U.K. shellfish industry ‘starting to look after itself’

The U.K. government will continue to support the country’s shellfish industry but there is only so much that it is financially able to do, according to its Chief Scientific Adviser on Food and Environment, Professor Ian Boyd.

Speaking at the Shellfish Association of Great Britain’s (SAGB’s) 46th Annual Conference, Boyd said the sector was already “marching down a route, whereby it was starting to look after itself.” He also stressed that despite the days of having “large pots of money” to put into fisheries research being long gone, the government would continue to play an important role in its future, particularly with regards to making supportive policies.

“One of the important things about the shellfish industry is that it has a high market value. There is a lot of value in what it produces and so even if stocks are limited, that value can be maximized,” he said.

Boyd told delegates that another industry positive is that the United Kingdom has full control of its shellfish sector because it’s almost entirely conducted within the six-mile limit, but he added that it means “good management methodologies” are needed to make sure that stocks are not overexploited.

In value terms, the shellfish industry accounts for about one-third of U.K. landings, while output volumes have barely changed in the past 10 years. Because the proportion of value and landings has not really altered over this period, it is fair to suggest that overall the fisheries are being “reasonably well managed,” said Boyd.

He also pointed out that relative to almost all other forms of protein production, shellfish fisheries are the most efficient.

“We need to be speaking about that a lot more,” he said.

“The government’s vision is a thriving shellfish sector. We want it to be big enough to support the U.K. economy and local communities,” said Boyd. “We also want healthy, highly productive stocks and a low environmental footprint.”

Moving forward, science must be used to build better stock assessment models, which will ensure that no fisheries become overexploited, and in order to collect much better data there will need to be far more engagement with the shellfish industry, he said.

“The cost of overexploitation is not just environmental, it’s financial too. Also, if you have a stock at maximum sustainable yield (MSY), then you will be taking the maximum amount from the fishery. I believe we need to try for somewhere just below MSY as that’s what will give maximum economic yield.”

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