint Fisheries Statement (JFS), published in November 2022, sets out further details of the policies the UK fisheries authorities will follow to achieve or contribute to achieving the eight fisheries objectives in the Act. It includes a list of FMPs, setting out the lead authority for each FMP, the stocks covered and timescales for publication.

In addition to meeting the requirements of the Act, the Whelk FMP also supports the implementation of wider commitments on protecting the marine environment, restoring biodiversity, and addressing climate change. In particular, the Environmental Improvement Plan 2023 for England restated the commitment to deliver FMPs, setting out for the first time how we will increase sustainability on a stock or fisheries basis. Each FMP also supports commitments under the UK Marine Policy Statement, the UK Marine Strategy, the marine wildlife bycatch mitigation initiative, and the Climate Change Act 2008.

A detailed description of the requirements of the Fisheries Act and wider environmental obligations and commitments, and how these are met in this plan were set out in the Annexes document (see: Environmental considerations) published for the public consultation in 2023.

The issue of increasing spatial pressures and the challenges this can pose to fisheries need to be considered, including any social, economic and environmental implications resulting from possible displacement. The government has established a marine spatial prioritisation programme to help support a more strategic approach to managing future pressures in English seas. The programme will engage with stakeholders and evaluate existing and emerging evidence to understand future demands and determine the best way of managing them. Outputs from the programme will inform the implementation phase and subsequent reviews of the FMP, as well as our future approach to marine planning.

The whelk FMP was developed by Seafish in collaboration with the Whelk Management Group (WMG). The WMG brings together industry stakeholders from across the whelk supply chain, scientific researchers and fishery regulators to work collaboratively to address issues facing UK whelk fisheries. The WMG oversaw the development of the FMP and established a dedicated FMP working group to work on the whelk-specific management objectives and the future management requirements for whelk fisheries.

As part of the FMP development process, Seafish delivered a series of informal stakeholder engagement events during late 2022. A full summary of these events, including the format of sessions and key themes emerging was published for the public consultation in 2023 (see stakeholder engagement report). Feedback from these events was used by Seafish and the WMG to inform the draft content and the initial management interventions presented in the draft plan published for the public consultation.

Further details on roles and responsibilities and the process used to developing the draft plan were set out in the public consultation (see legislative requirements for FMPs under the Fisheries Act 2020 and Governance).

Scope of the whelk FMP and status of whelk fishery

Species

This FMP applies to common whelk (Buccinum undatum) in English waters only. It addresses all whelk fishing activity in English waters. This includes activity from other UK fleets, and EU and other Coastal State vessels in English waters.

Any measures adopted in accordance with this plan must be consistent with the requirements of the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement (the TCA) including, in particular, Article 496^{[footnote 3]}, and any relevant decisions made via the Specialised Committee on Fisheries (SCF), such as the adoption of any multi-year strategies for shared non-quota stocks.

Description of the fishery

Whelks are widely distributed around the UK. In English waters, they are found in International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) subareas 4 (North Sea) and 7 (English Channel, Celtic Sea, and Irish Sea). The most significant whelk fisheries in English waters are found in the following areas:

• to the east of England (southern North Sea)
• along the south coast, from Kent to Devon (eastern and western English Channel)
• in approaches to the Bristol Channel, southwest of England (Celtic Sea)

Fishing grounds are often located within the 6 nautical mile area from the coast, falling under the jurisdiction of IFCAs, but fishing also occurs further offshore.

The common whelk fishery is primarily targeted by vessels under 10 metres (m), fishing almost exclusively with baited pots, with small quantities of landings reported as bycatch by vessels using other gears, such as nets and beam trawls.

Regionally, IFCAs report no significant fishery in the Isles of Scilly, Cornwall, Northumberland or in the north-eastern districts. Most of the whelk landings have been from fisheries taking place in the Eastern IFCA, Kent and Essex, Sussex, and the Devon and Severn IFCAs, with the Southern and North-Western IFCAs having reported emerging fisheries in recent years^{[footnote 4]}, ^{[footnote 5]}. Eastern, Kent and Essex, Sussex, North-Eastern and North-Western IFCAs collect fishing activity data as a condition of shellfish permit schemes, and time series of these data are developing. The States of Jersey have also reported significant landings.

Current status of the fishery

There is currently insufficient evidence to complete a stock assessment for whelks in English waters. Furthermore, there is no delineation of stock boundaries and no maximum sustainable yield (MSY) reference points or proxies. Consequently, there is no assessment of likely stock health, so much of the information needed to develop a harvest strategy is not yet available.

Additionally, data that could be used to give an indication of likely stock status or fishing effort, such as catch per unit effort (which requires records of numbers of pot hauls, or days or hours fished, and total whelk catches) are either not currently collected or are not sufficiently granular to accurately assess whelk stock status. Thus, the most basic metrics for monitoring fishing pressures and interpreting the health of the stock are not consistently available across English waters.

Unlike other important shellfish fisheries (crab, scallop), access to whelk fisheries is largely unrestricted. A national MCRS of 45mm (EU regulation retained in UK law), is the only national management measure in place for the whelk fishery. The reliance on a single national MCRS size to drive management is problematic due to the variability in the life cycle, the size, and maturity of the species over small spatial scales. This means that a 45mm MCRS may not be viable as a blanket approach across English waters because of the variable size of maturity (SOM) of whelks in different stocks and in different areas. As a result, while in some areas the MCRS does afford a level of stock protection, in other areas it may not, or it may restrict the landing of marketable whelks^{[footnote 6]}.  

Several IFCA jurisdictions enforce whelk-specific management measures inside 6 nautical miles. These include larger MCRS, flexible byelaws and commercial or recreational permitting schemes with associated fees (with no restriction on the number of permits), and pot limits. Permit holders are also required to provide catch returns and other data relating to each month’s fishing activities. These interventions are put in place to protect vulnerable whelk stocks and to manage the inshore fishing activity within sustainable limits. They are relatively new interventions and the data that are being gathered helps to inform the IFCAs’ short- and longer-term management decisions on their whelk fisheries within their inshore jurisdictions, but not beyond offshore waters.

