West of Scotland Sprat
Summary
The pre-assessment conducted in 2022 found that improvements need to be made in various areas, including:
Stock status and definition
Interaction with Endangered, Threatened & Protected species
Fishery specific objectives and decision-making processes
…in order to pass an MSC assessment.
In response to growing supply chain interest, Project UK commissioned a pre‑assessment of the West of Scotland sprat fishery in 2022 to better understand its current performance against the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) Fisheries Standard. That assessment, carried out by Poseidon Aquatic Resource Management, highlighted significant challenges for the fishery—particularly around stock definition, data availability, and the robustness of existing management arrangements.
Sprat in the West of Scotland and southern Celtic Sea are targeted by Scottish pelagic trawlers, yet the scientific understanding of stock structure in this region remains limited. ICES has been unable to establish clear stock boundaries or determine the stock’s status relative to MSY and precautionary reference points. This uncertainty would trigger the MSC’s Risk‑Based Framework in any full assessment, with current evidence suggesting the fishery would be unlikely to meet the standard.
Scoping report
Assessing opportunities for sprat Fishery Improvement Projects in the West of Scotland
This report presents the findings of desk-based research undertaken by Project UK in 2025 to assess the potential for developing a Fishery Improvement Project (FIP) for sprat in the West of Scotland (ICES area 6a), and builds on a pre-assessment completed in 2022 and funded by Project UK stakeholders.
The report concludes that a FIP focused on sprat in the West of Scotland should not be progressed at this time, owing to a lack of sufficient clarity on stock structure and boundaries. It highlights that further scientific research is required before an effective FIP could be developed and identifies opportunities for industry to collaborate with scientists and research institutions to support this work.
Building on this earlier work, Project UK undertook desk‑based research in 2025 to explore whether a Fishery Improvement Project (FIP) could provide a viable pathway for addressing these challenges. The findings, and the opportunities they reveal—both within the West of Scotland and in other UK sprat fisheries—are explored in more detail in the sections that follow.
The report also draws on other MSC-certified sprat fisheries in the North Sea as examples of how FIPs could be developed in other areas, and highlights the need for further supply-chain analysis and feasibility work in the North Sea and English Channel, where the ongoing development of a Fisheries Management Plan (FMP) could provide favourable conditions for launching a FIP. These findings are intended to inform future prioritisation and sequencing under Project UK, ensuring that any future FIPs are evidence-led and appropriately scoped.
This work was funded by the UK Government’s Fisheries and Seafood Scheme (FASS) and generously matched by the Fishmongers’ Company’s Fisheries Charitable Trust (FCFCT).
