3.1 Frontier fisheries

Deepwater fishing in the North Atlantic began in the late 1960s when the former Soviet Union began to exploit the roundnose grenadier to depths of almost 1,000 metres off Canada. Later they targeted the grenadier on the Reykanes Ridge south of Iceland and the Hatton Bank, which lies to the west of the Rockall Plateau (Gordon and Hunter 1994b).

Also in the 1960s, there was spasmodic UK interest in deepwater fishing on the continental slope, the area of sea-bed lying between the depths of 200 and 2,000 metres. However, it was not until the 1970s when with the closure of, or restricted access to, many distant water grounds, MAFF carried out a detail survey of the continental slope off the British Isles and many of the offshore banks. The report from the survey concluded that “while it would be wildly optimistic to think that the opening up of these grounds would solve all our fishery problems ... this potential new fishery would seem to merit serious consideration by trawler owners and processors alike.” (Bridger 1978). However, the report warned that “because of the great age attained by the grenadier and also by other useful species caught on these grounds, it is clear that proper management of these stocks is essential.”

The Institute für Seefischerei in Hamburg also carried out a major survey of the same area over a 10-year period ending in 1986. Both the German and the British surveys extended to depths of about 1200 metres and revealed that the continental slope between 54 and 60 degrees North and some of the northern banks in the Rockall Trough had highest biomass and the highest proportion of potentially usable species (Gage and Gordon 1995b).

The only fishery that developed directly from these surveys was a German fishery on aggregations of blue ling in the northern Rockall Trough in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The German fishery was replaced by an increasingly important French fishery for blue ling and it was the French who began developing the markets for deepwater bycatch of roundnose grenadier, black scabbard fish, deepwater sharks and other species (Gage and Gordon 1995b). The existence of at least some of these species was known to fishermen since they were often taken as a bycatch (incidental) when fishing for other species on the edge of the continental slope. Such catches were usually discarded (Commission 1993).

Out of some 300 to 400 deepwater species on the upper slopes of the Atlantic basin, only 10 species of fish are landed for marketing (Marine Panel 1996). Other fish are considered either unpalatable, too small or too watery for the commercial market.

3.2 Atlantic Frontier

French and Spanish vessels have now fished in the Atlantic Frontier area since the late 1980s. They have been joined by Faroese, Norwegian, Irish and Scottish vessels. More Scottish vessels are being built to join the deepwater fleet fishing the area west of Shetland. Some Scottish fishermen fear that quotas might be introduced before the industry has had the opportunity to build a track record in the deepwater fisheries (Tumilty 1996a; Scottish Fishing Monthly 1996a; ICES 1995a).

Most of the deepwater fisheries to the west of the British Isles take place at depths down to about 1,200 metres, but some targeted species such as the orange roughy are being fished down to 2,000 metres. The presence of fish like the brotulid, Cataetyx laticeps, (no common name) on the Lochinver fish market (west Scotland) in May 1995 is evidence of continued fishing to 1,500 metres or deeper. Cataetyx laticeps, which the French have named ‘brosme noir’, is unlikely to occur at depths shallower than 1,500 metres (Gage and Gordon 1995a, b; pers. comm. French Fishermen, Lochinver, 1997). There is also plenty of circumstantial evidence for deepwater fishing in international waters west of the Hatton Bank (Maury Channel) and on the seamounts of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (Gage and Gordon 1995a, b).

The most exploited deepwater species west of Scotland is the roundnose grenadier caught between depths of 700 and 1,000 metres (Gage and Gordon 1995a). Landings steadily increased from 1989 so that by 1993 the landings of roundnose grenadier from the west of the British Isles had increased to over 12,000 tonnes. No statistics post-1993 are currently available. These fisheries probably only took place to depths of no more than about 1,000 metres and it is these depths that still accounted for most of the French trawlers in 1991 that created the upsurge in interest in deepwater fishing by countries such as the UK, the Faroe Islands and Iceland (Gage and Gordon 1995b).

There is a great deal of secrecy in the precise details of the French orange roughy fishery, but there is sufficient anecdotal evidence to suggest that in the Rockall Trough, areas such as the Hebridean Seamount, Anton Dohrn Seamount and Rosemary Bank are important. The depth of the fishery is not well documented, but some French trawlers are known to fish to 2,000 metres (Charuau et al. 1995; pers. comm. French fishermen, Lochinver, 1997). Although there has been an apparent decline in the French catches of orange roughy (ICES 1995a; France- Eco-Peche 1994), there is evidence that the French trawlers continue to fish to depths of 2,000 metres and are still able to land small quantities (Gage and Gordon 1995b; pers. comm. French fishermen, Lochinver, 1997).

A targeted French fishery for blue ling takes place in the spring and exploits spawning aggregations. While there are no reports of the catches of other species associated with this fishery, blue ling in spawning condition have ceased to return to these areas, where intensive fishing on spawning aggregations of blue ling has taken place (ICES 1995a). There is some evidence to suggest that spawning blue ling are being targeted only for their roe, the fish carcasses being discarded at sea as the flesh is usually in a poor condition and unsuitable for human consumption (Copious 1997).