The Welsh government has also introduced additional whelk fishing regulation (The Whelk Fishing Permit (Wales) Order 2019) to protect their local whelk stocks and manage their local fleet sustainably.

Expansion of export markets for whelks, combined with reduced fishing opportunities for other species has, in recent years, contributed to an increase in whelk fishing effort. As a sedentary species with limited mobility and larval dispersal there is a risk that whelk stocks are particularly susceptible to localised depletion. The lifecycle of the species means that stocks are unlikely to quickly recover from overexploitation. This FMP presents an opportunity to take a proactive and adaptive approach to the long-term sustainable management of English whelk fisheries.

Shared shellfish principles

Set out below are nine overarching shared shellfish principles designed to address key management, social and economic issues that face all shellfish fisheries in English waters.

The Shellfish Industry Advisory Group (SIAG) developed these principles. This group brings together regulators, researchers and industry stakeholders to discuss national-level strategic management of shellfish fisheries.

Many issues facing the sector are not specific to individual shellfish species. These principles recognise common challenges and issues and have been reflected in each of the shellfish FMPs.

While these principles are non-statutory, and the associated actions go beyond the legal obligations for FMPs in section 6 of the Fisheries Act 2020, Defra welcomes these industry commitments to complement and support the delivery of the FMPs and objectives in the Act.

The SIAG will maintain responsibility for the principles and the actions set out to deliver them.

The shared principles are: 

1. Formalise the structure and operation of the SIAG and associated sub-groups and ensure effective representation, so that it becomes a focal point of engagement on shellfish fisheries management in England.
2. Assess fishing effort (including latent capacity) and, if necessary, recommend appropriate measures to manage effort.
3. Establish a mechanism that enables regulators to effectively engage with and draw on shellfish industry knowledge in relation to discussions relating to non-quota species (NQS) management through the TCA.
4. Enable better involvement of the shellfish industry in matters regarding marine spatial planning and increased demands for space at sea by facilitating better collaboration between regulators, planners and industry stakeholders.
5. Improve understanding of the impacts of non-fishing activities (for example capital dredging, undersea cables) on English shellfish stocks.
6. Progress initiatives to increase and promote consumption of sustainable UK shellfish.
7. Facilitate and promote trade opportunities for shellfish in overseas markets (EU and non-EU).
8. Develop advice and guidance on shellfish welfare issues to help the industry to further develop and implement best practice handling measures.
9. Industry to take collective responsibility to comply with welfare and good working conditions legislation and guidance to ensure the highest possible levels of standards across the shellfish sector supply chain.

Further detail on these principles was published for the public consultation in 2023 (see: Shellfish shared principles).

Whelk fishery management objectives

The shared shellfish principles are supplemented by a set of whelk-specific objectives, drafted by the WMG. These are management objectives for whelk fisheries in English waters. The objectives are described below.

For each whelk objective, the plan sets out:

• the rationale for the objective
• potential activities that will help to deliver it
• how it links to the Fisheries Act objectives

The objectives set out below relate specifically to the management of whelk fisheries in English waters. While most objectives identified are necessary to meet the requirements of section 6 of the Fisheries Act, some objectives and their suggested actions go beyond these requirements but are included for completeness.

Responsibility for delivery of these objectives, once actions are agreed, will sit across industry groups, fisheries authorities, and government. The objectives and actions will need to be prioritised to support the phased approach of the FMP towards meeting the Act’s objectives.

1. Develop a data collection programme

Objective

Develop and pilot a comprehensive data collection programme for whelk fisheries, which supports a data-rich future and results in the establishment of a reliable time series that facilitates well-informed, sustainable management

Rationale

Reliable evidence provisioning is fundamental for facilitating the development and enforcement of an appropriate, evidence-based fisheries management regime.

Potential actions   

Define critical data gaps and requirements to support monitoring and evaluation of:

• stock status and harvest strategies
• compliance with management measures
• social and economic indicators of successful management
• wider environmental impacts of the fishery

This will facilitate evidence-based management decisions in the short and long term.

Develop an improved data collection programme at a national level, which delivers upon critical data requirements (as per action 1), to build a long-term time series of data to support evidence-based fisheries management.

This should cover:

• biological data (collected through fisheries dependent and independent sampling schemes, for example, Catch App, eLogs)
• spatial data (distribution of fishing activity, for example, from inshore vessel monitoring system (I-VMS) and VMS devices)
• environmental data (interactions with the wider marine environment)
• social and economic data
• implementation of a data collection programme that is cost effective, user-friendly (for fishers, scientists and managers), directly aligned with requirements of fishery managers, addresses key evidence gaps, and makes the best use of industry-derived data and information that can be gathered at different stages of the whelk supply chain.

Build partnerships between stakeholders and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) institutes to ensure that research is targeted at answering management questions, peer reviewed, industry is consulted, and data are made available to support evidence-based fishery management.

Relevant Fisheries Act 2020 objective

The scientific evidence objective.

2. Define stock boundaries for assessment and management

Objective

Define key whelk stock boundaries at a suitable scale for assessment and management.          

Rationale

Whelk populations exist at a relatively small spatial scale, with the term ‘stocklet’ often used to describe their stock units.

Appropriate stock boundaries must be defined to facilitate accurate assessments of stock status, which deliver outputs at a relevant scale for evidence-based management. Management is therefore less likely to disproportionately disadvantage certain fisheries, or impact other stocks.            

Potential actions

Explore options around managing fisheries without clear biological stock boundaries.

1. Collate the following available relevant information to identify gaps in current understanding of whelk stock boundaries:

   • whelk biology and morphology (including environmental drives)
   • patterns of exploitation
   • management and enforcement landscape
2. Create a research plan to address key knowledge gaps and improve understanding of the role environmental parameters play in determining stock boundaries.

