The Outer Hebrides Inshore Fisheries Pilot is co-managed by the Regional Inshore Fisheries Group (RIFG) and the Marine Scotland Directorate of the Scottish Government.  The Pilot limits the number of creels that commercial fishing vessels may deploy in the waters around the isles. The aim of this is to improve the management of shellfish stocks in area, enabling future generations to benefit from a resource that remains of vital importance to this island community.

The Pilot is also testing one possible approach to a low-cost vessel tracking solution for small inshore fishing vessels. This is being trialled aboard 40 vessels and builds on the Scottish Inshore Fisheries Integrated Data System (SIFIDS) project led by the University of St Andrews.

Specific aims are:

• To address concerns that shellfish catch rates are declining.
• To enable the fishing fleet to work together, identifying an approach to static gear fishing that will limit the increase of fishing effort.
• To feed into the discussion on tracking solutions for the Scottish static gear fleet, under the wider Modernisation of the Inshore Fleet Programme.
• To test a locally-led approach to fisheries management.

Fishers in the Outer Hebrides continue to express strong support for the Pilot and are observing positive impacts on their fishing businesses.

The Pilot will continue with vessel tracking until October 2022. An evaluation and qualitative assessment of the Pilot project will be conducted throughout 2022 to assess the social and economic impacts of the Pilot,  and provide insights and recommendations into future projects.

To read the first-year report Click here