The geologically complex fjordic coastline of Scotland's west coast, along with the interaction of currents, provides a highly diverse and productive environment for marine life. The diversity of habitats includes numerous sea-lochs, the continental slope and shelf, Rockall Trough and seamounts. This is a very different environment to the North Sea.
With fishing communities ranging from Campbeltown to Kinlochbervie, the area supports sea anglers as well as fisheries using trawls and creels. The West of Scotland fishery is worth 36% by value of the overall Scottish fleet. A wide range of fish species are targeted, including demersal and benthic species (e.g. cod and monkfish), pelagic species (e.g. herring and sharks), and shellfish (e.g. crabs and lobsters).
The Nephrops fishery is particularly important to the West of Scotland; worth approximately £45 million, the fishery is the mainstay of small (under 10 m) vessels and is the main species targeted by 40% of large vessels. Two West of Scotland Nephrops fisheries have already been accredited by the Marine Stewardship Council, with more to follow.
The harvesting of some species is considered to be sustainable (e.g. recent scientific assessments showed a 40% increase in monkfish biomass over the last 5 years), however in the last two years concerns have grown about the sustainability of three West of Scotland stocks: cod, haddock and whiting. Following these concerns, the European Commission and Scottish Government agreed to adopt a suite of measures to ensure the sustainability of these whitefish stocks whilst, wherever possible, allowing fleets to pursue other sustainable fisheries.