Chief Minister Howard Quayle has spoken with Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon in a bid to defuse a looming scallop war.

The Edinburgh government says it may invoke the dispute resolution process after DEFA announced protection measures for the Manx king scallop fishery.

An announcement about a possible solution to end the dispute is expected to be made in the coming days - prompting speculation about a possible u-turn by the Isle of Man government.

In the meantime, a new requirement for daily reporting of catches remains in place as part of a move to protect the Manx king scallop fishery, which is worth £12m to the island’s economy.

The measure was introduced last Monday, having been postponed by a week for further talks to take place with the Scottish government.

Fishermen in Kircudbright, which is the UK’s largest scallop landing port, say the move could put jobs and livelihoods at risk.

Chief Minister last week spoke with Nicola Sturgeon as part of efforts to find a mutually acceptable solution to concerns over misreporting of catches.

Mr Quayle said: ’We continue to have positive dialogue with our Irish Sea neighbours and are confident we can identify effective tools to address this issue that have minimal impact on the majority of the fleet.’

He said that the Scottish First Minister agreed with him that the fishery must be protected in the long term because of its economic importance and overfishing must be prevented.

And he said all Irish Sea jurisdictions will explore ways to ensure vessels licensed to fish for king scallops in Manx waters adhere to catch limits.

A UK report on the king scallop dredging industry reveals the true extent of the problems facing the Manx fishery.

The report by Edinburgh-based Seafish Economics includes maps showing the concentration of dredging days at sea by UK scallop vessels.

In 2008 the area around the Isle of Man is shown as green with 0 to 800 dredging days at sea but by 2012 Manx waters were the only area in the British Isles shown as amber with 2,400 to 3,200.

And in 2016, the Isle of Man is notable as being the only area in the British Isles marked out in red, having 3,200 to 4,011 dredging days focused on our waters.

The report notes: ’Scallop fishing effort with dredges in recent years has increased in areas around the west of Scotland, Isle of Man and the English Channel.

’In 2008 there were fewer areas with higher total dredging days at sea. There were three showing 800-1,600 dredging days at sea and one rectangle showing 1,600-2,400 dredging days at sea.

’In 2012 and 2016 effort was higher around the Isle of Man and Irish Sea, West of Scotland, Western English Channel and Shetland.’