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Abandoned, lost or otherwise discarded fishing gear (ALDFG) is created by the fishing industry and directly impacts fishers' livelihoods through ghost fishing, entanglements and presents navigational hazards. In addition, ALDFG creates a myriad of environmental and socioeconomic impacts that affect fisheries and other commercial sectors operating in the marine environment, as well as recreational users and land-based sectors e.g. tourism. Given the inefficiencies of current approaches to deal with ALDFG, urgent solutions are required. Biodegradability, as a design feature of fishing gear, is not a new idea, but it is one that requires further research to fully understand the potential role of biodegradable fishing gear (BFG) to mitigate (various) environmental and economic impacts of ALDFG. In this paper, we focus on the role of BFG in the Channel static gear fishery, engaging stakeholders through one-to-one interviews at the quayside to consider their views on the role of BFG in their fishery. This research demonstrates the complexity of the problem and the solution. By collecting the fishery's concerns, enthusiasm and requirements regarding BFG it adds a powerful new strand to the debate, moving it on from simply a 'cost to replace' to ensuring that it meets the detailed requirements of a fishery that relies on specificity to earn a living. • Fishing gear is estimated to total 27% of all marine litter in EU sea basins. • Fishers have reservations on the performance of BFG relative to traditional gear. • Highly specific concerns over the choice of BFG compared to the current selection. • BFG is not a 'silver bullet' solution but deserves further attention. • Overall, fishers are ready to trial BFG in the Channel static gear fishery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the results of interviews conducted with stakeholders in the North East Scotland commercial fishing industry who operate with Fixed Quota Allocation (FQA) units under the United Kingdom's (UK's) fisheries management system. The results derived from these interviews provide a view of the FQA system from those operating within it and identify strengths and weaknesses of the system. The implications of these results are that the FQA system, and the introduction of FQA units, led to increased investment and efficiency within the North East Scotland 'over 10 m′ sector. This, however, has led to a consolidation of quota and the raising of barriers to entry. These may threaten the future of the industry and its traditional links to its coastal communities but the situation is complicated by concerns that any changes to the system to address these threats risks destabilising the economic structure of the industry which is built on the asset value of FQA units. The UK Government has indicated that the system will endure post-Brexit so it may be that any additional quota realised from exiting the European Union (EU) is applied to a system where those who will benefit most understand that it may risk the industry's future. This paper calls for more research into the FQA system, with those who work with FQA units and those who do not, to ensure that the socioeconomic impacts of this system are better understood in order that future management safeguards the stability of the industry into the future. • FQA units attracted investment to 'over 10m' in North East Scotland, industry now reliant on system existing in perpetuity. • FQA units have driven efficiency in the 'over 10m' sector but have led to consolidation and raised barriers to entry. • Brexit may benefit 'over 10m' sector but will not address the issues within the FQA system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a sustainability framework with a case application for UK's Scottish fisheries has been developed which integrates aspects related to economic growth, social development, governance, biology, environment, and logistics. Scotland is the centre of UK's commercial fishery sector however it faces challenges such as overexploitation, and changes in the governance structure following Brexit. The contributions of this study are threefold including (i) collecting and analysing primary data gathered from a diverse group of stakeholders in the Scottish fishery sector and scientific community, (ii) prioritising a diverse range of criteria in terms of importance in decision making from industry and scientific community perspectives, (iii) elaboration of the key management objectives in this region within the context of sustainable management of fisheries in the UK.The results of this stakeholders' survey show that the key management objectives are reductions in overexploitation of stocks, inclusive governance, increase in transparency and simplicity of policy measures, reduction in marine litter, and increase in the efficiency of vessels. The analysis also shows that the industry group places a higher importance on socio-economic objectives such as increase in profit and employment compared to the scientific group. On the other hand, the scientific group prioritised the objectives such as reducing discards, bycatch, and impact on seafloor compared to the industry group. This study provides insight for the UK's fisheries sector, and scientific advisory groups for the enhanced implementation of sustainable fisheries management policies., (© 2022. The Author(s).)