SIFT is actively involved in advocating for higher standards of management in the wrasse fishery, which has been operated without adequate controls on how, where and when it occurs.
(Photo credit: Howard Wood)
Wrasse are a family of sea fish which inhabit rocky reefs and kelp beds in Scotland’s coastal waters. They feed on crustacea and molluscs and play a vital role in controlling parasites which predate upon other fish and habitat-forming flora. In addition to their important ecological function, wrasse have high socio-economic importance, particularly to recreational divers and sea anglers, given their striking appearance. In addition, millions of Scottish wrasse have been and continue to be trapped and transferred to Scottish salmon farms, where they are used to control the sea-lice which infest farmed salmon.
Wrasse used for lice control by the aquaculture industry
As concerns have grown about the use of anti-parasitic chemical treatments to reduce sea lice on salmon in Scottish salmon farms, the aquaculture industry has increasingly used “cleaner fish” as a substitute for these chemicals. In Scotland, five wrasse species are live-trapped for this purpose. There is clear evidence that this fishery as currently operated is not sustainable.
Population collapse
Available landings data suggest that localised Scottish wrasse populations frequently collapse following the commencement of commercial wrasse fisheries. This is consistent with the observed practice of Scottish wrasse fishermen, who alter their grounds from one year to the next – which is understood to be a response to local stocks being reduced to a level where they can no longer be economically exploited. Observations by recreational and professional divers, sea anglers and initial scientific analysis of local wrasse population declines following the commencement of wrasse fishing reinforces this analysis.
Wrasse are unusually vulnerable to over-exploitation and localised depletion, on account of their unique life cycle. They hibernate in winter, make nests which they guard to protect their eggs, are slow growing (they can live for over 20 years) and can change gender as they grow. So removing large individuals profoundly upsets and threatens reproductive success. And being territorial, they have extremely limited home ranges. So when wrasse are removed from an area, they do not readily recolonise it.
(Photo credit: Howard Wood)
Pushing for sustainable management of wrasse
SIFT is not opposed to the use of cleaner fish in aquaculture, but believes this should require either the responsible use of farmed wrasse, or a genuinely sustainable and properly regulated wild capture fishery based on sound science. The English Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authorities have set a good example here: and have brought-in effectively monitored and enforced mandatory measures to collect accurate data, and implement quotas, spatial management and temporal restrictions on the wrasse fishery. The English wrasse fishery is also subject to a formal Fishery Management Plan, drafted by DEFRA. SIFT believes that Scotland must adopt a similar approach. So SIFT continues to campaign to make the Scottish Government bring about much-needed reforms. After years of campaigning SIFT was pleased that the Scottish Government removed the management of the fishery from the control of the salmon farming industry and brought it under the formal licensing regime, in 2021.
In 2025 the Scottish Government was obliged, following the intervention of Environmental Standards Scotland, to address its failure to meet its legal obligations to undertake and act upon Habitats Regulations Appraisals of the wrasse fishery in relevant Special Areas of Conservation (SACs). The subsequent, and long-overdue, Fisheries Assessment found that the wild wrasse fishery undermines the conservation objectives of these SACs. Consequently the fishery has been prohibited from taking place in multiple protected sites.
Ongoing management failures
While the restrictions implemented in 2021 and 2025 represent important steps towards good fisheries management, glaring omissions persist which continue to threaten the sustainability of the fishery and the ecosystems in which it occurs. These include:
- No stock assessments are undertaken of wrasse species;
- No Total Allowable Catch (TAC) has been set for wrasse fisheries;
- Negligible monitoring and enforcement is undertaken of the wrasse fishery.
On top of these outstanding issues, SIFT believes that the Scottish Government also continues to either overlook or misinterpret published scientific evidence regarding when wrasse mature and spawn. Specifically, the Scottish Government permits the wrasse fishery to occur during the wrasse spawning season, and it permits Ballan wrasse (the primary species of wrasse caught in Scottish waters) to be targeted before they have reached maturity.
These failings fundamentally conflict with the basic and established principles of good fisheries management. The trapping and removal of spawning and immature fish undermines the capacity of wrasse to reproduce and hence support a sustainable fishery or fulfil their ‘keystone’ role of controlling marine parasites within the inshore environment.
These issues are explored in more detail in the briefing: Mismanagement of the Scottish Wrasse Fishery Sept 2025
The need for a fisheries management plan
In the light of these management failings, SIFT calls on the Scottish Government to follow English fishery managers and introduce a Fishery Management Plan for the Scottish wrasse fishery which:
- Closes the fishery while wrasse species are spawning (April-August);
- Requires all wrasse fishing vessels to be equipped with Vessel Monitoring Systems;
- Reviews the Minimum and Maximum Landing Sizes for wrasse species;
- Includes a programme of data collection in order to inform both stock assessment and the setting of Total Allowable Catch.
Watch the Save Scottish Wrasse campaign video here:
