Trilateral fisheries negotiations between the United Kingdom, Norway and EU have concluded with the UK fleet securing catch limits worth £202 million next year. This value represents a £33 million increase from 2022.
The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) confirmed that negotiating as an independent coastal state, the UK agreed catch levels for six important fish stocks in the North Sea, including cod, haddock and herring.
This comes as the UK also concluded negotiations on 2023 catch limits with coastal states in the Northeast Atlantic on blue whiting, mackerel and Atlanto-Scandian herring. In total, the UK quotas in these stocks will be worth around £256 million next year, based on quotas of 1,359,629 tonnes (+80.62%), 782,066 tonnes (-1.62%) and 511,171 tonnes (-14.6%) respectively.
All catch levels were set in line with, or lower than, the level advised by scientists at the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES).
UK Fisheries Minister Mark Spencer said the agreements with the EU and Norway, and wider coastal states would be worth over £450 million for the UK fishing fleet in 2023.
“The deals will help support a sustainable, profitable fishing industry for years to come while continuing to protect our marine environment and vital fishing grounds,” he said.
Compared to 2022, the new North Sea catch level for cod has increased 63% to 21,652 tonnes, haddock and whiting are both up 30% to 58,402 tonnes and 34,294 tonnes respectively, plaice increases 5.8% to 132,922 tonnes, and saithe rises 18.7% to 53,374 tonnes.
The 2023 herring quota is down 7.3% to 396,556 tonnes.
Last month, the UK reached an agreement with Norway, with the UK fleet benefiting from fishing opportunities worth £5 million.
Further talks with the EU are continuing over the total allowable catches (TACs) and other stock management measures.
