Reports of the ICES Advisory Committee on Fishery Management, 1995. Part 2.

The whitefish fisheries in Division VIa are predominantly

conducted by otter-trawlers fishing for cod, haddock and

whiting, with by-catches of saithe, anglerfish, megrim and

lemon sole. These trawlers use mesh sizes of 80-100 mm

depending on area and may at times discard considerable

amounts of young haddock and whiting. The majority of

these vessels are locally-based Scottish trawlers using

'light-trawls', but trawlers from Northern Ireland, England,

France and Germany also participate in this fishery. The

importance of Scottish seiners essentially targeted at

haddock has been declining in recent years as many of

these vessels have been converted to trawlers. The larger

Scottish trawlers opportunistically operate in a haddock

fishery at Rockall when occasional good year classes

recruit to the Division VIb stock. Although young saithe

are caught by coastal trawlers, the fishery for saithe

essentially takes place offshore to the west and northwest of

Scotland. Traditionally, this fishery has largely been

operated by the larger deep-sea French trawlers. However,

the number of these vessels has declined in recent years due

to economic difficulties. In the late 1980s, some of these

vessels diverted their activity toward deep-sea species,

notably orange roughy, bnt this fishery has become less

profitable recently. To a large extent, the roundfish fishery

in Division VIa is an extension of the similar fishery in the

North Sea.