Guidance

Manage your fishing effort: Western Waters crabs and scallops

All references to Area VII are to Area VII within British Fishery Limits only. Details of the approach to managing the over 15 metre Area VII crab and scallop fishing sector to keep the fishery within UK effort limits.

Western Water crabs

Western Waters (ICES Area VII) 2025 edible and Spider Crab effort annual limit

Industry and administrations have agreed that days at sea limits will be set for vessels operating in this area for the full 2025 year. This will be enforced via a licence variation. The limit set out below will be applicable to all over 15 metre vessels with a shellfish entitlement operating in area VII and targeting crabs under the Western Waters regime.

The MMO will actively monitor days at sea uptake by vessels and review discussions will take place later in 2025 to evaluate uptake to date and discuss the management approach for the remainder of 2025.

If the UK looks like it will exceed effort limits prior to 31 December 2025 as set by the MMO, then fisheries administrations will be required to close the area VII crab fishery to over 15 metre vessels for the remainder of the year in line with the Western Waters regime.

Effort use statistics is available here

The allocation of days from 00.01 hours on 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025 is 220 days.

Scope

The Western Waters Days at Sea scheme detailed below applies to UK fishing vessels, 15 metre and over in length, fishing for Edible/Brown Crab (Cancer pagurus) and spider crab (Maja squinado) in International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) Area VII.

Days at Sea Limits

The maximum number of days a vessel can fish for crabs in ICES Area VII is established in the vessel’s fishing licence.

Any days remaining at the end of a management period will not be transferred across management periods. Days at sea are not transferrable between fishing vessels.

The number of days spent at sea will be monitored for enforcement purposes by MMO/Devolved Administration offices. However, it is your responsibility to monitor your uptake and be aware of how many days you have available. If you wish to check the information held by the MMO on your vessel’s activity you should contact your local MMO coastal office.

It is an offence to exceed the maximum number of days at sea established in your vessel’s fishing licence, and action may be taken in accordance the relevant fisheries administration’s compliance and enforcement strategy. The effort limit is an annual limit and is set in consultation with the vessels active in the fishery, with the aim of maximising uptake of available effort. For 2025 the annual limit will be reviewed throughout the year, and will be increased if fleet size and activity levels permit.

Recording of days at sea

Days at sea are counted in calendar days (midnight to midnight) or part thereof. For example a fishing trip leaving port at 0200h and returning to port at 0100h the following day counts as two calendar days. In comparison, a fishing trip leaving port at 1000h and returning at 1700h the following day is also counted as 2 calendar days.

Trip data must be recorded in UTC (universal time constant) with no daylight saving adjustment.

Steaming trips are not counted against a vessel’s days at sea providing that no gear is deployed or hauled, no landings are made and vessel activity is declared as ‘CRU – steaming/cruising’ on the electronic logbook.

Time at sea will not count against a vessel’s allocation where it comes to the aid of another vessel in need of emergency assistance or because it is transporting an injured person for emergency medical aid. You must advise your port of administration in such cases.

Western Water Scallops

Once your allocation of days are used

Any vessel that has exhausted its allocation of days must cease fishing for scallops in Area VII immediately and return to port. The vessel may then undertake other activities.

The allocation of days from 00.01 hours on 01 October – 31 December 2025 is 85 days.

2025

Days at sea

The Western Waters Days at Sea scheme detailed below applies to UK fishing vessels, 15 metres and over in length, fishing for either king (Pecten Maximus) or queen scallops (Aequipecten opercularis) in ICES Area VII.

Quarterly Days at Sea Limits

Any days remaining at the end of a management period will not be transferred across management periods.

Days at sea are not transferrable between fishing vessels.

The number of days spent at sea will be monitored for enforcement purposes by MMO/Devolved Administration offices. However, it is your responsibility to monitor your uptake and be aware of how many days you have available. If you wish to check the information held by the MMO on your vessels activity you should contact your local MMO coastal office.

It is an offence to exceed the maximum number of days at sea established in the vessels’ fishing licence and action may be taken in accordance with the relevant fisheries administration’s compliance and enforcement strategy.

