The Isle of Man is continuing to work with neighbouring jurisdictions to ensure its valuable king scallop fishery is sustainable.
Chief Minister Howard Quayle spoke with Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon this morning as efforts continue to find a mutually acceptable solution to concerns over catch misreporting.
The Chief Minister and Scottish First Minister agree the fishery must be protected in the long term because of its economic importance and overfishing must be prevented.
They and other Irish Sea jurisdictions will explore ways to ensure vessels licensed to fish for king scallops in Manx waters adhere to catch limits.
It is hoped an announcement will be made in the coming days.
The current licence condition, requiring vessels fishing both inside and outside Manx seas to report to an Isle of Man port, remains in place pending this announcement.
The Chief Minister said:
‘We continue to have positive dialogue with our Irish Sea neighbours and are confident we can identify effective tools to address this issue that have minimal impact on the majority of the fleet.’
