King scallop quotas down 20 per cent

Minister keen to protect stocks

A reduction of 20% on last year's king scallop fishing limits will be brought in tomorrow, as the new season begins.

The Island's fishermen will be limited to 2,049 tonnes of king scallops, following a difficult queen scallop season in which catches were cut and areas were restricted to protect stocks.

The total daily limit will stand at 560kg.

It follows a series of recommendations from the Island's scallop management board which were put to DEFA.

All of them were supported.

According to Minister Geoffrey Boot, this will allow a balance between productivity and protection of stocks from overfishing.

It's understood the restrictions may also be due to uncertainty in the market and question marks over Brexit.