Guidance on England’s Demersal Reserve Quota allocation for 2020
Guidance on England’s Demersal Reserve Quota allocation for 2020
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To reflect the fact that all quota species are now subject to the Landing Obligation and will no longer be discarded, quota now includes landed and previously discarded catches so overall quota allocations to Member States continues to be increased to reflect this position. With the exception where exemptions set out in the discard plans allow discarding to continue. Please see the MMO guidance for further details.
This year, as in 2019, the European Commission has not provided separate figures on the portion of the TAC (Total Allowable Catch) for each stock which relates to this increase.
Defra have therefore calculated an equivalent portion of the English share of the UK TAC, based on 2018 discard rates, where available. The calculations and discard percentages used can be found in the English allocations spreadsheet in the MMO fisheries quota allocation 2020 guidance. This quota is referred to as “reserve quota” by Defra and the MMO.
This reserve quota policy applies to 2020 only. We will continue to review our approach to reserve quota taking into account any future changes to our discard policy and quota management after the end of the transition period.
Allocation of reserve quota in 2020
Defra consulted industry in early 2020 on the allocation of reserve quota and has also conducted its own review of the reserve quota policy. Defra’s approach to allocating reserve quota in England in 2020 is intended to continue to support the non-sector while ensuring that reserve quota is allocated to parts of the fleet that will use it. Reserve quota will also be used to incentivise more sustainable fishing.
In order to support the non-sector, reserve quota for many stocks will continue to be top sliced and allocated to them, with any remaining quota either being allocated to the sector via FQA units or to vessels participating in the North Sea Fully Documented Fisheries (FDF) Scheme. A top slice will only be applied to stocks where it has been used in the past by the non-sector. For some stocks, all reserve quota will be made available for the North Sea FDF scheme.
A new method will be used to calculate the top-slice where one is applied, as follows:
- For stocks with 100t or less of reserve quota, if the non-sector is highly dependent upon the top slice (defined as where historic use of the top slice by the non-sector is greater than 75%), all the reserve quota will be allocated to the non-sector.
- For stocks with 100t or less of reserve quota, if the non-sector is not highly dependent on the top slice, the top slice will be the reserve quota multiplied by the proportion of reserve quota historically used by the non-sector.
- For stocks with more than 100t of reserve quota, the top slice will be 25% of the reserve quota multiplied by the proportion of reserve quota historically used by the non-sector.
“Historic use” and “the proportion of reserve quota historically used” for each stock is the average percentage of the top slice used by the non-sector for landings or trades over 2016-2019. Further explanation of the method used to calculate the top slice can be found in Defra’s consultation response.
Further detail
An overview of how reserve quota will be allocated is provided below. Please refer to Table 1 and the MMO’s allocations spreadsheet for precise allocations.
Some demersal stocks will continue to be subject to a top slice, based upon historic use of the top slice from 2016-19. This top slice will be allocated to the non-sector. These stocks are:
- Haddock (Division 7.b-k)
- Nephrops (North Sea)
- Sole (Divisions 7.f-g)
- Ling (Subarea 4)
- Sole (Division 7.d)
- Anglerfish (Subarea 6)
- Sole (Division 7.e)
- Sole (Subarea 4)
- Sole (Division 7.a)
- Ling (Subareas 6-10, 12 and 14)
- Haddock (Division 7.a)
- Haddock (Division 6.a)
- Saithe (Subarea 6)
- Whiting (Division 7.b-k)
- Plaice (Division 7.d-e)
- Haddock (Division 6.b)
- Hake (Subareas 6 and 7)
- Whiting (Subarea 4)
The following stocks have not had any historic use of the top slice and will not be top sliced in 2020, but allocated in full via FQA units:
- Megrim (Subarea 7)
- Anglerfish (Division 7.b-k)
- Nephrops (North-west Scotland)
- Anglerfish (Division 2.a & Subarea 4)
- Lemon sole and witch (Subarea 4)
- Hake (Division 2.a & Subarea 4)
- Cod (Division 7.d)
- Megrim (Subarea 6)
- Plaice (Divisions 7.f-g)
- Cod (Division 7.a)
- Plaice (Subarea 4)
- Megrim (Division 2.a & Subarea 4)
- Plaice (Division 7.a)
The Fully Documented Fisheries (FDF) Scheme will continue in the North Sea. Participating vessels, including any new joiners, will be able to access reserve quota held in the English pool for the following North Sea stocks:
- Cod, saithe and haddock, which will be allocated entirely to the FDF scheme as in 2019;
- Whiting will continue to be top sliced, with the remainder allocated to the FDF scheme as in 2019;
- Turbot and brill was top sliced in 2019, but was not used, so this will now be allocated entirely to the FDF scheme
The remainder of the reserve quota will be allocated through FQA units.
