Mapping fisheries and habitats in the North and East Coast RIFG area.

The aim of this work was to gather together all the available information on fishing activity (location, landings, and value) and important habitat information for key species listed to create a series of maps for the N&EC RIFG to integrate into their management plan.Five Regional Inshore Fisheries Groups (RIFGs) have been established around Scotland. The RIFGs are non-statutory bodies with the aim of improving inshore fisheries management around Scotland and providing the commercial fishers with a strong voice in wider marine
management developments. The North and East Coast RIFG (N&EC RIFG) extends along the east and northern coastline of the Scottish mainland. To enable the N&EC RIFG to continue to implement their management plan, it is important to better understand the fishing activity and critical habitats of key species within 12 nautical miles (nm) of the coast. A total of 22 key species were identified and included: blue mussel, brown crab, brown shrimp, clams,
cockle, cod, dab, haddock, herring, lemon sole, lobster, mackerel, native oyster, Norway lobster (Nephrops), pink shrimp, plaice, razor fish, scallop, sprat, squid, velvet crab, and whelk.