3. Collate available information on stock structure to:

   • determine the most appropriate scale at which to set stock boundaries for management
   • define the granularity at which data should be collected for stock assessment purposes (linking to whelk objective 1)

Relevant Fisheries Act 2020 objectives

• precautionary objective
• scientific evidence objective

3. Assess catch per unit effort in the whelk fishery.

Objective

Assess catch per unit effort (CPUE) in the whelk fishery.

Rationale

Improved understanding of fishing effort and catches will facilitate improved modelling and assessment of stock status. This will improve our ability to implement evidence-based fisheries management which is responsive to changes in fishing activity and stock status.

Potential actions

1. Building on whelk objective 2, provide fishery managers with scientifically reliable fishing effort data to meet modelling and assessment requirements.
2. Explore options around whole catch monitoring, using standardised, scientific whelk pots and collaborative data-gathering efforts involving different stages in the supply chain.
3. Improve knowledge of current fishing effort in English waters by (a) optimising use of existing data sources to build a time series of fishing effort based on days or hours fished; and (b) expand data collection to include pot numbers at sea, pot numbers hauled, bait type, and soak time.

Relevant Fisheries Act 2020 objectives

• scientific evidence objective
• sustainability objective

4. Assess stock or exploitation status

Objective

Establish options for assessing stock or exploitation status.

Rationale

Accurate information regarding stock status is essential for informing management decisions and protecting against over-exploitation.

Potential actions

1. Define appropriate whelk assessment units in English waters, based on the outputs of whelk objective 2.
2. Review existing and available information and potential stock assessment models that can be applied to whelk stocks (for example, Surplus Production in Continuous Time (SPiCT) and age or size structured models)
3. Define indicators and reference points, explore the use of life history-based evaluations, and other metrics that can help inform stock or exploitation status or trends, such as CPUE. Explore the use of fishers’ knowledge and anecdotal information from industry stakeholders to inform assessment.
4. Develop whelk stock assessment methods as a time series of catch and effort data (whelk objective 1) builds. Align assessment methods with fishery management goals and available management tools.

Relevant Fisheries Act 2020 objectives

• scientific evidence objective
• sustainability objective

5. Impact of whelk fishing on the marine environment

Objective

Assess the impact of whelk fishing activity on the wider marine environment.

Rationale

Understanding how whelk potting activity impacts the marine environment will enable us to identify and minimise any negative interactions.

This will protect marine ecosystem structure and functioning, support the achievement of good environmental status (GES), and improve industry reputation.

Potential actions

1. Undertake a desk-based review of wider environmental impacts of whelk fisheries.
2. Establish a monitoring programme to assess the nature and extent of interactions in the whelk fishery.
3. Assess the efficacy of existing avoidance and mitigation measures relating to impacts of whelk fisheries on benthic habitats, non-target species and endangered, threatened and protected (ETP) species. If necessary, make recommendations on changes the sector could make to improve its environmental credentials. Consider both regulatory measures (for example, Marine Management Organisation (MMO) byelaws) and voluntary measures.
4. Explore the frequency, scale, drivers and likely impacts of fishing gear losses in the static gear sector.
5. Identify opportunities for research collaboration, and work in partnership with existing initiatives wherever possible.

Relevant Fisheries Act 2020 objective

The ecosystem objective.

6. Manage interactions with other fisheries

Objective

Explore the need to manage interactions between the English whelk fishery and other fisheries.

Rationale

Understanding interactions with other fisheries is key to developing a management regime that accounts for the operations of other fisheries, and appropriately addresses any issues or conflicts identified.

Potential actions

1. Review interactions between whelk fisheries and other fisheries to understand:
   • current bait provisioning mechanisms and the impact of using brown crab (excluding processing waste or by-products) as bait in the whelk fishery
   • regionalisation of interactions
   • the likely impact of other fishing activities as a source of whelk mortality
   • environmental and economic impact
   • implications for long-term sustainability
2. Explore alternative bait sources for whelk fishing.
3. Examine how the whelk fishery uses the by-products of crab processing or sales processes.

Relevant Fisheries Act 2020 objectives

• bycatch objective
• ecosystem objective

7. Develop a whelk harvest strategy with harvest control rules

Objective

Create a programme of long-term management to align fishing effort with actual or likely stock status through development of a whelk harvest strategy with appropriate harvest control rules.

Rationale

A harvest strategy, with appropriate harvest control rules, based on the best available scientific evidence (as per whelk objectives 1 and 2), will facilitate agile fisheries management which is responsive to changes in fishing activity and stock status, thus protecting against unsustainable exploitation.

Potential actions

1. Understand options for managing whelk fishing activity.
2. Evaluate the appropriateness of existing management measures (for example, MCRS) and undertake scenario modelling to explore alternate management regimes.
3. Review the effect of whelk pot design on catch efficiency, including an appraisal of current technical conservation measures (for example, escape gaps) and ways of optimizing efficacy.
4. Propose a management regime, based on outputs of whelk objectives 2, 3 and 4, which will manage fishing effort that aligns with restoring or maintaining stocks at levels capable of maintaining MSY, or suitable interim proxies.

Relevant Fisheries Act 2020 objectives

• scientific evidence objective
• precautionary objective

8. Collaborative working

Objective

Government and shellfish industry to work together to take collective responsibility for:

• mitigating emissions from the shellfish supply chain

• adapting to the environmental impacts of climate change

Rationale

Improved understanding of the carbon footprint of shellfish fisheries in scope of the FMP will help identify carbon hotspots and opportunities for decarbonisation.

Reducing emissions from the shellfish supply chain will help the industry contribute to national and global goals to combat climate change and meet net-zero commitments.

Improved understanding of likely impacts of climate change on English shellfish fisheries will help the commercial fishing sector adapt to changes, building greater business resilience. 

