Current status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 17 January 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made on applying a cap to fishing activity in inshore waters, of up to three nautical miles, that will limit activity to current levels and set a ceiling from which activities that disrupt the seabed can be reduced.
In 2024 the Scottish Government launched the Inshore Fisheries Management Improvement Programme to develop a more agile, responsive and regional management framework. Our vision is that this framework will enable us to tailor a wider range of fisheries management tools to the changing needs of our marine environment and fishers, based on the best available scientific data.
This is a transformational project for inshore fisheries in Scotland, supporting delivery of locally appropriate management solutions. As such, the Scottish Government is not currently progressing proposals for a national cap on fishing activity in our inshore waters.