The UK crab and lobster population is in decline, according to new data from the Marine Conservation Society.
The charity has updated its Good Fish Guide in line with the latest scientific advice seeing 29 fisheries move down the sustainability scale, 93 staying the same and only 10 improving.
The Good Fish Guide includes 26 soft brown crab fisheries and 28 for European lobster caught in UK seas. Currently there is only one green-rated crab fishery, in Shetland, and on green-rated lobster fishery, in Jersey.
The current state of the fisheries was “concerning”, according to the charity.
The charity said these fisheries had the potential to be some of the most sustainable ways of catching seafood. Baited pots are lowered to the sea floor, attracting crabs and lobsters to crawl inside before being hauled back up to the surface.
As fishers can choose which crab or lobster they land, this way of fishing was selective, protecting young and breeding individuals, the MCS said.
However, a boat can carry and set anything from dozens to hundreds of pots at a time depending on its size.
At present, the UK government has set no limit as to how many pots can be used or how many crabs or lobsters can be caught.
Some areas do have pot limits in place, but it is not clear whether they are enough to improve the stock.
This autumn’s update to the Good Fish Guide sees crab fisheries in the Northumberland, Kent & Essex, Southern, Isles of Scilly and the Devon & Severn Inshore Fisheries Conservation Authority districts all received a lower score due to decreased population numbers, but remain at amber.
“We are really concerned about the picture of crab and lobster across the UK,” said Kenneth Bodles, head of innovative conservation. “If managed well, crab and lobster could be a flagship species for sustainable fishing in the UK, supporting local people whose communities have been built on fishing for these iconic species.
“Crab and lobster fisheries are doing well in some areas, and we need the UK government to adopt similar management measures across the UK,” he added.
The UK government published a Fisheries Management Plan (FMP) for crab and lobster in December 2023. It had a “long-term vision” to achieve sustainable management of fisheries. However, it was not yet clear how the measures set out would achieve this, nor to what timescale they would be working, the charity said.
“The Good Fish Guide shows us that we need better management measures for these fisheries right across the UK,” said Alice Moore, Good Fish Guide manager at the MCS. “The Fisheries Management Plan set out by the UK government is welcome, but it doesn’t currently go far enough in specifying the measures and timescales needed to effectively restore populations of crab and lobster.”
The MCS would like to see regular stock assessments in place across the UK to better monitor populations.
It would also like to see crab and lobster fisheries management measures with controls that are responsive to changes in stock status and capture methods that minimise habitat damage and the impact on vulnerable species.
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