The aftershocks of the ICES recommendations for next year’s pelagic TACs continue to reverberate. European fishing industry bodies are facing a challenging 2026, and set out a position that expresses support for the TACs advised for mackerel and other species, and stating that EU market actions against ‘excessive, unjustified unilateral quotas’ are ‘overdue and critical.’
‘The EU pelagic industry is facing a perfect storm in 2026, with huge TAC cuts on the horizon for many important stocks. A cocktail of unfortunate natural factors, imperfect scientific assessments and irresponsible behaviour by other Coastal States will bring fishers and other parts of the fish value chain into great trouble,’ states the EAPO Northern Pelagic Working Group in a detailed position statement.
‘While the industry considers it essential to base stock management decisions on the best available science, we also explicitly ask decision- makers to fulfil their duties to take into account socio-economic impact. The EU pelagic industry supports the recommendations by the Pelagic Advisory Council (PelAC) for these stocks.’
The European organisations’ position contrasts with responses from UK and Norwegian organisations to the ICES recommendations, which immediately sought to cast maximum doubt on the credibility of ICES and the reliability of its recommendations.
‘As a result of excess catches by all Coastal States except the EU, EU fishers’ biggest fears are becoming reality in front of their eyes. Their lifeline is now a mere 174,357 tonnes advised by ICES for the 2026 TAC (of which around a fifth will be available to the EU fleet); this is a 70% decrease. A zero-catch scenario has been avoided thanks to the sufficient probability of the stock recovering to above Blim in 2027, which will of course depend on the advice being respected in practice,’ EAPO warns.
‘The EU pelagic industry has taken good note of the ICES advice on pelagic fishing opportunities for 2026,’ said Tim Heddema, chair of the EAPO NPWG.
‘We are greatly concerned about the state of the mackerel stock in particular, as well as the huge impact on fishers, the value chain and coastal communities.’
In its position statement, EAPO criticises the mackerel stock’s ‘reckless overexploitation of the past few years,’ but points out that the apparent abundance of mackerel in the southern North Sea, which isn’t covered by a survey, ‘offers a glimmer of hope.’
EAPO doesn’t hold back in blaming coastal states around the North-East Atlantic for the current situation.
‘In 2023, ‘hindcast’ research shows that were it not for the overshoot based on excessive, unjustified unilateral quotas set by other parties, managers would now be able to increase the TAC. The EU continues to pay the price for the longstanding overfishing – up to 40% – by others,’ EAPO states, and both EAPO and the Pelagic AC stress that every effort needs to be made to achieve an agreement on distribution keys and to move forward on a recovery plan.
‘No sharing arrangements, no fish. The highest priority should be given to reaching agreement on comprehensive sharing arrangements for mackerel, blue whiting and Atlanto-Scandian herring, based on genuine track records and interest,’ Tim Heddema said.
‘Targeted EU market actions against excessive, unjustified unilateral quotas needed to avoid the collapse of the main EU pelagic fishery are overdue and critical.’
