Evaluating environmental and economic implications of management measures for the UK scallop fishery

Summary of Proposed Research (MAX 500 words):

The scallop sector is one of the highest value commercial fisheries in the UK and supports a productive catch sector and processor businesses. Despite their economic relevance, the UK scallop fisheries lack robust management regimes to regulate effort and landings and minimize impacts on target and non-target species. In the absence of appropriate fisheries management measures that promote economic and harvesting efficiency, fishing becomes a frantic overcapitalized race for fish.

The UK's withdrawal from the EU represents an opportunity to prioritise and re-structure future fisheries management. This project will assess the environmental, economic and social consequences of different harvest strategies and management measures for the UK scallop fishery. Chapter 1 will aim to develop a population dynamic model for king scallop (Pecten maximus) in UK scallop assessment areas.

Chapter 2 will determine the drivers (social, environmental and economic) of fishers' spatial behaviour and their preference for management measures of scallop stocks using a combination of desk-based research and surveys with fishers. Chapters 3 and 4 will carry out bioeconomic evaluations and environmental consequences of a range of management scenarios for the scallop dredging fleet.

The PhD will utilise several different datasets and resources including (but not limited to), UK scallop stock assessment data, fishing effort and landings datasets, and economics fleet data to understand fixed and variable costs, GHG inventory databases from the IPCC to calculate GHG emissions, and benthic sedimentary habitat maps. The knowledge gained through this PhD will help inform future fisheries management decisions to improve the management of scallop stocks, whilst also taking into consideration the environmental and economic implications of different management measures for the commercial fishing fleets in UK waters.