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Stock Status within the North Sea Langoustine (Nephrops norvegicus)
Key Findings
- Langoustine (Nephrops norvegicus), also known as 'scampi', is an orange lobster typically between 18-25cm in length.
- Langoustine can be found living in self-dug burrows in the seabed (muddy substrates) around the UK. They are most active at night when they come out of their burrows to feed, with their diet consisting of crustaceans, molluscs, worms, and starfish (The Wildlife Trusts, n.d.).
- In British waters langoustine have an annual reproductive cycle, moulting at the end of spring/summer. Post-moult, mating takes place and then the fertilised eggs are carried by the females who remain in their burrows for around 8-9 months during incubation (Hill & Sabatini, 2008).
- Nephrops are caught using two methods by Scottish vessels: creeling or trawling. They are the most valuable shellfish stock to Scotland. In 2023, 1474 tonnes with a value of £16 million were creeled by Scottish vessels into the UK, and 19000 tonnes with a value of £64 million were trawled (Scottish Government, 2024).
- Landings for East Grampian Coast ports are not listed within Scottish Fisheries Statistics, but total tonnage and value of landings from Scottish catches into Scotland can be seen in fig. 2.
- For consumption, North Sea Langoustine are considered to either be 'Needs Improvement' or 'Avoid' by the Marine Conservation Society (n.d.).
- Stock assessments for Nephrops consider the rate of fishing mortality which maximises the yield per recuit, often symbolised as F_MSY. Stocks fished above F_MSY are considered to be overexploited. In the North Sea, all Nephrops stocks are fished below F_MSY, and the level of stock abundance is considered healthy (Moffat et al, 2020).
Figure 1: NMPi - Spawning grounds of nephrops
Figure 2: Tonnage and value of landings of Nephrops by Scottish vessels into Scotland
Notes
None
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Reviewed on/by
28/02/2025 by Charlotte Tomlinson
03/03/2025 by Mariia Topol
03/03/2025 by Ian Hay
06/03/2025 by Charlotte Tomlinson
Status
Live - Next update 03/03/2026
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