The Brown Crab Fishery in the Western Isles Prospects for Development

Summary

The Western Isles crab fishery has some scope for increased production but more importantly there is scope to increase the value of the fishery to the Western Isles economy. However, there are some significant barriers to development which need to be addressed. Firstly the local creeling fleet has expanded considerably in the last 10 years and now stands at 160 full-time boats almost all under 10m in length and many are now ageing. As a consequence of size and age, these boats are confined to inshore waters, within a few miles of their home port or landing and this results in excessive effort in certain areas and little or none elsewhere. These vessels are unable to provide any significant fishing effort on the Atlantic side of the Isles and thus exploitation of this resource is denied to them.

Publication Reference No.

CR29

Publication date

01 June 1990