Potential actions

1. Assess the carbon footprint of English shellfish fisheries using a reliable metric which considers specifics of the shellfish industry (for example, different fleet métiers, carbon sequestration in shell material.)
2. Identify opportunities for reducing carbon emissions in the shellfish sector and encourage improvements where possible and economically viable.
3. Support seafood businesses to explore alternative uses for shellfish co- or by-products (for example, shell waste), to minimise indirect greenhouse gas emissions in the shellfish supply chain.
4. Monitor climate change-related issues of relevance to the shellfish sector and use the SIAG as a forum through which to raise awareness, stimulate collaborative working, and support communication of positive environmental credentials.
5. Review relevant research to outline likely impacts of climate change on English shellfish fisheries to:
   • assess the likely impact on population dynamics of target species
   • assess the economic viability of commercial fisheries, and likely impacts on coastal communities and wider society (for example, loss of employment)
   • communicate options for English shellfish fisheries to adapt and operate under changing climatic conditions, with the aim of safeguarding long-term environmental and socio-economic sustainability

Relevant Fisheries Act 2020 objective

The climate change objective.

Management strategy

The whelk FMP sets a pathway for our vision of long-term sustainable fishery management. The whelk-specific objectives set out how this vision will be achieved. Given the limitations of current whelk data, we need to improve the evidence base. This action will provide the foundation for better management and the development of a whelk-specific harvest strategy incorporating agreed harvest control rules (HCRs), supported by regular stock assessments.

A harvest strategy will ensure that fishing mortality (fishing effort) is managed at a level that enables long-term sustainable exploitation based on a reliable assessment of stock status (or a suitable proxy until a full stock assessment for whelks is available). HCRs will ensure that fishing effort remains at or below a pre-determined management target, and if stock status falls below this level, clear and decisive management action can be taken.

Recognising limitations with the evidence base available to underpin good management, the future fishery management strategy needs to be adaptive. Hence, our approach will reflect the precautionary objective of the Act, which states that ‘the absence of sufficient scientific information is not used to justify postponing or failing to take management measures to conserve target species, associated or dependent species, non-target species or their environment’. As the baseline data improves, and as we increase our knowledge of the fishery, the need for management interventions will need to be flexible in response.

Figure 1 shows a simplified, conceptual cyclical process for fisheries management improvements, whereby management decisions are made.

The process is as follows: based on the best available evidence at any given time, management action is taken, the effects (negative and positive) of management actions are monitored through data collection, and adjustments are made if improvements are not evident, or if new information becomes available better to inform decision making. This approach is aligned with the scientific evidence and precautionary objectives of the Act and section 4.1.7 of the Joint Fisheries Statement.

Figure 1: A conceptual diagram of the proposed iterative fisheries management cycle to drive continuous improvement through data collection, analysis of evidence, assessment of stocks, and management action.

Whelk stocks are understood to vary geographically, largely due to differences in whelk biology. Differences also exist in the make-up of the fleets exploiting whelk stocks. Inshore vessels can vary from offshore vessels in size, power and capacity. Any future management of whelk fisheries in English waters will consider fleet characteristics, including nomadic vessels.

Management interventions should consider the specific needs of local fisheries to ensure that the effects of management decisions are equitable. While the FMP provides a national-level strategic management plan, its implementation will require tailored approaches to reflect the local needs of whelk stocks and regional fleet differences.

Approach

This FMP presents the opportunity to transition whelk fisheries in English waters to a regime of iterative and agile effort management, underpinned by the best current and future available evidence. The proposed approach to achieve this is twofold:

• assessing and tracking stock status
• implementing an adaptive management approach, including short-term and longer-term measures to ensure fishing effort is aligned with long-term stock sustainability

Assessing and tracking stock status

Given the ambition for long-term sustainable management of whelk stocks and fisheries, the challenges with assessing current whelk stock status, and anecdotal concerns from industry about increasing pressure on stocks, the primary focus is to collect the data that scientists and fishery managers need to build an appropriate time series to inform future management. The evidence and research plan published for the public consultation in 2023 set out our initial assessment of the research needed to support the FMP. Defra will maintain a research plan to set out the current evidence and proposed research as the FMP implementation work proceeds.

We propose to take the following steps over the course of this FMP to deliver an improved evidence base to assess the maximum sustainable yield for whelk fisheries around England.

1. Establish and implement a data collection programme for both fishery-dependent and fishery-independent data (as detailed in whelk management objective 1).
2. Agree on proxy stock boundaries for whelks as the basis for management (whelk management objective 2). Given the highly variable nature of whelk ‘stocklets’, it may be necessary to focus initially on determining appropriate proxy stock boundaries for whelks at an appropriate scale for effective management. Proxies could be based on patterns of exploitation, anecdotal information gathered from fishers, and understanding of the role of environmental parameters in determining stock characteristics.
3. Assess CPUE, or other indices of abundance, as data improve to monitor general trends in performance (whelk management objective 3). Indices of abundance used in other whelk fisheries (in the UK and beyond) will be evaluated to determine their appropriateness for application to whelk stocks in English waters.
4. Develop a whelk-specific harvest strategy (whelk management objective 7) to drive management action and determine acceptable levels of fishing pressure, in response to changes in stock status. Key to the harvest strategy will be a set of harvest control rules which are aligned with MSY or a suitable proxy as per the sustainability objective of the Fisheries Act 2020.

Implementing an adaptive management approach

As the whelk evidence base improves, the focus will be on delivering more tailored effort management to ensure stock status remains at or above an agreed MSY target.

Below there is an overview of management approaches that could be used to limit effort in the whelk fishery. The precautionary objective of the Act stresses the need to take management action even in the absence of sufficient scientific information. The FMP therefore proposes a multi-step, iterative approach in which management decisions are implemented, reviewed and refined to deliver long-term sustainability.

This adaptive management approach will run alongside efforts to improve the evidence base as detailed above.

Initial management interventions

To address concerns about the long-term sustainability of the whelk fishery and deliver on the precautionary principles of the Act, two initial management interventions are proposed. These early interventions are intended to safeguard stocks and the fishery while more information is being gathered to inform the necessary components for responsive management in the future.

Task 1. Introduce a whelk permit scheme or entitlement with conditions to manage whelk fishing effort and to provide a mechanism for proactive effort management in the future

A permit scheme or entitlement will be used as a vehicle to introduce various conditions that manage fishing effort and introduce data collection requirements to inform and bolster future management approaches. This is described in detail below.

