Queen scallop in Northern Ireland waters, bottom trawl

Queen scallop stocks in the Irish Sea have been has been scored as moderate risk. This is because queen scallops are moderately vulnerable to fishing exploitation (www.sealifebase.org), and stock status is largely unknown.

The management of scallop stocks in Northern Ireland waters has been scored a moderate risk. Management is currently through gear restrictions and spatial closures and is currently not based on a formal stock assessment.

The bycatch risk of this fishery has been scored moderate risk.  This is because the bycatch and rates, by weight, are between 10% and 30% and there is considered to by high survival of undersized queen scallop.  There is also a moderate risk to Protected, Endangered and Threatened (PET) species (for example common skate and undulate ray); these are likely to be impacted by the fishery but have high survival rates.

The habitat impact of this fishery has been scored a Low risk. This is because queen scallop trawlers target specific habitats with coarse sandy substrate with high tidal seabed stress resulting in tidal disturbance and fragile habitats or communities are unlikely to occur. It is therefore likely that the relative impact of the fishing disturbance is limited. The fishing gear is designed to move over the seabed and catch swimming queen scallops.