UK Scallop Management Conference

4-5 February 2019, London

A jointly organised conference (Macduff/The Fishmongers’ Company/Seafish) took place in the historic Fishmongers’ Hall on the banks of the Thames. The conference, the first of its kind, focused on management of scallop fisheries around the UK coast. Scallops now represent the third most economically important stock for the UK as a whole, and the most economically important fishery in England.

The conference drew together industry leaders, scientists, economists and fishery managers from across the UK, with speakers hailing from US, Canada, Argentina and New Zealand presenting on successful management systems from across the Globe. The purpose was to advance the thinking on the future management of UK scallop fisheries. Live polling was used throughout the conference and indicated a strong desire across all sectors for improved management of scallops, measures to restrict overfishing and a preference for replacing the current effort regime with outputs-based control.

Macduff Shellfish Director of Sustainability and Public Affairs, Andrew Brown, said: “We are very pleased by the success of this conference. There is a clear desire to improve management of these valuable fisheries and ensure a fair and sustainable system is established. It is very encouraging that the scallop industry is taking positive steps through the Scallop Industry Consultation Group and the MSC Project UK Fisheries Improvements to secure the future of UK scallop stocks.  We encourage the Government and Devolved Administrations to use the momentum generated by the conference to work with the industry to effect meaningful change.”  

14/02/2019

View all Articles