Proposed policy: manage fishery effort via a whelk permit scheme or entitlement

The purpose of this proposed management measure is to:

• better control fishing effort of whelk fisheries 
• facilitate further fishery management measures by means of variable conditions

A whelk entitlement or permit scheme can be developed in a way which is bespoke for English whelk fisheries. There is flexibility in how this system may be designed, and it does not have to mirror any existing permits or entitlements. There is an opportunity to innovate and collaboratively design a system which is fit for purpose for managing the English whelk fleet.

English whelk fisheries are currently open access, meaning that any vessel with a fishing licence can fish for whelks in English waters. This makes ‘whelking’ an attractive option for vessels that are displaced from other fishing grounds or fisheries. The ease of switching to whelks is also a driver for increased effort during periods of high whelk prices or price downturns for other species, as minimal vessel modifications are required, and the price of whelk pots is lower than most other gear types. Sector flexibility to move between fisheries is important for the viability of smaller, predominantly inshore sector vessels. Currently there is no ability to manage or restrict whelk effort outside of existing measures in certain IFCA jurisdictions up to 6 nautical miles.

A whelk permit scheme or entitlement will not immediately address effort expansion from those operators already active in the fishery, but it can be used as the mechanism to apply future management measures. This means that measures, such as effort limitations – including increased MCRSs, pot and catch limits, and spatial or temporal restrictions – or data gathering requirements, could be introduced as required relatively simply once a new permit or entitlement scheme is in place.

The whelk permit scheme or entitlement can provide flexibility in how the whelk fishery is managed in the future. However, introducing a permitting scheme or entitlement is complex and further policy development will be required to implement the measure and explore options for the design of a permitting system. Any new scheme would require consideration of several practical issues. These include, but are not limited to, how to assess the number of permits, eligibility for permits, payment for permits, impacts on newcomers and transferability.

Whelk stocks are data limited with limited means to reliably assess stock status or the impact that fishing pressure is having. Although scientific evidence is limited for offshore waters, anecdotal information, which includes expansion in pot numbers and indications that fishermen are operating further beyond their traditional fishing grounds, suggests that whelk stocks could be under pressure.

Given the limited understanding of the health of whelk stocks, the introduction of a whelk permit scheme or entitlement is considered a vital first step in delivering long-term sustainable management of this important resource.

Task 2. Increase MCRSs where appropriate

MCRS is generally viewed as a useful and relatively enforceable measure to support a sustainable whelk fishery.

Best available evidence (a Cefas study conducted in 2015) indicates that size of maturity is above the English offshore MCRS (45 mm shell length) in most regions around the English coast. The MCRS would need to increase to reduce the risk of recruitment overfishing and protect spawning stock^{[footnote 7]}. Some IFCAs with significant whelk fisheries enforce a larger MCRS (>50 mm).

Given that SOM is generally variable between and within regions around the English coast (for example, due to variable growth rates), any MCRS increase may need to be set and implemented in offshore waters and at a local level. Delineating whelk stock boundaries and a suitable scale for management under Objective 2 will be a key part of this process. Increasing the current MCRS of 45mm in offshore waters and MCRS harmonisation between offshore waters and IFCA Districts, where appropriate, will also be considered to ease compliance and enforcement and to give offshore stocks additional protection.

Reliance on MCRS alone may create two challenges:

1. If a ‘stock specific’ MCRS is applied, it may create a complex management landscape (each stock with its own MCRS) that is difficult and costly for fishermen to adhere to and complex for regulatory authorities to monitor and enforce.
2. If a single national MCRS is implemented across a large area potentially covering multiple distinct whelk stocklets, it may restrict fishing activity in some areas and may fail to protect juvenile whelks in others.

It will therefore be necessary to delineate stock boundaries at an appropriate scale for implementation of MCRS measures to address these two challenges. MCRS changes are one tool in a suite of available whelk management measures that regulators can use alongside other complimentary measures. These include other input or output controls such as pot or catch limits to effectively protect juveniles, pre-recruits and the stock more widely from overexploitation.

The survivability of undersized whelks when returned to the sea after capture requires further understanding. Initial research suggests that repeated handling (grading by manual or mechanical riddling) may impact shell growth and repair, and survivability. Furthermore, riddling of animals by shell width requires width-to-length conversion factors which account for regional differences in shell shape. These variations can be considered to enable improved enforcement of a length-based MCRS.

Voluntary whelk handling guidance for fishers prepared by Professor Michel J. Kaiser, Heriot Watt University, on behalf of the WMG, offers advice and tips on careful handling. Future gear modifications can help prevent undersize whelks from being caught in the first place.

Research needs 1.2, 2.1, 2.3, and 7.6 in the initial evidence and research plan published in 2023 address data and knowledge gaps related to this management measure. The Cefas study looked at SOM within 10 sites around the English coast. This together with IFCA-led SOM research can be used as a starting point to guide data gathering efforts.

To progress this measure an MCRS increase could be introduced as a pilot scheme.

Longer-term interventions

As the evidence base improves, the potential management measures identified below will be further developed and more targeted measures will be applied to manage fishing effort as required.

As further evidence is gathered for English whelk fisheries, adaptive management will introduce new or amend existing measures to manage fisheries to achieve harvesting at MSY or a suitable proxy. Such a cyclical process will allow future iterations of the FMP to focus on progressing fisheries management from more rudimentary, precautionary approaches while the evidence base is developing, towards a regime of agile, evidence-driven management.

Any fisheries management intervention will result in a range of social, economic and biological impacts. When implementing a new fisheries management measure, there is a statutory requirement to estimate the anticipated wider national benefits (for example, improved stock status of target species) as well as likely impacts on stakeholders and means of mitigating negative impacts. Broader impacts on local communities, and economic, social and human rights impacts, will be set out in associated impact assessments that will be required as part of the development of measures.

