No new shellfish licences

BOARD members of the Shetland Shellfish Management Organisation (SSMO) have re-elected Ian Walterson and Leslie Tait as chairman and vice-chairman.

The decision was made at SSMO’s AGM in August, while during a recent board meeting the directors also took the decision not to issue any new shellfish licences at the end of this year.

Instead, they will wait to see what impact the five new licences already issued this year (four creel licences and one scallop licence) will have on the stock assessment next year.

The new entrants to the creel fishery can catch all species except for velvet crab, which is still going through a process of stock rebuilding.

Several other new entrants have had their names added to existing licences. Over a period of time, this allows fishermen an alternative method of potentially gaining an SSMO licence.