FishSource

UK monkfish - gillnet/trawl (FIP)

Access FIP Public Report

Last Updated: 2024-04-19

Progress Rating: A

Evaluation Start Date: 2018-07-01

Type: Comprehensive

Status: Active

FIP Lead: MSC (M)

Stock Profile Link
Blackbellied angler - Southern Celtic Sea and Bay of Biscay

Comments:

The FIP has reported stage 4 results within the last 12 months- FIP remains A rated

1. FIP Development	Jan 17	Fishery assessment or scoping document made public 1 January 2017 — MSC pre-assessment made public
2. FIP Launch	Feb 17	Confirmation of project participants 2 February 2017 — Participants are confirmed
2. FIP Launch	May 23	Workplan made public 1 May 2023 — Updated 2023 workplan 1 May 2022 — Updated 2022 Workplan 1 July 2018 — 2018 workplan made public
3. FIP Implementation	Jan 24	FIP activities undertaken 18 January 2024 — The I-VMS program has re-initiated for 6-12m vesselsin England. 25 July 2023 — The Monkfish Steering Committee held a meeting to discuss the roll-out of I-VMS, the development of a habitat risk-analysis matrix and the Clean Catch App trials. 3 May 2023 — Technical work is being conducted on the clean catch app to reestablish pilot groups following unsuccessful prior testing due to technical issues. In case the clean catch app persists with errors, the FIP has identified a potential alternative app, MoFI. 3 May 2023 — The FIP is collaborating with CEFAS through their GeoFISH heat mapping project to monitor and analyze fishing activity, which may contribute to the development of spatial management measures. 25 October 2022 — ICES advice has been updated and published for the monkfish fishery 12 September 2022 — UK monkfish steering committee meeting held; both monkfish species in the South West now have full analytical stock assessments 1 July 2022 — A Joint Fisheries Statement has been drafted which includes a FMP applicable to English waters; the JFS has been published for consultation 14 March 2022 — Project UK monkfish steering committee meeting conducted; The Clean Catch app has started to be used by hake skippers but full implementation across the fishery is pending 10 November 2021 — Project UK monkfish steering group committee meeting held in November 2021 1 September 2021 — CSA conducted as part of an Environmental Risk Assessment for otter trawling and beam trawling; otter trawls have been identified as having a larger footprint compared to other gears 18 May 2021 — Action Plan Annual Review uploaded; SICA analysis produced 28 January 2021 — Project UK meeting held on Principle I and II 9 April 2020 — FIP action plan & annual review updated 1 December 2019 — Recent review of industry consutlation on harvest strategy concluded that no alternative measures are available at this time, other than reduced tow-time, which has already been reduced from approx 3.5hr to around 1.5-2hr currently. 1 December 2019 — An ETP summary paper produced by Adam Townley with input from industry iunderway.. Work will be summarized and added to the FMP. 4 September 2019 — A meeting was held on "Project UK Fisheries Improvements Stage One: Monkfish", facilitated by MSC 1 June 2019 — A SICA analysis was presented to the Steering Group. The main issues identified was the lack of activity mapping for vessels <12m. iVMS is already in place to target this issue in the Devon and Severn portion of the fishery, and is likely to be expanded to all areas/vessels >8m by 2021. 25 January 2019 — A habitat assessment report was produced for monkfish 17 January 2019 — A PSA analysis was completed with a focus shifting to reducing skate and ray mortalilty. 23 June 2018 — Task 6 completed: Productivity Susceptibility Analysis (PSA) and out of scope analysis published 8 June 2018 — Draft IInformation for Scale Intensity Consequence Analysis (SICA) of performance indicator (PI) 2.5.1. published 1 April 2018 — Review experience of the South Africa trawl fishery of hake (Merluccius paradoxus and M. capensis) for lessons learned on managing a two-species complex. 1 January 2018 — ETP species assessment published
4. Improvements in Fishing Practices and Fishery Management	May 23	Verifiable improvement in policy/management and fishing practices 3 May 2023 — Increase to MSC PI 1.2.4; recent stock status information suggests that both angler species' biomass is increasing and fishing pressure is reducing. 30 May 2022 — Increase to PI 3.1.1; The UK exited the EU with resulting amendments to UK legislation. which remains robust and been reviewed by Borges (2021) confirming that this indicators meets >80 score, apart from by-catch which is still subject to the EU landing obligation. 30 May 2022 — Increase to PI 3.2.2 - Robust decision making process in place involving the three management authorities - Defra, MMO and the IFCAs. 30 May 2022 — Increase to PI 3.1.2; The Fisheries Act and Joint Fisheries Statement outlines defined management roles and procedures for managent of UK fisheries 9 July 2021 — Increase to PI 2.2.3; Review conducted and the top 20 species (95% of the total catch) for each gear were provided in the report and the complete list of species was provided in excel format, as supplementary material. 9 July 2021 — Increase to PI 3.2.4; reviews have been undertaken 9 July 2021 — Increase to PI 2.3.3; A comprehensive literature review on the post-discard survival of elasmobranchs in towed gear has been completed 9 July 2021 — Increase to PI 2.4.3; over 90 MPAs have bylaws in place to protect sensitive habitats against bottom-towed fishing gear 9 July 2021 — Increase to PI 2.2.2; Based on PSA results, the FIP conducted a review of alternative management measures. 30 January 2020 — Increase in MSC PI 2.2.1 score; PSA undertaken by CEFAS now completed with results indicating that the fishery poses a medium risk to the skates and rays species which all display good survivability. Main secondary species were classified with low risk 30 January 2020 — Increase in 1.2.1, BMT score; No alternative measures are available at this time without seriously sacrificing the gears performance, and this should be reviewed in due course when new options maybe come available. 30 January 2020 — Increase in BMT score 2.2.2; based on PSA, there are no moves in place to focus on alternative measures to reduce skates and ray mortality.
5. Improvements on the Water	Jul 21	Verifiable improvement on the water 9 July 2021 — Increase to PI 2.3.1; A detailed ‘interaction log’ is being trialed by the Round 2 FIPs to ensure that encounters with ETPs and habitat features 9 July 2021 — Increase to PI 2.5.1; MMO provided data on the number of vessels operating the three gears
6. MSC certification (optional)	—	MSC certificate made public