Management measures for whelk fisheries in English waters

This section gives a summary of potential management measures for whelk fisheries in English waters. The assessment of each measure is based on current feasibility, using existing evidence and additional supporting information where available.

To support this summary, detailed work plans setting out the required actions, time and resource (at each work stage) to deliver future measures will be developed in collaboration with the WMG, relevant whelk groups, and stakeholders during early 2024. This detail will feed into implementation planning across the wider suite of FMPs which will support the introduction of precautionary measures to provide increased protection to stocks.

Our approach supports the requirement of the Fisheries Act to take a precautionary approach to stock management while the evidence base improves.

Ahead of detailed work plans being developed and agreed, the following timings provide an initial estimate of the time required to deliver actions set out for the various approaches. Timings for the measures are:

• short term – within 1 to 2 years of publication of the plan
• medium term – in the next 3 to 5 years
• long term – more than 5 years (to reflect the more complex work required to develop them)

As the approaches are developed, the supporting work plans will be reviewed regularly and adjusted where necessary to ensure work is progressed to meet agreed deadlines and risks to delivery are identified and mitigated.

Although some measures such as MCRS and seasonal spawning closures are both medium term, actions to progress MCRS will be prioritised.

Measure: whelk fishing permit scheme or entitlement with conditions

Likely timeframe and current feasibility

Short term: no apparent evidence barriers to implementation. However, there are practical and administrative issues to consider.

Assessment

Managing effort in the whelk fishery, for example, by creating a whelk permit scheme or entitlement, may provide a mechanism to apply additional management measures. This could include reporting requirements by permit or entitlement holders to improve the evidence base, or additional measures (such as pot limits or seasonal closures, catch limits) to manage fishing effort, as is already seen in some IFCA permitting schemes.

The entitlement or permit scheme can be developed in a way which is bespoke for English whelk fisheries. Inspiration may be drawn from examples of permits or entitlements used in other fisheries and jurisdictions (such as Welsh whelk permit introduced in 2022, Basse-Normandie Granville Bay whelk permit).

Measure: MCRS variations

Likely timeframe and current feasibility

Medium term: research required to determine efficacy and appropriate spatial scales.

Assessment

Best available evidence indicates that the current MCRS of 45mm in English offshore waters does not afford sufficient protection in most English whelk fisheries and would need to increase to reduce the risk of recruitment overfishing and protect spawning stock. Regional variation in whelk size of maturity (due to variable growth rates for instance) means that, in some cases, an MCRS may need to be set and implemented at a local level – requiring delineating whelk stock boundaries and a suitable scale for management.

There is also the need to have a coordinated approach in inshore and offshore waters, and harmonisation of MCRSs, where appropriate, will be considered.

Further research is needed into the survivability of undersized whelks when returned to the sea after capture. Initial research suggests that repeated handling (grading by manual or mechanical riddling) may impact shell growth and repair, and whelk survivability^{[footnote 8]}.

Voluntary guidance on whelk handling for fishers (Why it pays to treat your whelks well), prepared by Professor Michel J. Kaiser of Heriot Watt University for the WMG, offers advice and tips on careful handling. Future gear modifications can also help prevent undersize whelks from being caught in the first place, and a better understanding of regional width-length ratios would help improve width-based sorting of undersized animals through riddling.

Measure: pot limits

Likely timeframe and current feasibility

Medium term: research required to address gaps to inform evidence-based management action and enforcement considerations.

Assessment

Data on current fishing effort in offshore waters (numbers of pot hauls, pot design, soak times, whelk catchability due to different baits and seasons) needs to be collected. Data also needs to distinguish between pot types, so that pot limits can be set effectively to limit fishing mortality.

Implementation of I-VMS may provide a proxy of pot numbers hauled in the future, as will improving the fishery-dependent data collection, and measures to require mandatory effort monitoring. There are examples of pot limits being used successfully in whelk fisheries elsewhere (for example, Basse-Normandie and Granville Bay), but these are predicated on CPUE reference points (which are not yet available for whelk fisheries in English waters) and are also linked to the number of crew members working aboard the vessel.

Harmonisation of pot design and capacity can be considered to prevent circumvention of pot limitations, for example through the deployment of larger or more efficient pots.

Effective enforcement of pot limits requires additional gear marking regulations, as the Scottish marking of creels regulation demonstrates (Marking of Creels (Scotland) Order 2020).

Constructive engagement with fishermen will contribute to successfully recovering pots beyond a pot limit.

Measure: seasonal spawning closures

Likely timeframe and current feasibility

Medium term: research required to utilise existing data and determine efficacy and appropriate spatial scales.

Assessment

Seasonal closures can be used to reduce fishing pressure on stocks when females are laying eggs, and to protect egg clusters attached to benthic features which could be disturbed, damaged or removed by potting activity. While regional variations in peak spawning periods are likely to exist around the English coast, there is evidence that significant volumes of whelk are removed during periods that coincide with spawning (roughly autumn and winter) when meat quality and yield is lowest. It is expected that protecting stocks during spawning will allow whelks a greater chance of reproducing successfully and should improve stock viability when combined with additional effort restriction measures.

Existing IFCA shellfish seasonal closures for other fisheries and emergency closures will need to be considered as part of this approach. Further consideration of existing and future supporting evidence for local stocks and stocklets will also be required.

Relevant available information includes fishery-independent data from Cefas on whelk spawning seasons and time-series data from the MMO on monthly catch records.

Measure: gear design measures (for example, riddle sizes, mandatory escape gaps)

Likely timeframe and current feasibility

Medium- to long-term: research required to understand efficacy and application.

Assessment

Gear design measures are already enforced in some IFCA jurisdictions, but efficacy should be better understood.

Fishing Industry Science Partnership (FISP)-funded research by the WMG and Heriot-Watt University is under way to evaluate different pot designs and escape hole configurations to minimise catches of undersized whelks. Effective use of escape holes is based on understanding the regional whelk shell morphology and biology (linked to effective use of MCRS) to ensure that gear design measures (a) afford appropriate protection to stocks and (b) do not disproportionately impact fishers in certain areas.

