An Introduction to Inshore Fisheries Groups (IFGs)
Inshore Fisheries Groups (IFGs) aim to improve the management of Scotland's inshore fisheries and to give commercial inshore fishermen a strong voice in wider marine management developments.
Fishermen and their representatives sit at the heart of IFGs and it is their knowledge and ideas that will drive the Groups' work. The Groups will be supported by expert advice (including for example, Fisheries Research Services, the Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency and Scottish Natural Heritage) and their work conducted in consultation with all those with a relevant interest in the best management of an area's fisheries and the 
wider marine environment.
The IFGs will develop realistic Management Plans, drawn up on an inclusive, transparent and consensual basis, for their area's fisheries. Whilst Management Plans will reflect specific and localised priorities, they will also fit with wider strategic national goals such as sustainable stocks, a healthy marine environment and a profitable fishing sector that supports strong coastal communities.
By way of example, IFG Management Plans could include such things as stock management and enhancement; spatial management initiatives and/or voluntary agreements to improve working relationships amongst different types of fisheries in an IFG area; proposals for funding priorities for an area's fisheries and associated communities; and proposals for legislative change (such as Inshore Fisheries Orders) to support elements of the plan as is appropriate.
An initial set of three IFG pilots - the Outer Hebrides, Clyde and the South East - will become operational in 2008 followed soon after by a further three - the North West, the Moray Firth and the Small Isles & Mull Groups. An indicative map outlines the IFG areas.