Some demersal stocks do not have reserve quota because either the discard rate is 0% or there is no known discard rate. This is because they are either currently fully exempt from the Landing Obligation or they are managed at the UK level.
The reserve quota allocation policy will continue to be reviewed annually by Defra.
Table 1: 2020 English reserve quota approach
| Stock | Stock code | Total English reserve quota in 2020 | Non-sector top slice of 2020 reserve quota | Sector allocation of 2020 reserve quota | Allocate in full to sector and non-sector via FQAs | English pool quota 2020 (total, including any reserve quota) | Description of approach |
| Cod (Subarea 4) | COD/2A3AX4 | 426.0 | - | - | - | 426.0 | All reserve quota to be allocated to the English pool (no top slice) which will be made available to vessels participating in the North Sea FDF scheme |
| Saithe (Subarea 4) | POK/2A3A4 | 187.0 | - | - | - | 216.9 (including 29.9t banked quota) | All reserve quota to be allocated to the English pool (no top slice) which will be made available to vessels participating in the North Sea FDF scheme |
| Haddock (Subarea 4) | HAD/2AC4 | 589.5 | - | - | - | 589.5 | All reserve quota to be allocated to the English pool (no top slice) which will be made available to vessels participating in the North Sea FDF scheme |
| Turbot and brill (Subarea 4) | T/B/2AC4-C | 94.7 | - | - | - | 94.7 | All reserve quota to be allocated to the English pool (no top slice for non-sector as no historic use) which will be available to vessels participating in the North Sea FDF scheme. |
| Whiting (Subarea 4) | WHG/2AC4 | 964.1 | 80.3 | - | - | 883.7 | 25% of reserve quota multiplied by the proportion of the top slice historically used and allocated to non-sector as top slice. The remaining reserve quota will be put into the English reserve pool and made available to vessels participating in the North Sea FDF scheme. |
| Megrim (Subarea 7) | LEZ/07 | 475.8 | - | - | 475.8 | - | Reserve quota allocated in full via FQA units (no historic use of top slice by the non-sector). |
| Anglerfish (Division 7.b-k) | ANF/07 | 296.2 | - | - | 296.2 | - | Reserve quota allocated in full via FQA units (no historic use of top slice by the non-sector). |
| Nephrops (North-west Scotland) | NEP/5BC6 | 158.0 | - | - | 158.0 | - | Reserve quota allocated in full via FQA units (no historic use of top slice by the non-sector). |
| Anglerfish (Division 2.a & Subarea 4) | ANF/2AC4-C | 69.8 | - | - | 69.8 | - | Reserve quota allocated in full via FQA units (no historic use of top slice by the non-sector). |
| Lemon sole and witch (Subarea 4) | L/W/2AC4-C | 391.6 | - | - | 391.6.0 | - | Reserve quota allocated in full via FQA units (no historic use of top slice by the non-sector). |
| Hake (Division 2.a & Subarea 4) | HKE/2AC4-C | 30.3 | - | - | 30.3 | - | Reserve quota allocated in full via FQA units (no historic use of top slice by the non-sector). |
| Cod (Division 7.d) | COD/07D | 14.7 | - | - | 14.7 | - | Reserve quota allocated in full via FQA units (no historic use of top slice by the non-sector). |
| Megrim (Subarea 6) | LEZ/56-14 | 35.4 | - | - | 35.4 | - | Reserve quota allocated in full via FQA units (no historic use of top slice by the non-sector). |
| Plaice (Divisions 7.f-g) | PLE/7FG | 259.3 | - | - | 259.3 | - | Reserve quota allocated in full via FQA units (no historic use of top slice by the non-sector). |
| Cod (Division 7.a) | COD/07A | 1.1 | - | - | 1.1 | - | Reserve quota allocated in full via FQA units (no historic use of top slice by the non-sector). |
| Plaice (Subarea 4) | PLE/2A3AX4 | 6402.4 | - | - | 6402.4 | - | Reserve quota allocated in full via FQA units (no historic use of top slice by the non-sector). |
| Megrim (Division 2.a & Subarea 4) | LEZ/2AC4-C | 33.5 | - | - | 33.5 | - | Reserve quota allocated in full via FQA units (no historic use of top slice by the non-sector). |
| Plaice (Division 7.a) | PLE/07A | 210.1 | - | - | 210.1 | - | Reserve quota allocated in full via FQA units (no historic use of top slice by the non-sector). |
| Cod (Division 7.b-c, e-k) | COD/7XAD34 | - | - | - | - | - | Bycatch only TACs, no reserve quota apportioned. |
