1. The Isle of Man Queen Scallop Fisheries-
partnership and success
May 2011

2. Background
Isle of Man lies at the heart of the British Isles, with a Territorial Sea of
1,500 miles2
Isle of Man has sole jurisdiction only within 3 miles- between 3-12 miles we
must negotiate with other nations
Scallop fleet is around 30 vessels- down from 70 in the 1980s, with up to
70 visiting vessels from United Kingdom
Relative scallop dredging
effort 2007-8

3. Queenies
Quick growing, fecund. Reach maturity 2+ years, live to up to 5.
Live on mobile sediment/high current areas. Active swimmers- escape
response to avoid predation- key to a sustainable fishery. Traditionally less
important and valuable than king scallops
Two distinct fisheries: dredge fishery (roe off), net fishery (roe on)
Isle of Man dredge fishery dominant initially, phased out in 1990s, mainly due
to fuel costs
Isle of Man Queenie Landings
1982-2009

4. 1980 s
70 local vessels, predominantly using tooth dredges
Markets for soaked and roe off meat, much product machine
processed
No science on discards or survival, but environmental impact
huge
Landings figures mask the fact that many beds took years to
recover

5. 2003
Industry demoralised and angry, unable to diversify
Bottom end of industry entirely reliant on subsidy
Up to 90% of inshore scallop landings were a single year class
First ASP and DSP closures
Price taker for both king and queen scallops, both poor quality,
processing unprofitable
Poor quality, soaked, small meat stockpiled and unloaded at
commodity prices.
Skippers unable to recruit crew
Isle of Man relationship with industry and other Administrations
dysfunctional
Scientists demotivated and remote

6. Early moves
Isle of Man Fish Producers Organisation formed in 2003-
Departmental representation on the Board
UK Administrations agree to devolved quota management
rights in 2004
Regular PO Board meetings
News letter Fish Skeet to keep industry informed and
involved
New University contracted for provision of scientific advice
We looked elsewhere for examples of successful
management

8. Scallop Closed Areas
10%?
Douglas Bay
Exclusion zone
20%?

9. Scallop Closed Areas

10. Stock Abundance

12. Minimum Landing Size
Only the largest Queenies are retained on board
frequency
Size

13. Bycatch Observers
Comprehensive observer coverage- all areas, across the
entire season
Cod bycatch rate 0.15%- EU opt out for Cod Recovery Plan
is 1.5%
No significant bycatch of other species
Electrofishing

14. Seabed impact
Queenie trawl has no measurable impact on seabed habitats
Sorting bycatch on board Manx queenie trawler, and subsequent
benthos taken on rv Prince Madog

15. Carbon Footprint/ Food Miles
Relative fishing vessel Carbon footprint, from published data, :
Canada, King Scallop (dredge) 339 litres/tonne
Iceland, King Scallop (dredge ) 293 litres/tonne
British Isles, King Scallop (dredge) 541 litres/tonne
Lowest shrimp values (trawl) 377 litres/tonne
Electrofishing
Isle of Man Queenie (trawl) 105 litres/tonne

16. Protected Designation of Origin
An Isle of Man queenie must be:
Caught in Isle of Man waters
Caught by a trawl
Caught by a day boat- no long trips
Be roe on
Be hand processed within 24 hours of landing
Be processed within 20 miles of landing
Designation by December 2011

17. Manx Queenie Conservation Regime
Tooth dredges totally banned
Complete fishery closure 1st April-1st June
Trawl only fishery 1st June -1st September
No new entrants > 221kW
MLS increased to 50mm
Curfew
Mandatory satellite monitoring
Electronic logbooks from July 1st 2011
Gaffed sea trout
Minister has power to set a TAC

18. Politics
Isle of Man must deal with other jurisdictions
Industrial dredgers take over 50% of the catch
Isle of Man Queenie Landings
1982-2009

19. Fish Don t Need Passports

20. Queenie Landings 2010-11

21. Minutes available at:
http://www.gov.im/lib/docs/daff/Fisheries/
Currently advisory capacity- plans for statutory
powers
Fishermen, processors and independent
scientist
Voluntary fisheries closure Jan 1st 2011
First step towards pan-Irish Sea working group?

22. Isle of Man- future measures
Full, peer reviewed stock assessment
Detailed research on dredge fishery
ICES working Group?
Extend remit of Management Board across the Irish Sea

23. Andy.Read@gov.im

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