A suite of agreements on fishing in the North-East Atlantic and North Sea has been reached by the EU with Norway and the UK as a tripartite agreement on jointly managed stocks – in addition to distinct agreements with Norway and the UK.
The trilateral arrangement between the EU, Norway and the UK on jointly managed North Sea stocks for 2024 establishes TACs more than 915,000 tonnes, covering an EU quota of almost 415,000 tonnes of cod, haddock, saithe, whiting, plaice and herring.
The agreement on TACs sets out an increase for cod, although kept below MSY advice to accommodate precautionary considerations for the southern sub-stock. TACs have been set in line with the MSY advice for saithe and plaice and below the MSY advice for haddock and whiting to cater for their interaction with cod.
The EU, UK and Norway continued reviewing the management model for herring in 2024 and decided to set TACs in line with MSY.
They also agreed to maintain measures to protect North Sea cod by carrying over existing area closures.
‘The timely signature of these agreements will secure access to waters and important opportunities for EU fishers as from January 2024,’ commented Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries Virginijus Sinkevičius.
‘While challenges remain, the successful and coordinated completion of this very complex process demonstrates how cooperation between the EU, the UK and Norway can benefit fishing communities and ensure the sustainable management of our shared stocks.’
EU-UK agreement
The EU and the UK have reached an agreement on fishing opportunities for 2024 for more than 85 Northeast Atlantic TACs.
The deal secures fishing opportunities of almost 388,000 tonnes for the EU fleet, which the European Commission estimates as worth around €1 billion, based on historic wholesale prices, adjusted for inflation.
The agreement with the EU gives UK fishermen access to 130,000 tonnes of fish for 2024, worth up to £340 million, according to Defra.
‘These significant deals give UK fishermen access to important fish stocks worth £970 million and take advantage of our position outside the EU to independently negotiate in our fishing fleet’s best interest,’ said UK Fisheries Minister Mark Spencer.
According to DG Mare, this agreement is important because the stocks negotiated with non-EU countries represent a vast majority of the stocks of interest for the EU.
‘The agreement we reached will secure fishing opportunities for fishers on both sides of the Channel, Irish Sea, and North Sea,’ Virginijus Sinkevičius said.
‘It takes into account the sustainability of stocks and the socioeconomic impact for fishers, providing protection for our ocean and certainty for our fishers. The agreement establishes a strong basis to continue cooperating in fisheries management with the UK.’
The agreement was reached under the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) after the fourth annual consultations on fishing opportunities between both parties. The EU based its positions on its legal framework, including sea-basin related multiannual plans. Socioeconomic considerations were also taken into account to avoid choke situations that would lead to a premature closure of certain fisheries.
Besides the key role played by Member States in supporting the conclusion of this agreement, the close cooperation between the EU and the UK in the Specialised Committee on Fisheries (SCF) contributed to this outcome. Among other recommendations adopted this year, SCF concluded on the alignment of management areas with the stock distributions for eight shared stocks (lemon sole, witch, turbot, brill, Western channel and Eastern Channel plaice and Celtic Sea and Eastern Channel whiting) and developed a joint methodology for interpreting ICES advice for skates and rays.
The written record on the EU-UK consultations also establishes a clear set of priorities for future SCF work, including cooperation on joint technical measures to protect vulnerable stocks across sea basins and a joint request to ICES to update the Irish Sea sole ICES advice after the benchmark exercise.
EU-Norway agreement
A parallel arrangement between the EU and Norway has secured with DG Mare describes as a ‘an ambitious balance of exchanges of fishing opportunities of major economic interest.’
The EU gets 9983 tonnes of Arctic cod for 2024, while it will transfer 48,000 tonnes of blue whiting to Norway.
The EU will have access to catch up to 15,107 tonnes of Atlanto-Scandian herring in Norwegian waters. At the same time, Norway obtains access to EU waters to fish 150,000 tonnes of blue whiting.
The EU and Norway decided to implement measures to reduce fishing mortality for Western Baltic herring, which mixes with the North Sea herring in the Skagerrak and Eastern North Sea. Such measures include the restriction of catches in the Skagerrak.
The parties also signed the neighbouring arrangement covering the Swedish fishery in Norwegian waters of the North Sea.
The EU and Norway will hold an in-year consultation during 2024 for pandalus, for which the International Council for Exploration of the Sea (ICES) scientific advice does not align with the calendar year.
The catch limits agreed bilaterally and trilaterally will be submitted for incorporation into the Fishing Opportunities Regulation for 2024, during the current Council of EU Fisheries Ministers.