| Whiting (Division 7.a) | WHG/07A | - | - | - | - | - | Bycatch only TACs, no reserve quota apportioned. |
| Sole (Divisions 7.f-g) | SOL7FG | 22.1 | 10.3 | 11.8 | - | - | Top slice of reserve quota allocated to non-sector in proportion to historic use of top slice (as <100t and <75% historic use). Remaining reserve quota allocated to sector via FQA units. |
| Ling (Subarea 4) | LIN/04-C | 21.8 | 10.7 | 11.1 | - | - | Top slice of reserve quota allocated to non-sector in proportion to historic use of top slice (as <100t and <75% historic use). Remaining reserve quota allocated to sector via FQA units. |
| Sole (Division 7.d) | SOL/07D | 62.0 | 29.5 | 32.5 | - | - | Top slice of reserve quota allocated to non-sector in proportion to historic use of top slice (as <100t and <75% historic use). Remaining reserve quota allocated to sector via FQA units. |
| Anglerfish (Subarea 6) | ANF/56-14 | 20.4 | 14.7 | 5.8 | - | - | Top slice of reserve quota allocated to non-sector in proportion to historic use of top slice (as <100t and <75% historic use). Remaining reserve quota allocated to sector via FQA units. |
| Sole (Division 7.a) | SOL/07A | 3.4 | 0.5 | 2.9 | - | - | Top slice of reserve quota allocated to non-sector in proportion to historic use of top slice (as <100t and <75% historic use). Remaining reserve quota allocated to sector via FQA units. |
| Ling (Subareas 6-10, 12 and 14) | LIN/6X14 | 75.6 | 2.8 | 72.8 | - | - | Top slice of reserve quota allocated to non-sector in proportion to historic use of top slice (as <100t and <75% historic use). Remaining reserve quota allocated to sector via FQA units. |
| Haddock (Division 7.a) | HAD/07A | 30.0 | 17.3 | 12.8 | - | - | Top slice of reserve quota allocated to non-sector in proportion to historic use of top slice (as <100t and <75% historic use). Remaining reserve quota allocated to sector via FQA units. |
| Haddock (Division 6.a) | HAD/5BC6A | 63.6 | 39.1 | 24.5 | - | - | Top slice of reserve quota allocated to non-sector in proportion to historic use of top slice (as <100t and <75% historic use). Remaining reserve quota allocated to sector via FQA units. |
| Sole (Division 7.e) | SOL/07E | 23.4 | 23.4 | 0.0 | - | - | Entire reserve quota allocated to non-sector as top slice (as <100t and >75% historic use). |
| Sole (Subarea 4) | SOL/24-C | 50.1 | 50.1 | 0.0 | - | - | Entire reserve quota allocated to non-sector as top slice (as <100t and >75% historic use). |
| Saithe (Subarea 6) | POK/56-14 | 71.3 | 71.3 | 0.0 | - | - | Entire reserve quota allocated to non-sector as top slice (as <100t and >75% historic use). |
| Haddock (Division 7.b-k) | HAD/7X7A34 | 201.1 | 50.3 | 150.8 | - | - | 25% of reserve quota multiplied by the proportion of reserve quota historically used and allocated to non-sector as top slice. Remaining reserve quota allocated to sector via FQA units |
| Nephrops (North Sea) | NEP/2AC4-C | 338.0 | 63.4 | 274.6 | - | - | 25% of reserve quota multiplied by the proportion of reserve quota historically used and allocated to non-sector as top slice. Remaining reserve quota allocated to sector via FQA units |
| Whiting (Division 7.b-k) | WHG/7X7A-C | 330.2 | 30.4 | 299.8 | - | - | 25% of reserve quota multiplied by the proportion of reserve quota historically used and allocated to non-sector as top slice. Remaining reserve quota allocated to sector via FQA units |
| Plaice (Division 7.d-e) | PLE/7DE | 1453.2 | 363.3 | 1089.9 | - | - | 25% of reserve quota multiplied by the proportion of reserve quota historically used and allocated to non-sector as top slice. Remaining reserve quota allocated to sector via FQA units |
| Haddock (Division 6.b) | HAD/6B1214 | 286.6 | 70.9 | 215.6 | - | - | 25% of reserve quota multiplied by the proportion of reserve quota historically used and allocated to non-sector as top slice. Remaining reserve quota allocated to sector via FQA units |
| Hake (Subareas 6 and 7) | HKE/571214 | 527.1 | 92.0 | 435.2 | - | - | 25% of reserve quota multiplied by the proportion of reserve quota historically used and allocated to non-sector as top slice. Remaining reserve quota allocated to sector via FQA units |