The United Kingdom, Norway, Faroe Islands and Iceland have agreed an arrangement that delivers a measurable reduction in fishing pressure on Northeast Atlantic mackerel.
This new deal, reached on 16 December 2025, is regarded by the coastal states as a significant step forward in terms of demonstrating joint leadership and cooperation, and with the aim to ensure long-term conservation of the fish stock.
They advise that key elements of this new and enhanced arrangement include:
- Providing a further positive step towards reaching a fully comprehensive six party quota-sharing arrangement
- Providing a further reduction in fishing pressure of -9.23% of the global TAC. This is on top of the -10.25% reduction already secured through previous agreements. This will limit fishing by all coastal states to around 107.5% of the TAC versus almost 118% without this added cooperation, when compared to no agreements
- Promoting the efficient utilisation of the fishery and significantly reducing the need for parties to fish in international waters, linked to associated bilateral access arrangements
- Defining a process for addressing fishing party activity
- Limiting the ‘banking and borrowing’ of quota
- Outlining a request to ICES to produce a long-term management strategy for the stock
- Setting out the parties, to the agreement, intent to set their TACs for 2026 in line with an MSY catch scenario of 299,010 tonnes
- Providing stability for industry. In the absence of a comprehensive sharing arrangement for the stock being agreed, these arrangements will remain in place until at least 2028
The overarching aim remains to achieve a fully comprehensive six party sharing arrangement. Parties have committed to work in good faith to secure a full six-party agreement that includes the EU and Greenland. According to these coastal states, this interim deal keeps that door open.
