Proposed West Coast of Scotland Nephrops and North Sea Nephrops Fisheries Management Plans (FMPs)
Overview
The purpose of this consultation is to seek your views on the proposed West Coast of Scotland Nephrops and North Sea Nephrops Fisheries Management Plans (FMPs), their policies and proposed actions.
FMPs are documents prepared and published under the Fisheries Act 2020 and they set out policies and actions for the nephrops fisheries designed to restore or maintain the relevant stocks at sustainable levels. They are evidence-based action plans that support delivery of sustainable fisheries for current and future generations.
The UK fisheries authorities (Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, Scottish Government, Welsh Government and the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs in Northern Ireland) will prepare and publish 43 Fisheries Management Plans (FMPs) by 2028. The Scottish Government is the coordinating authority for 21 FMPs with a delivery date of end of 2026. Of the 21 FMPs, 11 are for demersal fish stocks, two are for Nephrops stocks and a further eight are for pelagic fish stocks.
The Nephrops FMPs have been prepared by the following UK fisheries authorities - Scottish Government, Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs and the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs in Northern Ireland - in collaboration with the Sea Fish Industry Authority (Seafish), as well as with input from industry, scientists, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and Statutory Nature Conservation Bodies (SNCB). These have been published jointly by the relevant authorities for the purposes of the Fisheries Act 2020.
We are also seeking views on the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA), which describes the likely environmental impacts of these FMPs, and on the Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment (BRIA) which describes the anticipated economic impact of the FMPs on the fishing sector and associated businesses.
Additional documents that support this consultation can be found in the ‘Related’ section at the bottom of this page. These include the Nature Conservation Advice from NatureScot and JNCC for Nephrops FMPs and also Statutory Conservation Advice for English waters. Please note that we are not inviting feedback on these documents.
This consultation closes at 23:55 on 17 June 2026.
Read the consultation paper. The consultation paper contains full background information for this consultation. You may find it useful to read or refer to while responding.
Please also ensure that you have read the Proposed Nephrops FMPs that are relevant to you before responding.
You only need to respond to the questions that you wish to, for example, if you only have an interest in one FMP, you do not need to respond to questions on the other. However, all respondents must complete the required 'Consultee feedback on the online survey' and ‘personal details and confidentiality’ sections before you are able submit your response to the online survey.
Consultation questions preview
The consultation questions are included here for your reference. You only need to respond to the questions that you wish to, for example, if you only have an interest in one FMP, you do not need to respond to questions on the others. However, all respondents must complete the required 'Consultee feedback on the online survey' and ‘personal details and confidentiality’ sections before you are able submit your response to the online survey.
Please click 'Begin consultation' at the bottom of this page to proceed.
Q. 1 For the North Sea Nephrops FMP, do you agree with the proposed policies?
Q. 2: What are your views on the proposed actions for each policy in the North Sea Nephrops FMP?
Q. 3 For the West Coast of Scotland Nephrops FMP, do you agree with the proposed policies?
Q. 4: What are your views on the proposed actions for each policy in the West Coast of Scotland FMP?
Q. 5 Do you have any comments on the specific sections in any of the proposed Nephrops FMPs? For example, on the:
- Stock assessment and MSY section which provides information on available stock assessments, MSY and stock biology for the individual stocks covered by the Nephrops FMPs.
- Fisheries management section which outlines proposals to maintain the sustainable management of Nephrops fisheries in UK waters for the long-term. It also covers the current technical measures, as well as monitoring, control and enforcement.
- Environmental considerations section which covers legal duties and requirements relating to the protection of the natural environment arising from legislation. It provides details of the conservation advice developed by the SNCBs which describes the risks arising from the Nephrops fisheries contained within the two Nephrops FMPs.
- Implementation and monitoring section which describes the process for implementation and states that the FMPs will be reviewed and improved over time as more evidence becomes available. The delivery of the policies and actions in the Nephrops FMPs will be monitored and assessed against a set of indicators to ensure the overarching outcomes and actions are effective in achieving the FMP policies and the requirements of the Act.
Q. 6 Do you have any other additional comments on the two proposed Nephrops FMPs?
Q. 7 Do you have any comments on the partial Business Regulatory Impact Assessment (BRIA)?
Q. 8 Do you have any comments on the assessment of the environmental effects of the North Sea Nephrops FMP and the West Coast of Scotland Nephrops FMP, as set out in the environmental report?
Q. 9 Do you have any comments on any potential islands impacts arising from the draft FMPs?
Useful information about responding to this consultation
As you complete your response, each page will provide the option to 'Save and come back later' at the bottom. This means you can save your progress and return to the consultation at any time before it closes. If you don't use this feature and leave the consultation midway through, your response will be lost.
Once you have submitted your response, you can enter your email address to get a pdf copy of your answers sent to you.
On the 'About You' page at the end of this consultation, organisations will have the opportunity to tell us more about their work and/or how their response was informed.
After the consultation has closed there will be a few months delay before any responses are published. This is because we must check any responses to be published abide by our Terms of Use.
All relevant submitted responses will be analysed. This may be carried out by third party organisations who Scottish Government, its executive agencies or non-ministerial offices, contract to do this work. Such data sharing will be governed by appropriate contractual arrangements to keep your data secure.
We may use artificial intelligence software to support our analysis process. Any external contractors employed by the Scottish Government to carry out the consultation analysis of responses, will have to demonstrate compliance at a high level with Scottish Government data protection and cyber security guidance. Any commissions using AI will go through the Scottish Government steps for due diligence around AI.
An analysis report will usually be published some months after the consultation has closed. This report will summarise the findings based on all responses submitted. It will be published on the Scottish Government website and you may be notified about it if you choose to share your email address with us.
You can also join our consultation mailing list where we regularly list newly published analysis reports (as well as new consultations).
Why your views matter
This consultation is an opportunity for you to help shape and influence the future of Nephrops fisheries management policy in the UK and builds upon previous engagement with a wide range of stakeholders across the UK.
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