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Metadata: Area Management - Scottish Regional Inshore Fishery Groups (RIFGs)
Abstract:
Regional Inshore Fisheries Groups (RIFGs) are collaborative bodies established to strengthen the management of Scotland’s inshore fisheries (out to 12 nautical miles) and ensure commercial inshore fishermen have a strong voice in wider marine management. Initially, six pilot Inshore Fisheries Groups (IFGs) were created in 2009, each developing a management plan for its area. These were replaced in 2013 by six IFGs covering most of Scotland’s coast, excluding Shetland which operates under its own arrangements. In April 2016, the West Coast and North & East Coast RIFGs were formed, consolidating the previous IFGs, alongside the Outer Hebrides RIFG, Orkney Management Group, and Shetland Shellfish Management Organisation. In 2020, as part of the Future Fisheries Management (FFM) policy, the scope of RIFGs was extended to cover the full 12 nautical mile limit. In 2025, the network was restructured to improve regional representation. A new North & North West RIFG now covers the area from Ardnamurchan Point northwards around the west coast and up to Inverness, including the Inner Hebrides north of Ardnamurchan Point. The East Coast RIFG boundary was adjusted and now starts at Inverness and runs clockwise down the east coast to the English border, creating a clearer separation from the new North & North West region. The current RIFG network comprises: North & North West Coast, East Coast, South West Coast, Outer Hebrides, Orkney, and Shetland (operating alongside the Shetland Shellfish Management Organisation
Data holder:
Scottish Government (Marine Scotland)
Use constraints:
no limitations to public access
| Other details | ||
| Internal code | Internally assigned metadata identifier | 3853 |
| Title | The title is used to provide a brief and precise description of the dataset such as 'Date', 'Originating organisation/programme', 'Location' and 'Type of survey'. All acronyms and abbreviations should be reproduced in full. | Area Management - Scottish Regional Inshore Fishery Groups (RIFGs) |
| File Identifier | The File Identifier is a code, preferably a GUID, that is globally unique and remains with the same metadata record even if the record is edited or transferred between portals or tools. | Marine_Scotland_FishDAC_1197 |
| Resource Identifier | This is the code assigned by the data owner. | Marine_Scotland_FishDAC_1197 |
| Resource type | The resource type will likely be a dataset but could also be a series (collection of datasets with a common specification) or a service. | dataset |
| Start date | This describes the date the resource starts. This may only be the year if month and day are not known | 2023-01-01 |
| End date | This describes the date the resource ends. This may only be the year if month and day are not known | 2026-01-30 |
| Spatial resolution | This describes the spatial resolution of the dataset or the spatial limitations of the service. | 10000.00 |
| Spatial resolution unit | This describes the unit of spatial resolution which for distance must be metres. | http://standards.iso.org/ittf/PubliclyAvailableStandards/ISO_19139_Schemas/resources/uom/gmxUom.xml#m |
| Frequency of updates | This describes the frequency with which the resource is modified or updated i.e. a monitoring programme that samples once per year has a frequency that is described as 'annually'. | unknown |
| Abstract | The abstract provides a clear and brief statement of the content of the resource. | Regional Inshore Fisheries Groups (RIFGs) are collaborative bodies established to strengthen the management of Scotland’s inshore fisheries (out to 12 nautical miles) and ensure commercial inshore fishermen have a strong voice in wider marine management. Initially, six pilot Inshore Fisheries Groups (IFGs) were created in 2009, each developing a management plan for its area. These were replaced in 2013 by six IFGs covering most of Scotland’s coast, excluding Shetland which operates under its own arrangements. In April 2016, the West Coast and North & East Coast RIFGs were formed, consolidating the previous IFGs, alongside the Outer Hebrides RIFG, Orkney Management Group, and Shetland Shellfish Management Organisation. In 2020, as part of the Future Fisheries Management (FFM) policy, the scope of RIFGs was extended to cover the full 12 nautical mile limit. In 2025, the network was restructured to improve regional representation. A new North & North West RIFG now covers the area from Ardnamurchan Point northwards around the west coast and up to Inverness, including the Inner Hebrides north of Ardnamurchan Point. The East Coast RIFG boundary was adjusted and now starts at Inverness and runs clockwise down the east coast to the English border, creating a clearer separation from the new North & North West region. The current RIFG network comprises: North & North West Coast, East Coast, South West Coast, Outer Hebrides, Orkney, and Shetland (operating alongside the Shetland Shellfish Management Organisation |