Technical conservation measures could play an important role in protecting juveniles prior to recruitment to the fishable stock. Avoiding catching juvenile whelks also minimises the risk of exposing them to damaging handling practices and post-release mortality or depredation.

Research need 7.3 in the ‘Evidence and research plan’ (published for public consultation in 2023) addresses data and knowledge gaps related to this management measure.

Measure: catch limit

Likely timeframe and current feasibility

Long term: use existing data and address gaps to inform evidence-based management action.

Assessment

Possible stock assessment approaches for whelks are being explored. Currently, for a catch limit to be implemented, in the absence of a stock assessment, introduction of catch limits based on historic fishing activity (landings) could be considered. 

For example, in 2022 Wales implemented an annual catch limit (ACL) for whelk fisheries under an unlimited permit scheme. The ACL is distributed throughout the year using a flexible catch limit of 50 tonnes per vessel per month. The ACL in Wales was initially set based on the average landings of whelks in Wales between 2015 and 2019. Over time the limit will be refined based on uptake and fishery-independent survey data linking catches to likely stock abundance. Such schemes may be evaluated and built upon to develop a scheme which is appropriate for English whelk fisheries.

Research needs 1.2, 2.1, 2.3, 3.1, 3.2, 4.1, 4.2, and 7.6 in the ‘Evidence and research plan’ (published for public consultation in 2023) address data and knowledge gaps related to this management measure.

Environmental considerations

The whelk FMP will contribute to policies relating to the wider marine environment, specifically the requirement to ensure the health of our seas for future generations, and ambitions to restore biodiversity and address climate change.

The Environmental Improvement Plan 2023 for England details the goals that government will pursue to improve the environment within a generation. It sets out how marine biodiversity will be protected and restored, and how the management of fishing should take an ‘environment first’ approach. It sets out a series of ambitious targets relevant to the whelk FMP, which are listed in the following section.

Summary of relevant environmental legislation and whelk FMP obligations

Environmental UK legislation and frameworks

The Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulation 2017

The Conservation of Offshore Marine Habitats and Species Regulations 2017

• FMPs and their measures must not result in adverse impact to site integrity for European Marine Sites
• FMPs and their measures must not result in an adverse impact to site integrity for Offshore Special Areas of Conservation and Special Protection Areas (SPAs)
• the competent authority must undertake a habitats regulation assessment (HRA) to determine whether the FMP (including proposed management measures) may have an impact on the features or site integrity of a Marine Protected Area (MPA)

Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009

• FMPs and their measures must not hinder the conservation objectives of Marine Conservation Zones (MCZs)
• an FMP may need an MCZ impact assessment to determine whether the plan (including proposed management measures) may have an impact on MPA conservation objectives

UK Marine Strategy (UKMS) Regulations 2010

• the UKMS requires UK governments to take the necessary measures to achieve or maintain good environmental status (GES)
• the UKMS identifies FMPs as a tool to support the delivery of GES

Environment Act 2021

• when developing fisheries management measures or policies, FMPs must have due regard to the environmental principles set out in the Environment Act

The whelk FMP will contribute to this target by delivering, in time, the following targets:

• a comprehensive harvest strategy underpinned by a reliable stock assessment methodology, which is supported by a consistent data collection and research programme.
• a series of targets relating to protecting and restoring wider marine biodiversity, including increasing the proportion of protected and well-managed seas, better managing existing protected sites, and ensuring populations of key species are sustainable, with appropriate age structures.

The whelk FMP will enable us to better understand the impacts that whelk pot fishing may have on the marine environment and ensure that action is taken when such impacts may prevent us achieving the targets described directly above.

UK Marine Policy Statement and individual marine plans in English waters

The Marine Policy Statement (MPS) establishes the overarching framework to support the formulation of marine plans, to ensure marine resources are used in a sustainable way. The MPS details the objectives that will drive marine plans, and the overarching outcomes sought. These include sustainable economic development, a low-carbon economy, a sustainable marine environment, and realising the societal benefits that the marine area can provide.

There are 11 marine plans covering English waters and collectively they put into practice the objectives for the marine environment identified in the MPS. Marine plans should provide for fishing and aquaculture use and ensure that decisions on other marine uses support habitats for fish stocks (nursery or spawning grounds).

The whelk FMP objectives align with the MPS objectives in terms of the shared ambitions to deliver:

• a sustainably harvested whelk stock over the long term and a diverse and healthy marine environment
• whelk resources that are managed to deliver economic prosperity to coastal communities and across the seafood supply chain
• opportunities for stakeholders to engage in and collaborate on management decisions relating to whelks
• decision making that is underpinned by scientific and socio-economic evidence, with decisions monitored to ensure they are effective

Measures developed under the whelk FMP will consider the requirements of the relevant marine plan. Similarly, decisions on wider marine access and use made under a marine plan should consider the objectives of the whelk FMP.

The government will explore the relationship between marine spatial planning and fisheries management plans so these policies can work in a joined-up way to ensure more effective use of the marine space and resources. This process in England will be supported by the outputs from the marine spatial prioritisation programme.

The UK Marine Strategy (and good environmental status)

The UK Marine Strategy provides the framework for delivering clean, healthy, safe, productive, and biologically diverse oceans and seas. It consists of a 3-stage framework for achieving good environmental status (GES) in our seas through protecting the marine environment, preventing its deterioration and restoring it, where practical, while allowing sustainable use of marine resources.

The whelk FMP will contribute to GES by managing fishing activity to harvest whelks within sustainable limits in English waters. This FMP will seek to improve the science and information base on the status of whelk stocks, establishing if whelk pot fishing has an adverse impact on the marine environment and intervening if it does. It will also ensure that whelk harvesting is responsibly managed so that fisheries are profitable and capable of delivering social and economic benefits.

