Current status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 22 April 2025
To ask the Scottish Government when the Marine Directorate plans to review restrictions on squid fishery.
Scottish Ministers have granted a limited trial to undertake a pilot project with a number of inshore vessels to help gather further information to support a longer-term policy development on fishing for squid under the North Sea Cod Avoidance Plan (NCAP).
There is currently limited evidence about the impacts of the squid fishing on cod stocks and bycatch of non-target stocks. This project would look to address some of these limitations and seek to evaluate the evidence, once collected.
Through this project, it is hoped that further information will be provided to help inform the balance between environmental, economic and social objectives and development of the squid fishery.