Since 1991, the ‘Spanish’ boats (almost all of the ‘Spanish’ vessels involved operate under the flag of Ireland or United Kingdom and only one or two vessels can strictly be referred to as Spanish) have turned to targeting deepwater sharks in their longline fisheries at depths greater than 1,000 metres. These are fished for the new market for the production of oil used in the cosmetic industry (ICES 1995a). Bottom-set gillnets used to the west of Scotland appear to be limited to ‘Spanish’ vessels fishing for monkfish, deepwater crab and megrim. There have been reports of large catches from waters west of Rockall with a significant by-catch of deepwater red-crab (Chaceon affinis, formerly Geryon affinis). There are some 20-30 ‘Spanish’ bottom gillnetters working seasonally around Rockall. Some are registered in Panama, Belize, Germany or the UK (Gordon 1994a; Fishing News 1993; pers.comm. fishery inspectors).

The Faroese fishing fleet has been busy targeting its own deepwaters and also the Hatton Bank in the far west of the UK’s claimed fishing territory, beyond Rockall. They have been targeting orange roughy, blue ling, redfish, ling and tusk. A variety of other species are caught in these fisheries, of which only a few are landed regularly because of the limited market in the Faroes, ie. anglerfish, halibut, Greenland halibut and skates. Other species such as grenadiers, black scabbard fish, bluemouth, mora, greater forkbeard, big eye, argentines, Baird’s smoothhead, rabbitfish and various sharks have been discarded. However, the Faroese fleet now land their catches into Scrabster in northern Scotland, for transport south to markets in Spain and France.

A ‘mixed’ trawl fishery for roundnose grenadier, black scabbard, deepwater sharks (sometimes only for livers) and blue ling has also developed on the slope areas west of Britain. Other species caught in this fishery and landed include mora, greater forkbeard, redfish, bluemouth, monkfish and megrim (ICES 1995a). The newly built Scottish deepwater boats are now landing these species into Lochinver, on the west coast of Scotland, for export markets to France, Spain, and further afield. These boats are also landing deep-sea squid, oceanic perch, argentines, blue skate, big eye and roughhead grenadiers. Deepwater prawns are also being caught but not landed because there is no current market (Copious 1997).

3.3 Killing fleets

The number of deepwater vessels currently fishing the Atlantic Frontier area is large unknown. It is currently a ‘free for all’ situation as there are no ‘quotas’ established for deepwater species. In British claimed waters, west of Rockall, the Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency vessels usually do not monitor this area, unless specifically ‘requested’ by the UK authorities (Scottish Fishing Ports 1997).

Lochinver, on the west coast of Scotland, has been the main port for the French deep-sea fleet in recent years but the ‘Spanish’ and UK fleet also land here. There are now an estimated 20 Scottish boats and around 4-5 Irish vessels working the deepwater grounds to the west of the British Isles (pers. comm. fishery inspectors).

French company Jergo-Quere operates five Lorient-owned 55 metre stern-trawlers from Lochinver which land deepwater species all year round. Other French boats regularly land their catches at Lochinver. Their landings are sorted and graded before being transported overland to France. Three Spanish trawlers also base themselves out of Lochinver. ‘Spanish’ longliners also base themselves out of Lochinver, whilst fishing during the summer months west of Shetland. A number of large Faroese trawlers are now landing deepwater species, including orange roughy, into Lochinver (Fishing News 1996a, 1997; French fishermen, Lochinver, 1997).

It has been reported than there were once 80 Spanish boats fishing for deepwater species in the area west of Shetland. In 1992, there were around 50. In recent years a number of ‘klondykers’ (bulk freezer containers) have transported their deep-sea catch from boats of all nationalities to the continent. Currently only one operates out of the Lochinver area. As catches have declined so have the number of boats. The main Spanish deepwater season off the British Isles has been from November to May. Spanish freezer trawlers have fished this area in the past, taking two month trips to the area, stopping off in Ireland (Killibegs) and the UK (Lochinver) before heading back home.

Two ‘Spanish’ gillnetters fishing for high value deepwater species like monkfish and megrim, are thought to land their catch in Lochinver. The Mar Blanco and Mar Azul are registered in London by the names of Berga Ltd and Benno Ltd respectively. It is believed that of the 26 fishing boats which carry Ayr registrations, probably at least 17 are Spanish or Portugese (Shetland Times 1996a).

Amongst the most important Norwegian commercial fisheries is the longlining for ling and tusk. In 1992, 56 vessels longer than 21 metres were engaged in these fisheries on the continental slopes of the Shetland Islands, the Hebrides, Ireland, Rockall, Iceland, off East Greenland and off the coast of Norway. Over fifty per-cent of this fishing took place on the slopes of Shetland, Orkneys, Faroes and Rockall (ICES 1995a). There are now thought to be around 20 Norwegian longliners fishing for ling and tusk in the same areas.

