MSC pre-assessment made public 

Participants confirmed 

Annual review for year 4 made available (May 2023)

Updated 2022 workplan

Workplan made public 

The roll-out of I-VMS devices restarted for both >6m and <6m vessels in October 2023. As of December 2023, the roll-out program closed and over 80% of the English <12m inshore fleet purchased a device. 

Between December 2022- April 2023, the Marine Directorate consulted proposals to designate a minimum of 10% of Scotland's seas as Highly Protected Marine Areas (HPMAs) by 2026. The consultation analysis report concluded that while there were several arguments for and against the introduction of HPMAs, the primary response indicated a high degree of interest and a willingness to engage with the Scottish Government on the topic.

The Steering Group has provided feedback to the Defra-led consultation on the proposed FMP. 

AFBI published its inshore fishery advice sheets for the northern Ireland region in 2024.

The FIP participated in the UK Scallops Steering Group Meeting. An update was given on the PhD research project, which aims to better understand the consequences of scallop dredging. Additionally, an announcement was made about the development of a guide to identify ETP species that interact with the fishery

Several events centered around FMP consultations have been arranged throughout the UK and progress remains underway. 

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.

The FIP continues to actively deploy electronic monitoring systems across the fleet, with Scottish vessels approaching complete implementation.

A current PhD project is currently underway, focusing on understanding the impacts of scallop dredging on seabed habitats, conservation features, and other industry sectors. In Year 4, the project adopted the Bangor habitat impact tool to analyze Relative Benthic Status for sensitive and less sensitive habitats.

The ICES WGScallop report has been published; the report outlines advancements in Irish Sea stock assessment, encompassing subgroup meetings, data review for model application (VAST and SPict), survey index standardization, and a draft stock annex for Irish Sea scallops.

Alternative measures to reduce bycatch and detail survival of secondary species continue to be reviewed regularly; an updated report has been produced and supplemented with information on gear interactions with ETP species, gear penetration of the seabed, and the extent of knowledge on seabed recovery relevant to ETP species.

The annual stock assessment report for 2021-2022 has been published

The Joint Fisheries Statement has been finalized and is awaiting publication

Project UK environmental sub-group meeting held to discuss ongoing communications with the Shark Trust; the groups continue to work together on outreach efforts. 

In August 2022, the UK government introduced the "Marine Wildlife Bycatch Mitigation Initiative" to enforce management measures for Marine Protected Areas, emphasizing that Highly Protected Marine Areas (HPMAs) within the MPA network will serve as no-take zones.

UK Scallop Steering Committee meeting held; the FMP and the consultation process were discussed.

DAERA conducted a consultation in N. Ireland and the report has been made available; DAERA has proposed to extend the use of iVMS to the >12m fleet

Low impact scallop gear trial is underway

Project UK submitted response to the draft Joint Fisheries Statement consultation

Steering committee meeting conducted; the Scottish government has opened a consultation period for the overview ot REM and its application

5th annual stock assessment published for 2020-2021

A new report has been made available on Seafish's mapping service project detailing all legislative restrictions in place

The North Sea dredge survey was completed in 2021; reference points are currently in development

Defra put out a call for management proposals for the <12m and <15m scallop fleet to address latent capacity in the shellfish sector in England and to replace the Western Waters regime

Project UK Steering Committee meeting held in September 2021; the FIP continues to form a clear deicision-making process

Marine Scotland Science has completed three observer surveys in 2021. Procedures have been revised due to covid. 

SICA workshop was held in spring of 2021 and the results were presented to the Steering Committee at the September meeting. Biological and physical indicators suggest that there are more than three ecosystems to consider in this fishery. Review and feedback is pending. 

A report detailing the reivew of alternate measures that minimize unwanted catch mortality in the fishery has been made available. 

Scallop action plan has been published

The FIP's mapping project is ongoing and has been able to map >12m fleet for Scottish waters and produce a habitat map

 An ETP interaction log has been created which logs any interaction with ETPs or Scottish Priority Marine Features

Scotland’s Fisheries Management Strategy 2020-2030 published; the strategy commits to Remote Electronic Monitoring (REM) and vessel tracking technology to improve MPA compliance

Masters GIS-based risk assessment report finalized

Steering committee meeting held

The 2019 ICES Working Group Scallop report was published detailing their ToR (c); A list of data sources was collated from Northern Ireland (AFBI), Isle of Man (Bangor University), Wales (Bangor University), Ireland (Marine Institute) and Scotland (Marine Scotland)

Progress made with the MSC project developed on ETP list 

Steering Committee meeting held in June =

Progress has been made in understanding approaches for assessing both the discard rate and the survival rate of discarded scallops based on presentation by  Seafish

Increase to PI 2.2.3; - increase in information on scallop dredge survey conducted to better identify bycatch species. 

The Welsh government has implemented order 2022, No. 70 (W.26) that requires any fishing vessel vessel <12m operating in welsh waters to have a iVMS

Increase to PI 2.2.2 based on The Marine Scotland Science bycatch report that has collated and analysed total catch data from scientific surveys, using both scientific dredge gear and commercial dredge gear. This information will be incorporated in the review of management measures. 

The UK Fisheries Act included provisions for the managment of the scallop fishery under the FIP (Nov 2020)