Recording of days at sea

Days at sea are counted in calendar days (midnight to midnight) or part thereof. For example a fishing trip leaving port at 0200h and returning to port at 0100h the following day counts as two calendar days. In comparison, a fishing trip leaving port at 1000h and returning at 1700h the following day is also counted as two calendar days. Trip data must be recorded in UTC (universal time constant) with no daylight saving adjustment.

Steaming trips are not counted against a vessel’s days at sea providing that no gear is deployed or hauled, no landings are made and vessel activity is declared as ‘CRU – steaming/cruising’ on the electronic logbook. Time at sea will not count against a vessels allocation where it comes to the aid of another vessel in need of emergency assistance or because it is transporting an injured person for emergency medical aid. You must advise your port of administration in such cases.

Once your allocation of days are used

Any vessel that has exhausted its allocation of days must cease fishing for scallops in Area VII immediately and return to port. The vessel may then undertake other activities.

Further information

How to inspect your fishing gear and make sure your time at sea is not counted against your effort Skippers or owners are required to notify their local coastal office if they intend to go to sea to inspect their fishing gear.

On electronic logbooks, these trips should be coded with a departure message of ‘Other’ (OTH), with a comment stating that you are going to inspect your fishing gear. This will allow MMO to make vessel monitoring system data with gear inspections consistent with one another.

No landings must be made during these trips. This will ensure that we do not include these trips in effort uptake calculations.

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Updates to this page

Published 11 June 2014
Last updated 13 October 2025 show all updates
  1. Monday 13 October 2025 update.

  2. Monday 01 September 2025 update.

  3. Wednesday 22 January 2025 update.

  4. Update 01/11

  5. 29 August 2024 update

  6. Update 20 April 2024

  7. 2024 update

  8. This sentence "The allocation of days from 00.01 hours on 1 January 2023 to 31 December 2023 is 280 days." was changed from 220 days.

  9. Scallop and crab statistics updated

  10. allocation update

  11. allocation changes

  12. 06 June 2023 update.

  13. 24 March 2023 update.