| Lineage | Lineage includes the background information, history of the sources of data, data quality statements and methods. | Inshore Fisheries Groups (IFGs) areas are derived from the areas defined in the Scottish Marine Regions Order. Some SMRs were merged to create RIFG boundaries. For the purposes of the Solway, the Scottish adjacent waters boundary was extended to the nearest point of the common boundary between Scotland and England as recorded on OS Boundary Line; this section of the line is for illustrative purposes only and does not describe a legal boundary. For standardisation, attributes use S57 vocabulary (see s-57.com) with additional fields. Area values calculated on ETRS89 / LAEA Europe (EPSG:3035) as integers. Updated in 2025 to reflect boundary changes to North Coast and East Coast. Areas re-calculated. |
| Related keywords | ||
| Keyword | General subject area(s) associated with the resource, uses multiple controlled vocabularies | Marine Environmental Data and Information Network |
| General subject area(s) associated with the resource, uses multiple controlled vocabularies | Fisheries | |
| General subject area(s) associated with the resource, uses multiple controlled vocabularies | Area management/restriction/regulation zones and reporting units | |
| Geographical coverage | ||
| North | The northern-most limit of the data resource in decimal degrees | 60.96097 |
| East | The eastern-most limit of the data resource in decimal degrees | -0.5226393 |
| South | The southern-most limit of the data resource in decimal degrees | 54.5331 |
| West | The western-most limit of the data resource in decimal degrees | -8.837017 |
| Responsible organisations | ||
| Role | The point of contact is person or organisation with responsibility for the creation and maintenance of the metadata for the resource. | pointOfContact |
| Organisation name | Scottish Government (Marine Scotland) | |
| Phone | +44 (0)300 244 4000 | |
| marinescotland@gov.scot | ||
| Role | The point of contact is person or organisation with responsibility for the creation and maintenance of the metadata for the resource. | pointOfContact |
| Organisation name | Scottish Government (Marine Scotland) | |
| Phone | +44 (0)300 244 4000 | |
| Delivery point | Mailpoint 11, Area 1B South, Victoria Quay | |
| Postal code | EH6 6QQ | |
| City | Edinburgh | |
| Country | United Kingdom | |
| marinescotland@gov.scot | ||
| Role | The custodian is the person or organisation that accepts responsibility for the resource and ensures appropriate care and maintenance. If a dataset has been lodged with a Data Archive Centre for maintenance then this organisation is be entered here. | custodian |
| Organisation name | Scottish Government (Marine Scotland) | |
| Phone | +44 (0)300 244 4000 | |
| Delivery point | Mailpoint 11, Area 1B South, Victoria Quay | |
| Postal code | EH6 6QQ | |
| City | Edinburgh | |
| Country | United Kingdom | |
| marinescotland@gov.scot | ||
| Role | The distributor is the person or organisation that distributes the resource. | distributor |
| Organisation name | Scottish Government (Marine Scotland) | |
| Phone | +44 (0)300 244 4000 | |
| Delivery point | Mailpoint 11, Area 1B South, Victoria Quay | |
| Postal code | EH6 6QQ | |
| City | Edinburgh | |
| Country | United Kingdom | |
| marinescotland@gov.scot | ||
| Role | The originator is the person or organisation who created, collected or produced the resource. | originator |
| Organisation name | Marine Scotland | |
| Phone | +44 (0)300 244 4000 | |
| Delivery point | 1B South, Victoria Quay | |
| Postal code | EH6 6QQ | |
| City | Edinburgh | |
| Country | United Kingdom | |
| marinescotland@gov.scot | ||
| Resource locators | ||
| Locator URL | Web address (URL) that links to the resource | https://msmap1.atkinsgeospatial.com/geoserver/nmpwfs/ows?token=d46ffd2a-e192-4e51-8a6a-b3292c20f1ee&service=wms&version=1.3.0&request=GetCapabilities |
| Locator function | Code that describes the function of the resource. ISO function code chosen from ISO 19115-1 Codelist | download |
| Dataset constraints | ||
| 20 Limitations on Public Access - Access constraints | otherRestrictions | |
| 20 Limitations on Public Access - Other constraints | This states any limitations on access to the data and uses free text. | no limitations to public access |
| 21 Conditions for Access and Use - Use limitation | This states any constraints on use of the data. Multiple conditions can be recorded for different parts of the data resource. If no conditions apply, then `No condtions apply` is recorded. This uses free text. | The following attribution statement must be used: Contains information from the Scottish Government (Marine Scotland) licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. |
| Version info | ||
| Date of publication | The publication date of the resource or if previously unpublished the date that the resource was made publicly available via the MEDIN network. | 2014-06-20 |
| Harvest date | The date which this record has been (re)harvested from the provider. | 2026-04-19 |
| Metadata date | The date when the content of this metadata record was last updated. | 2025-11-20 |
| Metadata standard name | The name of the metadata standard used to create this metadata | MEDIN Discovery Metadata |
| Metadata standard version | The version of the MEDIN Discovery Metadata Standard used to create the metadata record | Version 2.3.7 |