INACTIVE UK Irish Sea, West of Scotland, and North Sea great Atlantic scallop - dredge

Project UK is working towards an environmentally sustainable future for UK fisheries by running Fishery Improvement Projects (FIPs) on 12 UK fisheries that have been selected by the UK seafood supply chain. They were selected due to their importance for the UK market.

Project UK has been developed in response to the demand from the supply chain, retailers, industry and NGOs. The project will commission an MSC pre-assessment to inform and develop an action plan for each fishery, which will identify improvements.

King scallops are found on clean firm sand and fine gravel and in currents, which provide good feeding conditions. They occur along the European Atlantic coast from northern Norway, south to the Iberian Peninsula. The bathymetric range of distribution is from the low tide mark to over 100 m, but it is most common in waters of 20-70 m.

King Scallops are a non-quota species and are therefore not subject to a TAC. Total landings of scallops in 2017 by the UK fleet in the North Sea, West of Scotland and Irish Sea was 15,954t - approximately 60% of total landings were caught in the Central North Sea and the Irish Sea. Landings were dominated by Scottish-registered vessels (77%), with 90% of landings being made by vessels over 10m in length.