  14. Update

  15. 2023 update

  16. Update 16/08

  17. allocation change

  18. Page updated

  19. Effort figures updated

  20. Crab & Scallop updates

  21. Updated effort statistics

  22. The allocation of days from 00.01 hours on 01 April 2021 – 30 June 2021 is 55 days. - Update

  23. Final December Stats

  24. updated with December 2020 provisional effort uptake link

  25. Changes made to page in line with revised guidance

  26. updated figures

  27. Updated for 17th November

  28. Updated Western Waters figures

  29. updated effort figures

  30. updates to data made

  31. updated figures

  32. Updated for the 11 September

  33. Updated effort figures

  34. Updated 18 August

  35. Figures updated

  36. Updated figures from 16 July 2020 data

  37. Figures updated from 2 July 2020

  38. Updated tables dated 16 June

  39. Updated figures as per stats from 8 June 2020

  40. figures updated

  41. Updated with statistics dated 14 May 2020

  42. Updated with 2020 information

  43. updated with link to final effort statistics for December 2019

  44. Updated with provisional December 2019 effort uptake

  45. Updated figures

  46. Effort tables updated

  47. Updated figures

  48. updated figures

  49. Change in date allocation

  50. Figures updated

  51. Figures updated

  52. Figures updated

  53. Map added

  54. Figures Updated

  55. Statistics updated

  56. Figures updated

  57. Figures update 23 May 2019

  58. Updated figures

  59. Figures Updated

  60. Latest Statistics Added

  61. Link to December 2018 data added

  62. 2019 limits added

  63. Figures updated

  64. Figures updated

  65. Figures updated

  66. Figures updated

  67. Figures updated

  68. Allocation days changed

  69. Figures updated

  70. The allocation of days from 00.01 hours on 1 January 2018 to 31 December 2018 is 160 days changed to 200

  71. Figures updated

  72. Figures updated

  73. Crab and scallop effort uptake updated to 26 June 2018

  74. Figures updated

  75. Figures updated

  76. Figures updated

  77. Figures updated

  78. Figures updated

  79. Figures updated

  80. 2018 data added

  81. 2017 data added

  82. text updated

  83. Figures updated

  84. Figures updated

  85. Figures updated

  86. Figures updated

  87. Figures updated

  88. Figures updated

  89. Allocation of days changed

  90. Figures updated

  91. Page updated

  92. Figures updated

  93. Figures updated

  94. Figures updated

  95. Figures updated

  96. Figures updated

  97. Figures updated

  98. Figures updated

  99. Figures updated

  100. Figures updated

  101. Figures updated

  102. Figures updated

  103. Figures updated

  104. 2017 data added

  105. Figures updated

  106. 2017 data added

  107. Crab and scallop data updated

  108. Figures updated

  109. Figures updated

  110. Figures updated

  111. Figures updated

  112. Figures updated

  113. Figures updated

  114. Figures updated

  115. Dates changed

  116. Days at sea updated

  117. Figures updated

  118. Figures updated

  119. Figures updated

  120. Figures updated

  121. European limit (kilowatt days) for area 7 scallops updated

  122. Figures updated

  123. Figures updated

  124. Figures updated

  125. Figures updated

  126. Figures updated

  127. Figures updated

  128. Figures updated

  129. Figures updated

  130. Figures updated

  131. Figures updated

  132. Figures updated

  133. Text updated

  134. Effort tables updated

  135. Crab and Scallop uptake figures updated as at 8 December 2015

  136. Figures updated

  137. Figures updated

  138. Figures updated

  139. Figures updated

  140. Figures updated

  141. Figures updated

  142. Figures updated

  143. Figures updated

  144. Figures updated

  145. Figures updated

  146. Figures updated

  147. Figures updated

  148. Figures updated

  149. Following a meeting in Plymouth on the 22 July 2015 it was agreed to increase the effort limit from 150 days to 190 days for the year.

  150. Figures updated

  151. Figures updated

  152. Spreadsheets updated

  153. Figures updated

  154. Figures updated

  155. Tables updated

  156. Dutch consultation information removed

  157. Figures updated

  158. Crab and scallop effort figures updated

  159. Figures updated

  160. Figures updated

  161. Figures updated 12 May 2015

  162. Crab and scallop effort figures updated

  163. Crab and scallop effort figures updated

  164. Effort statistics updated

  165. The allocation of days from 00.01 on 1 April 2015 to 23.50 on 30 June 2015 is 60 days added

  166. Next uptake statistics will be published in April 2015 text added

  167. Crabs and Scallops effort data updated

  168. Crabs and Scallops effort data updated

  169. Consultation into conducting a scallop-demersal effort swap with the Netherlands added

  170. Updated the date of meeting

  171. Effort tables updated

  172. Crab and Scallop effort tables updated

  173. Effort figures updated

  174. Effort tables updated

  175. Western waters crab rules added

  176. Scallop and Crab days for 2015 set.

  177. Effort tables updated

  178. Western Waters Scallop Rules for 2015 added and the allocation of days for January to December 2014 changed from 52 to 150 days.

  179. Effort tables updated 12 December 2014

  180. Effort tables updated

  181. Effort tables updated

  182. Change to scallop days

  183. Effort tables updated

  184. Effort tables updated

  185. Effort tables updated

  186. Effort tables updated

  187. Effort tables updated

  188. Effort tables updated

  189. Scallop days increased

  190. Effort tables updated

  191. Crab and scallops effort uptake uploaded

  192. Effort tables updated

  193. Effort tables updated

  194. Effort tables updated

  195. Effort tables updated

  196. Crab and Scallop effort updated

  197. Effort tables updated

  198. amended page in line with licence variation

  199. Effort tables updated

  200. Effort tables updated.

  201. Effort tables updated

  202. Effort tables updated

  203. Effort tables updated

  204. effort tables updated

  205. Updated effort tables

  206. Crab and Scallop effort updated

  207. Scallop and Crab effort updated - 25 July

  208. Crab and scallop effort updake updated

  209. Crab and scallop effort uptake tables updated

  210. First published.

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