Research and analysis

Strategic environmental assessment environmental report - non-technical summary

Published 16 December 2025

Applies to England and Scotland

Non-technical summary  

The North Sea and Channel sprat fisheries management plan (FMP) has been prepared to meet the requirements of the Fisheries Act 2020. It sets out the policies and proposed measures Defra, and the Marine Directorate will use to manage sprat fishing activity, so stocks are harvested within sustainable levels. 

Alongside these measures, the North Sea and Channel sprat FMP also sets out management to help support wider social, economic and environmental aspects of the fishery.  

This environmental report has been produced in accordance with The Environmental Assessment of Plans and Programmes Regulations 2004 (Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) Regulations 2004). The following issues (from schedule 2, paragraph 6 of the SEA Regulations 2004) were scoped into the assessment:   

• biodiversity  

• fauna  

• flora  

• geology and sediments (soil)  

• water  

• climatic factors  

• cultural heritage 

This assessment focuses on how the policies and actions in the North Sea and Channel sprat FMP could give rise to both significant positive and negative environmental effects. The findings of this assessment have been used to inform the development of the FMP.  

The assessment was conducted against a baseline that primarily used existing evidence on the state of the marine environment. This evidence is set out in The updated UK Marine Strategy Part 1, published in 2019. Additional sources of evidence were used to establish the status of the environment in relation to issues, such as climatic factors, not covered by the UK Marine Strategy (UKMS). The historical impact of fishing activity on the marine environment has been considered part of the baseline. Our assessment used the best available evidence at the present time to reach a judgement on the environmental effects of the North Sea and Channel sprat FMP.  

This report sets out those plans, programmes and environmental protection objectives, both international and domestic, that Defra and the Marine Directorate consider relevant to the North Sea and Channel sprat FMP. 

This report considers and acknowledges the existing environmental effects of sprat fishing on those issues scoped into this assessment, in relation to:  

• marine protected areas (MPAs) 

• the UKMS descriptors of good environmental status (GES) for the wider marine environment 

• climatic factors 

The potential positive and negative environmental effects of the North Sea and Channel sprat FMP’s policies and proposed measures alone and in-combination have also been assessed.  

The strategic environmental assessment (SEA) has concluded that beyond the direct impact on targeted stocks, the fishery has an impact on the marine environment.  This is primarily through bycatch of unwanted or protected species and prey reduction. The contribution of fishing related litter was also identified as a potential impact associated with sprat fishing. The contribution of sprat fishing to climate change related issues and cultural heritage was also identified as a potential impact. 

The North Sea and Channel sprat FMP has considered these impacts and sets out proposals to monitor and where required introduce mitigation to address these impacts.  

The assessment of likely negative effects identified a low risk of significant adverse effects on the environment from implementing individual policies, measures and actions. The policies, measures and actions will, where appropriate, be developed to avoid any potential negative effects identified by the assessment process. The environmental effects of implementing the North Sea and Channel sprat FMP policies and measures will also be monitored to identify unforeseen adverse effects at an early stage. This is so that appropriate remedial action can be undertaken. 

This assessment recommends that future iterations of the North Sea and Channel sprat FMP should consider: 

• how they can develop the cultural heritage of each fishery 

• how fisheries management can contribute to reducing potential negative interactions with marine heritage assets 

Read the full environmental report for the sprat FMP.