FishSource

Ireland Area 6 and 7 Atlantic pollock - bottom trawl & gillnet (FIP)

Last Updated: 2023-09-20

Progress Rating: C

Evaluation Start Date: 2020-11-20

Type: Basic

Status: Active

FIP Lead: Verifish (V), Marine Applications (MA)

Stock Profile Link
Saithe - Ireland
Saithe - North Sea, Skagerrak, west of Scotland and the Rockall

Comments:

The last stage 4 result is now between 12-24 months old with recent stage 3 progress reported within the past 6 months. The FIP rating drops to C.

1. FIP Development	Aug 20	Fishery assessment or scoping document made public 13 August 2020 — MSC pre-assesment made available
2. FIP Launch	Sep 20	Confirmation of project participants 1 September 2020 — Project participants confirmed
2. FIP Launch	Oct 20	Workplan made public 20 October 2020 — Workplan made public
3. FIP Implementation	Jun 23	FIP activities undertaken 20 June 2023 — FIP steering committee group meeting held in June 2023; the FIP coordinators in attendance discussed and analyzed the FIP workplan, the decommissioning scheme and ongoing FIP action progress. 13 June 2023 — The FIP participated in the North Western Waters Advisory Council (NWWAC) meeting; alternative approaches to the Landing Obligation were explored and detailed in a supporting letter to the Director General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries at the European Commission. 1 June 2023 — The FIP has been conducting gear trials utilizing artificial light in an effort to enhance catch selectivity and energy efficiency; recent trial data has demonstrated an increase in primary species catch weight and reductions in non-target and ETP species. 14 February 2023 — FIP held a meeting with Marine Institute to further discuss observer data collection techniques 1 February 2023 — Six workshops held over the course of 2022 to reiterate the need to improve the provision of industry data through self-sampling and observer coverage. 29 September 2022 — The FIP gave a presentation on FIP progress to Foyle's fishermen's Co-Op at the Greencastle port 11 May 2022 — Irish whitefish sub-group held a meeting to outline ongoing FIP actions that require support 1 April 2022 — New data collection protocol (self-sampling protocol) has been developed by the FIP for biological and gear data. 15 December 2021 — Irish haddock and saithe FIP meeting held in December 2021; the FIP has increased its vessel membership and decided to create a working group that will focus on tackling different FIP actions. A presentation was also given at the meeting by the Marine Institute Fisheries liaison on the state of the stocks. 1 October 2021 — Task force members are collaborating on an ongoing fishing vessel decommissioning initiative to permanently reduce the capacity of the Irish demersal fishing fleet; a report outlining the task force has been made available. 3 June 2021 — Haddock and Saithe FIP meetings held in June 2021; FIP is working on developing a program for improving supply of industry self-sampling data 26 November 2020 — FIP held meeting in fall of 2020
4. Improvements in Fishing Practices and Fishery Management	May 22	Verifiable improvement in policy/management and fishing practices 30 May 2022 — FIP has developed and is currently implementing a data collection program, contributing data to the Marine Institute's analysis
5. Improvements on the Water	—	Verifiable improvement on the water
6. MSC certification (optional)	—	MSC certificate made public