The 44th Annual Meeting of the North-East Atlantic Fisheries Commission (NEAFC) closed in London on 14 November 2025 without agreement on catch allocations for two of the region’s most commercially significant stocks — mackerel and blue whiting — raising concerns over continued overfishing and political stalemate among coastal states.
While NEAFC adopted 2026 management measures for several stocks, including redfish, herring and Rockall haddock, efforts to secure a collective deal on pelagic species once again faltered. The Commission confirmed that allocations of total allowable catches (TACs) for mackerel and blue whiting remain unresolved, with further consultations required among coastal states.
The lack of agreement is particularly sensitive given the latest scientific advice from the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES), which warns that both mackerel and blue whiting are being harvested at levels well above sustainable limits. Mackerel, the most valuable pelagic stock in the Northeast Atlantic, has been below its minimum recommended biomass for years, while blue whiting is also assessed as severely overfished.
The stalemate means that each Contracting Party — Denmark (in respect of the Faroe Islands and Greenland), the EU, Iceland, Norway, Russia and the UK — will continue setting unilateral quotas until a shared arrangement is reached, heightening fears of another year of quota inflation and stock depletion.
Despite progress in other areas, the inability to agree on pelagic allocations overshadowed the meeting’s technical achievements. Delegates approved compliance reports for 2023 and 2024, expanded transparency measures, and advanced international data-sharing initiatives – including linking NEAFC reporting systems to the FAO’s global port state measures platform and adopting a new UN-standard electronic reporting system.
The meeting also highlighted NEAFC’s role in global ocean governance, from cooperation with sister regional fisheries bodies to contributing to the implementation of the new high-seas biodiversity agreement. NEAFC noted its distinction as the first regional fisheries management organisation to register an Other Effective Area-Based Conservation Measure (OECM) under the Global Biodiversity Framework’s 30x30 conservation targets.
However, with no progress on mackerel and blue whiting — the region’s most economically and politically sensitive stocks — stakeholders are bracing for continued tension in 2026.
Further coastal state consultations will determine whether the parties can break the deadlock in time to avert another year of unmanaged overfishing.