Scottish trawlers registered on the east coast, Peterhead and Fraserborough, and from Shetland, are now landing deepwater species into Lochinver and Kinlochbervie (Fishing News 1996a). None of the local fishermen based out of the west Scottish harbours are fishing the deepwater grounds; all deepwater boats are registered elsewhere. The Scottish boat Copius, registered in Banff, landed 400 boxes (around 16 tonnes) of various deepwater fish into Lochinver in April 1997. They also landed two bluntnose six-gill sharks (Hexanchus griseus) and one specimen of a deepwater anglerfish (Himantolophus groenlandicus), both species considered to the west of the British Isles (Copius 1997; Gordon et al. 1994; UNESCO 1989).

3.4 Technology

The exploitation of fish populations found in deepwaters requires the use of highly specialised equipment. Normal midwater trawl gear used on the continental shelf areas is too lightweight for the conditions found in deepwater.

Trawling is likely to be the principal method of fishing in deepwater for the foreseeable future, and at depths down to 2,000 metres is restricted to vessels with large winches. Most deepwater trawl catches are taken by vessels with between 1000-2,000 horsepower engines. The economics of fishing in deepwater favour the targeting of high value species in order to get maximum return on the investment made on such vessels (Tumilty 1995; Gage and Gordon 1995a; NZ Geographic 1989; French fishermen, Lochinver, 1997; Copius 1997).

Icelandic vessels targeting deepwater oceanic redfish, Sebastes marinus, on the mid-Atlantic ridge trawl with nets 2 kilometres long. The mouth of the net opens to around 110 metres high by 170 metres wide, enough to accommodate 12 jumbo jets sideways.

Whilst determining the exact location of fish was made possible a decade ago with the development of devices called fishfinders, today deepwater boats are able to assess a 3-D colour visual representation of their intended catch and to some degree which species it is. The boat owner can assess the market value of his intended catch even before the nets have left the boat.

Fishfinders (or echosounders) have become a central component in deepwater fisheries. Their coloured traces can depict the whole water column or zoom in on parts of it. Sound is reflected not only on the seabed, but from schools of fish, bubbles, even sharp temperature changes (NZ Geographic 1989). Net recorders give more specialised information on the net and the fish moving into it, using data from a sensor (transponder) attached to the net itself. With these instruments a skipper can not only tell how much fish he is about to catch, but also what kind and size they are (NZ Geographic 1989).

In the New Zealand orange roughy fisheries, the market value of orange roughy was thought to be as high as NZ$2,500 (£830) per tonne in 1992 when landed, with one haul worth some NZ$150,000 ($50,000). A single trip to the fishing grounds, with just two days of fishing, was worth some NZ$500,000 (£167,000). These fishermen were clearly able to pay off their investment in a few years (NZ Fisherman 1994a; NZ Geographic 1989)

Circumstantial evidence from fishing ports in Scotland suggest that some members of the crews working on the Scottish deepwater boats are earning in excess of £70,000 per year (Scottish Fishing Ports 1997). Other sources suggest that a French supermarket chain owns a group of the French trawlers fishing in the deepwaters off the British Isles (Scottish Fish Markets 1997).

3.5 Expansion funds

Whilst the European Commission (EC) is providing funds to reduce excess fishing capacity through national decommissioning schemes, it is also giving out regional ‘development’ funds which allow ‘non quota’ capacity to exploit the deepwater species off the Atlantic Frontier, west of Shetland - a contradiction in policy.

The ports of Lochinver and Kinlochbervie are situated off the west coast of the Scottish Highlands and are close to the deepwater grounds to the west of Shetland. The access waters to Lochinver’s port were deepened in the early 1990s to allow fishing vessels targeting the deepwaters off the west of Shetland to land their catch. The funding for this expansion came from the EC’s European Development Fund, the Scottish Office of Agriculture and Fisheries and the Caithness and Sutherland Enterprise (Lochinver 1997). The harbour has received a total of around £3 million of taxpayers money, administered by the Scottish Office, which has allowed these deepwater vessels with large ‘drafts’ to land their catch close to the fishing grounds rather than in their home ports. A total of £2,732,000 was spent on deepening the access waters to Lochinver. An additional £240,000 was provided to upgrade the facilities of the harbour (Highland Council; Scottish Office 1997).

Highland Harbours, which owns and operates Lochinver, Kinlochbervie, Kyle and Uig, among other North West ports, also upgraded Lochinver’s fish handling facilities. The old fishmarket at Lochinver was once the grading stage for French and German trawlers bulk landing black halibut and other species (Scottish Fishing Monthly 1995; Fishing News 1997a). In Kinlochbervie, £750,000 was allocated to deepen the entrance channel to allow access to vessels which fish the deepwater grounds (Shetland Fishing News 1997). The northern Scottish port of Scrabster, where a number of Foreign and Shetland vessels are landing their deepwater catches, is also under consideration for similar developments with European funding.