Commercial fish and shellfish stocks

The policy of a permit scheme or licence entitlement with conditions to allow adaptive management to reflect the local characteristics of whelk stocks and fleets. With the aim of controlling fishing effort in whelk fisheries over the long term, has been proposed to achieve sustainable harvesting of whelk stocks and will positively contribute to achieving good environmental status (GES) for UK Marine Strategy Descriptor 3 (Commercial fish and shellfish stocks), in English waters.

Bycatch

Whelk Management Objective 5, potential action 3, has been developed to address the issue of bycatch associated with the whelk fishery and will positively contribute to achieving GES for UK Marine Strategy Descriptor 1 (Biological diversity) and Descriptor 4 (Food webs), in English waters.

Marine Litter

Whelk Management Objective 5, potential action 4, has been developed to address the issue of marine litter associated with the whelk fishery and will positively contribute to achieving GES for UK Marine Strategy Descriptor 10 (Marine litter), in English waters.

Marine wildlife bycatch mitigation initiative

The marine wildlife bycatch mitigation initiative sets out how the UK will achieve its ambitions to minimise and, where possible, eliminate the accidental capture and entanglement of sensitive marine species in UK fisheries.

The whelk FMP will contribute to the initiative by improving monitoring of bycatch, identifying and managing (through bycatch mitigation measures) bycatch hotspots. 

The ecosystem objective of the Act explicitly requires that incidental catches of sensitive marine species should be minimised and, where possible, eliminated. While sensitive marine species bycatch is considered low in the whelk pot fishery, the whelk FMP proposes that a bycatch monitoring plan is implemented across all whelk fisheries in English waters, to understand the extent of interactions and the scale of risk that these interactions pose to marine species populations. Further details can be found in whelk-specific objective 5 and in ‘Environmental considerations’ section in this document.

Climate Change Act 2008

This legislation establishes the target to reach net zero by 2050.

The FMP will ensure that research and tools are in place so that the shellfish supply chain is equipped to minimise its emissions, and to enable the fishing industry to understand and adapt to the environmental impacts of climate change.

Further details on how this contribution will be achieved is summarised in the FMP ‘Shellfish shared principles’ (published for the public consultation in 2023).

Implementation, monitoring and review

Implementation

The whelk FMP sets out a vision and goals for the whelk fishery, together with the policies and management interventions necessary to achieve these goals.

The FMP proposes new measures but will not implement them. The actions and measures contained within the plan will undergo a subsequent implementation phase, as appropriate mechanisms will be required to deliver them. Such mechanisms could include voluntary measures, licence conditions, national and regional byelaws, and statutory instruments. This implementation phase will build on the existing evidence base, any action taken throughout the FMP’s development, and the options discussed and developed with stakeholders. Subsequent implementation roadmaps will be subject to regular monitoring and review to ensure progress.

In line with the strategic environmental assessments developed alongside this FMP, this review process will build in monitoring for potential environmental effects, to help establish whether any changes are needed in the management of the respective fisheries.

Monitoring indicators  

This is the first version of this FMP which sets out the first steps and longer-term vision necessary for sustainable management of this fishery. These plans are intended to allow an adaptive approach and will be reviewed and improved over time as we collect more evidence and collaborate with the fishing sector and wider interests on the sustainable management of these fisheries.

Delivery of the actions and measures for the whelk FMP will be monitored and adapted, as necessary.

There is, however, currently insufficient evidence to determine MSY for the whelk fishery around England, The FMP sets out the proposed steps to build the evidence base for these data limited stocks to support progress towards defining and measuring stock status and reporting on stock sustainability. An increase in the available evidence to define and measure stock status will be an indicator of the effectiveness of this plan for these stocks.

Other indicators to measure the effectiveness of the policies for restoring, or maintaining whelk stock at sustainable levels are:

• introduction of a whelk permit scheme or entitlement with conditions which will contribute to both the evidence basis for whelk and provide a mechanism to apply additional management measures, if required in the future, to align fishing effort with preliminary estimates of stock status
• the putting in place of an action plan to support the introduction of an increased, and where possible harmonised, MCRS in offshore English waters for whelk, where supported by scientific evidence. This will aid enforcement, support a larger spawning stock biomass and enhance reproductive capacity of stocks

Review of the whelk FMP

The whelk FMP must be reviewed when appropriate, and at least every six years. This formal review will assess how the FMP has performed in terms of delivering against the objectives of the Act.

The findings of these reviews will inform the development of subsequent iterations of the FMP. Further, the FMP will be assessed in the round as part of the process to report on the contribution of FMPs to the delivery of the JFS. The Act requires fisheries policy authorities to report on the JFS every 3 years and review the JFS whenever deemed appropriate, or at least within six years of publication.

1. Input controls are fisheries management measures that restrict the number and size of fishing vessels (fishing capacity controls), the amount of time fishing vessels are allowed to fish (vessel usage controls), or the product of capacity and usage (fishing effort controls). ‘A Fishery Managers Guidebook: Management Measures and their Application’. FAO Fisheries Technical Paper 424. ↩

2. Output controls are direct limits on the volume of fish coming out of a fishery and can include the tonnage or the number of fish or shellfish that may be caught from a fishery in a period of time, such as total allowable catches. FAO ibid. ↩

3. Article 496 of the TCA requires that fisheries management interventions are evidenced based, proportionate and non-discriminatory to either party. ↩

4. IFCA TAG (2018) ‘Whelk research, evidence and management’, IFCA TAG conference report, pages 1 to 11. ↩

5. IFCA (2022) ‘Whelk Working Group’, 3rd Annual Report, pages 1 to 7. ↩

6. Haig et al., ‘Temporal and spatial variation in size at maturity of the common whelk (Buccinum undatum)’. ICES Journal of Marine Science, Volume 72, Issue 9, 2015. ↩

7. McIntyre, R., Lawler, A. and Masefield, R., 2015. Size of maturity of the common whelk, Buccinum undatum: is the minimum landing size in England too low? Fisheries Research, 162, pp.53-57. ↩

8. Colvin, C. N. et al. ‘The effect of environmental factors on shell growth and repair in Buccinum undatum’. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, Volume 551, June 2022. ↩