1. Management of the brown crab (Cancer pagurus) fishery in Ireland Oliver Tully Irish sea Fisheries Board (BIM) tully@bim.ie

2. This presentation …. Stock assessment summary Trends in fleet activity Economics of inshore pot fishery Effectiveness of policy and regulation Fishery management planning … towards a solution

3. Landings of crab into Ireland 1952-2004

4. Evolution of Irish landings from Area VI

5. Distribution of the Stock Open population Distributed over 45000 km 2 Contiguous with VIIb Northern limit unknown Seaward to over 200m depth

6. JusisdictionTonnes of crab 2004 Republic of Ireland8000 (80%) Northern Ireland*1064 (11%) Scotland970 (9%) Landings of crab from Area VI south of 57 o N * A proportion of the landings may be from VIIa

7. Landings (2004) by ICES rectangle into Ireland Northern Ireland Scotland

8. Fishery Assessment Data 1.Landings per unit effort 2.Egg per recruit assessment 3.Fishing effort and distribution

9. Landings Per Unit Effort Offshore : 1.Data on 80% of all effort since 1990 for each string of traps GPS location, date Landings Number of pots Soak time Inshore : 1.Daily landings to processors 2.Daily landings and effort per vessel

10. Standardisation of Landings Per Unit Effort data Statistically Standardised (GLM) for effects of Soak time Vessel effects Seasonality of fishing effort Annual and seasonal changes in location Gear competition

11. LPUE : effects of gear soak time At day 2, 44% higher than at day 1

12. LPUE varies seasonally – stronger differences between months during early 1990s 19902004 Seasonal effects on LPUE

13. Standardised LPUE offshore 1990-2004 1 2 3

14. Autumn Stanton Bank fishery Geographic variation in Area VI Spring Stanton Bank fishery Spring Shelf Edge Fishery Summer Shelf Edge Fishery

15. Landings, effort and catch rate Is it cumIs it cum Catch rate and annual effort highly correlated Returns at high effort levels proportionally less

16. LPUE : Inshore fleet

17. Egg per recruit : Maturity Size at maturity female crab Average landing size Minimum (market) landing size

18. Egg per Recruit or Spawning Potential This target is met if the MLS is 140mm, mean size at maturity is 120mm and if F is less than or equal to 1.0

19. Fishing in 1997 Evolution of the Fishery Fishing in 2005

20. 19972005 153 vessels65 vessels 32,000 traps55,000 traps Evolution of the Fishery

21. Economic Viability Total annual costs are related to the number of pots owned Larger Vessels have more pots but this is variable

22. Costs and Earnings subtract = The Theory !

23. Summary Early 1990s: –high catch rate, –low costs, –large number of vessels, –low effort per vessel –Lower landings –Market expanding, new products 2002-2008 –low catch rate, –high costs, –fewer vessels, –high effort per vessel –High landings –Market saturation for some products

24. Policy and Regulations Minimum landings size of 130mm which applies between 48-56 o N. The MLS is 140 mm north of 56 o N Kw days for vessels over 15m is limited (Council Regulation (EC) 1415/2004). Landing of crab claws greater than 1% of the total weight of the catch on board is illegal Licencing policy : not specific for crab

25. Are the Regulations Effective ? What are the objectives ?

26. Crab Management objectives (includes elements of biological, economic, social and environmental objectives) 1.To maintain stocks at a level such that economically viable and biologically sustainable returns are possible for operators 2.To balance the capacity for economic return to individual operators with the distribution of benefits at local community level 3.To comply with environmental Directives

27. Regulation Input control………………effort, licences Output control ………………..quota, Technical measures ……………..minimum sizes Policy options

28. Policy consistent with objectives Net benefit = (catch rate*effort*unit price) - costs Costs increase linearly with effort Catch rate declines linearly with effort Conclusion : policy should aim to regulate effort

29. Policy: regulate effort Operators need a licencing system that provides enough security to allow them to rebuild catch rate Therefore ….. Manage access to the fishery

30. Policy: regional management of access Eg. Irish lobster fishery - 8 management units - Limited GTs in each unit - Limited transferability across units

31. Crab Management objectives (includes elements of biological, economic, social and environmental objectives) 1.To maintain stocks at a level such that economically viable and biologically sustainable returns are possible for operators 2.To balance the capacity for economic return to individual operators with the distribution of benefits at local community level 3.To comply with environmental Directives

32. Status of the Stock (Scientific data) Profile of the Fishery (Fleet and economic data) Objectives Strategies Indicators Reference points Management Plan Regulations Management Planning Process NNWRAC ?